I wasn't impressed with the ending. Giving up the love of your life for a career, which seems to happen frequently in today's movies is pretty sad. Maybe it's just me because I'm a romantic...

I thought it was the best part of the film. I liked that the film wasn't suggesting that they made the wrong choice, but that even though they both turned out happy, with their dreams fulfilled, they would always wonder what happened if they chose differently. The film seemed to be saying that no matter how great our decisions turn out in life, we will always be haunted by the choices we didn't make.

Happy that Ryan's character was okay in the end though.

Finally just watched this! Loved the cinematography and the stylised colours...

Re the ending - I'll have to read up more elsewhere I guess but surely there must be a school of thought that it's actually more Emma Stone's character we should be feeling sorry for?

He pushes her to follow her career / dream, she imagines the life which could have been, and he's got the club / life he wanted, with the heartbreak lost love which surely every great Jazz musician needs to draw from...

@Wiziliz said:

What did you think about this ending? How did it make you feel?

I was impressed, but disappointed. Very surprised that the movie had a harsh reality ending. Not a bad ending by any means. It was pretty well done actually, just a tad bit upsetting. Happy that Ryan's character was okay in the end though.

Agreed. They deserved a happy ending. If I was that in love I would fight way more than Mia and Sebastian did

I am passionately indifferent about the ending. It was just frivolous fantasy on behalf of two characters who had passively watched each other drift apart. This was no grand romance that foundered in the face of unconquerable challenges, so I'd be surprised it the director wanted us to view the ending in such a way.

I thought the emotional climax of the film was when Seb frogmarches Mia to the audition and helps her mentally and otherwise to give her dream one last go, while seemingly having no intention of any sort of reconciliation.

It seems quite rare for mainstream films to tap into essentially dead relationships where there is residual fondness and respect, even though I don't think these situations are rare in life. I think that may partially explain the commercial success of this film - it channelled a little bit of Wong Kar Wai-ism about how a doomed or dead relationship can have a lasting effect on you for far longer than you might have thought.

For Sure!