Please don't read this if you haven't seen the picture.
Lots of useful comments here say it nearly all, but there's one point that bothered me, I wonder whether others who liked this little movie found this point bothersome too. I'm not talking about the twist at the end in itself, which as some have noted is an ambiguous pay-off, but about Robert Forster's character's explanation of it.
"I had this hidden drawer installed in my car-trunk where I would put the real diamonds, leaving a briefcase of theatrical jewellery in the trunk instead," he told his friend, and the movie cameoed him opening the hidden drawer. My immediate problem with this was: excuse me, a briefcase full of glittering fake diamonds is going to cost a small fortune in itself --- perhaps one-twentieth the value of the real jewels, or about $50,000. Where was a humble salesman going to find that kind of cash? Oh well, just another far-fetched plot element to add to the great big heap of them in Movieland, but for me the twist at the end spoiled a film whose charm lay in its feel of authenticity. For me, this could have continued into the pay-off, with the couple finding happiness living together on humble incomes on realistic trajectories.
Lots of useful comments here say it nearly all, but there's one point that bothered me, I wonder whether others who liked this little movie found this point bothersome too. I'm not talking about the twist at the end in itself, which as some have noted is an ambiguous pay-off, but about Robert Forster's character's explanation of it.
"I had this hidden drawer installed in my car-trunk where I would put the real diamonds, leaving a briefcase of theatrical jewellery in the trunk instead," he told his friend, and the movie cameoed him opening the hidden drawer. My immediate problem with this was: excuse me, a briefcase full of glittering fake diamonds is going to cost a small fortune in itself --- perhaps one-twentieth the value of the real jewels, or about $50,000. Where was a humble salesman going to find that kind of cash? Oh well, just another far-fetched plot element to add to the great big heap of them in Movieland, but for me the twist at the end spoiled a film whose charm lay in its feel of authenticity. For me, this could have continued into the pay-off, with the couple finding happiness living together on humble incomes on realistic trajectories.