I had plenty of things to work out with this movie, but strangely enough not political. Yes, the romance amidst the Cambodian crisis seemed too much, and yes no one ever seems to want to do a movie from the point of view of a refugee, only the White Westerners trying to help them. In real life Angelina Jolie is sincere about wanting to help people, but her character in the movie does seem self-focused, doing things out of her own guilt. And the plot did seem disjointed.
But it was the ending that stayed with me. I had to think about it for one, to figure out why she did what she did after stepping on the landmine. If she just waited, Clive Owen's character would get to her and die as well. If she told him she had stepped on a landmine, he would have very definitely gotten to her and died as well. She sacrificed herself for him, knowing it was too late to save herself. I admit it was unrealistic that the Chechen rebels would want him but ignore the wealthy American woman. But the emotional resonance made its way over the logic. Such a thing as a pretty woman being blown up by a landmine could easily be melodramatic, but somehow it was tragic, at least from my point of view.
But it was the ending that stayed with me. I had to think about it for one, to figure out why she did what she did after stepping on the landmine. If she just waited, Clive Owen's character would get to her and die as well. If she told him she had stepped on a landmine, he would have very definitely gotten to her and died as well. She sacrificed herself for him, knowing it was too late to save herself. I admit it was unrealistic that the Chechen rebels would want him but ignore the wealthy American woman. But the emotional resonance made its way over the logic. Such a thing as a pretty woman being blown up by a landmine could easily be melodramatic, but somehow it was tragic, at least from my point of view.