7 "Perfect" Movie Endings That Are Way More Contrived Than You Think
4. Ramon Refuses To Shoot Joe Anywhere But His Heart Just Because Joe Tells Him To - A Fistful Of Dollars
In Sergio Leone's western remake of Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars, Clint Eastwood's "Man With No Name" character - nicknamed "Joe" in this movie - rides into a one horse town called San Miguel to find that it has been torn apart by two rival families, the Baxters and the Rojos. With nothing better to do, and because it's the plot of the movie, Joe decides to free the town of its misfortune, and slowly begins on a complicated plan to tear the two factions apart. Eventually they get wind of his schtick, and Joe realises that it is the Rojos Brothers who are causing all the real problems, led by the most intelligent member of the clan, Ramon, who also has a penchant for shooting people square in the heart. After the Rojos slaughter the Baxter clan in a horrific massacre, Ramon takes Joe captive and orders his men to beat the gunslinger within an inch of his life. On the brink of death, Joe manages to escape Ramon's clutches, and flees to the outskirts of town to regain his strength, repair his gun-hand, and devise a plan. Joe eventually returns to San Miguel and confronts Ramon, who - at Joe's request - shoots him in the heart over and over again - each time, Joe gets up, apparently unscathed. It's then revealed that he's devised a makeshift bullet proof vest from an iron sheet and is wearing it beneath his poncho. At this point, Joe gets into a shootout with the Rojos clan, kills Ramon and wins the day. What we have to consider here, though, is... would Ramon legitimately have chosen to shoot Joe over and over again in the same place? Why not just shoot him in the head? It's a classic ending to a classic film, but - despite Ramon's fetish for shooting hearts - it still feels a little contrived, even with Joe's taunting. It just doesn't ring true that - if he really wanted to kill him - he wouldn't have just put a shot right between the Man With No Name's eyes.
