No Sudden Move Ending Explained

Steven Soderbergh’s latest noir thriller, No Sudden Move, ends with a series of betrayals, unexpected twists, and deadends. Set in 1954 Detroit, No Sudden Move follows two-bit criminal Curt Goynes (Don Cheadle), who lands a seemingly easy payday that involves working with the ever-unpredictable Ronald Russo (Benicio del Toro) and the unceremoniously shady Charley (Kieran Culkin). Akin to Soderbergh’s masterful thriller entries, such as Out of Sight and Traffic, No Sudden Move maintains a tense aura of consistent suspense, which is only punctuated by double-crosses and comeuppance.

Soderbergh relies upon a stellar ensemble cast for the film to function seamlessly, and this decision pays off by the film’s denouement. No Sudden Move zeroes in on Goynes, who is fresh out of prison and looking for one last, well-paying job before getting out of town. Distrust permeates the atmosphere right from the first scene, especially when both Goynes and Russo are skeptical of working with mysterious middleman Jones (Brendan Fraser). The job is pretty straightforward — the three hired men need to detain a family at gunpoint for three hours until a certain document is recovered within that time period.

However, No Sudden Move is about a heist gone wrong, a web of interconnected machinations puppeteered by the higher-ups in the criminal underworld. As things go awry, new players of the likes of mob boss Frank Capelli (Ray Liotta) and Aldrick Watkins (Bill Duke) are revealed, along with that of automobile manufacturer Mike Lowen, played by Matt Damon in a surprise cameo role. Here’s what the ending of No Sudden Move means when measured against the comprehensive scope of the noir narrative.

Why Are The Stolen Documents So Coveted & What Do They Conceal?

As the entire premise of the three-man job hinges on the retrieval of the mysterious document, it emerges as a seminal McGuffin throughout the course of the film. When Goynes, Russo, and Charley break into the home of GM employee Matt Wertz (David Harbor), they convince him to steal the documents in question from his employer by leveraging the safety of his family and his extramarital affair. As the plot progresses, Goynes and Russo quickly realize that things are not what they seem and that the coveted piece of paper unlocks much more than a one-time job doomed to fail.

With the appearance of Mike Lowen much later in No Sudden Move, it is revealed that the document is a part of a major cover-up by the automobile industry in Detroit, as it contains the blueprints of a catalytic converter, which would allow cars to emit less population into the atmosphere. While the socio-political ramifications of this revelation are massive, the twisted nature in which the document travels through the various strata of low-life criminals, middlemen, mob bosses, and corporate giants points to a bigger game. This is based on a real conspiracy surrounding the automobile industry in mid-50s Detroit, one involving the Big Four, namely GM, Chrysler, Ford, and American Motors, who, in the film, stop at nothing to prevent the document from seeing the light of day.

How No Sudden Move Is An Allegory On Social Mobility & The Act of Overreaching

Soderbergh presents Detroit as a microcosm for what was happening in the country as a whole, the key underlying themes in No Sudden Move being undercurrents of racial tension exacerbated by the construction of the I-375 highway which destroyed a Black neighborhood in Detroit. This is referenced in passing at several points in the film, with a perturbed yet determined Goynes at the nexus of the events transpiring around him. As a criminal with a massive bounty on his head and no way to take refuge in his past, Goynes is forced to take extreme measures in order to climb the social strata of the criminal underbelly of Detroit. However, the socially and politically powerful do not appreciate pawns in their game ascending to grab their power, which is a theme that is heavily overplayed towards the last 25 minutes of the film.

This ties in directly with the concept of overreaching, which in No Sudden Move is reflected in the quiet ambition of Goynes, who wishes to one-up people like Mike Lowen and Russo, who plays his cards right to thwart mob bosses like Capelli. The thirst to climb upwards and reap the harvests of powerful men evokes the theme of the Renaissance Overreacher, who has a mad thirst for knowledge forbidden to the likes of him hence burning fast when they fly too close to the sun. Goynes pays dearly for his ambitions, singed by various gangs, especially that of Watkins, who he had stolen an important logbook from years ago. And then there are corporate magnates like Lowen, who stop at absolutely nothing to thwart those who dare question the established status quo, having no qualms to leave a large trail of bodies as long as profits are reaped. Unfortunately, in the end, the crooked and the powerful have their way.

What Happens to Russo and Goynes By The End of No Sudden Move?

While Charley is killed off much earlier in No Sudden Move by Goynes, he works closely with Russo despite the fact that the two men are constantly wary of the other. Sharing the burden of being wanted men who dared to poke their noses into matters way beyond their reach, Goynes and Russo cleverly navigate their way through the conspiracy and almost manage to get away with a massive sum of money. However, the two criminals meet wildly different ends when they go their separate ways, an outcome that can only be attributed to sheer luck.

Despite being hounded by Capelli and Watkins, Goynes miraculously makes it to the end by cutting a deal halfway with Watkins’ gang, who rescue him from Detective Joe Finner (Jon Hamm) right at the last minute. Having lost everything he had worked for, Goynes settles for his life and the $5,000 cut he was promised for the job and decides to take this opportunity to leave for Kansas City for a purportedly quieter life. On the other hand, Russo runs away with Capelli’s wife Vanessa (Julia Fox), after he is left with $400,000 after selling the documents to the highest bidder. However, as the two are on their way, Vanessa shoots him point-blank, leaving him in the middle of nowhere, forgotten by life.

What The Ending Really Means

No Sudden Move ends with a series of betrayals and narrative twists, including Vanessa shooting Russo, only to be greeted by Lowen’s men who take away the cash-filled suitcase from her. While Detective Finner initially appears to be interested in unveiling the truth, he is revealed to be a pawn in the big game, as he works directly for corporate giants like Lowen, doing their bidding. The shallow, broken concept of the American Dream is actualized at the cost of millions of people, who find themselves discriminated against, socially disadvantaged, and at the claws of crime and poverty. Meanwhile, the upper echelons in the ladder of power still remain hidden — who really is pulling the strings? No matter what one’s perspective really is, No Sudden Move stresses the hollow nature of existence amid a crime-riddled world, the price one has to pay in the process, and the understated simplicity of a quaint, limited life.

About The Author

Debopriyaa Dutta
(328 Articles Published)

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Apart from being a features writer and critic at ScreenRant, Debopriyaa is a news writer at /Film. She is also a contributor to High on Films & Fansided, and an editor at Digital Mafia Talkies. Her poetry has been published in a wide array of journals, such as Gideon Poetry, White Noise Magazine, and Literaria. Find her on Twitter @angelusatani.

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