Salt (2010)

An adaption gone totally wrong. Somewhere, Marc Kurlansky is weeping tears of bitter frustration...

The Stand (1994)

A faithful television adaption of Stephen King's classic goes off the rails at the end with a questionable new twist.

With the fate of the last few survivors of a global superflu at stake, the miniseries ends with former rock musician Larry Underwood (Adam Storke) facing off with Satanic foe Randall Flagg (Jamey Sharidan) in Las Vegas. Only in this version, it's a fight to the death.... with dueling guitars!

In an awkward flashback, it is revealed that the pandemic was caused by Underwood selling his soul to Flagg at midnight at a Louisiana crossroads. In exchange for a (ironically brief) taste of stardom, the New Yorker signed a contract in his own blood giving the Devil "anything he desired."

Even this might have been acceptable had the producers stayed with the traditional blues motif. However, with a duel featuring songs from such late-80s pop-metal bands such as Ratt and Skid Row, every last inch of dramatic seriousness is drained from the scene.

So for all you aspiring directors out there, remember. While a little Winger might go fine at your 20th Year High School Reunion, it's probably not a good idea for your first feature.

Breach (2007)

Yet more questionable revisionism from director Billy Ray. While Robert Hanssen might have been the most dangerous Russian spy in American history, there is little proof that he ever worked directly with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. And though the scene at the end with the pumpkin might have seemed fresh and original when written, it feels like it's been done before.

Casablanca (1942)

Sure, it was a nice play on the title ("Casa... Blanca"... White House) but having Victor Laszlo become President of the United States in the last scene strains credibility a little too far. Despite an impassioned monologue in which he tells of being born in a Cleveland tenement and of his parents then immediately immigrating back to Prague, Paul Henreid never quite convinces the viewer that he could have won the Republican nomination so quickly. (And the cheap mock-up of the Rose Garden - a testament to the new wartime rationing - doesn't help either.)

This is not to knock Henried, a fine actor in his own right. Rather, the blame has to fall on Jack Warner. Though the ending appeared neither in the play that the film was based on - or any of the several screenplay drafts - the mogul insisted on inserting it at the very last minute, in a misplaced burst of patriotic fever.

While Casablanca remains a beloved favorite of film aficionados everywhere, this is the classic example of a twist that went a little too far.

Shattered Glass (2003)

Obviously, when you base a film on real life events, you're going to take liberties. Still, having a final scene where New Republic journalist Stephen Glass wins the Pulitzer - as a packed auditorium at Columbia University stands and cheers - was going a little too far.

Even the renowned Ted Kotcheff - sparkling in his role as loveable publisher Marty Peretz - is unable to save this zany comedy as it goes off the rails.

Gainsbourg (2010)

For the most part, this account of a brigade of French volunteers who crossed the ocean to fight for the Union in the American Civil War is quite entertaining. However, unfortunately, the film breaks down as it nears the climax at the Battle of Gettysburg (or "Gainsbourg" as it's translated into the Gallic tongue.)

While history isn't my strong suit, I think it was stretching it to have the brigade beat back Pickett's Charge all by themselves (and then go on to capture Robert E. Lee, singing and dancing all the while.) And the final line from Captain Pierre (Jean Reno), delivered as word comes of a second group of French soldiers conquering Richmond, is a bit too much: "Washington, nous ici!"

Yes, while our two countries have had a long and close relationship, I think endings like these do it a bit of disservice.

The Boxer (1997)

Sometimes a film strains too hard for a poetic effect. Having Danny Flynn (Daniel Day Lewis) leave the gritty streets of Belfast at the end, to retreat to a forest glade, where he stands, crying out in anger and shame, "I am leaving! I am leaving!" is one of those times.