We discuss the ending of the 2023 film Fool’s Paradise, which will contain spoilers.
Charlie Day wrote and directed Fool’s Paradise but played two characters. The first is “Tommy,” the star of the next Billy the Kid movie, who won’t leave his trailer. To remedy this, the film’s producer crosses his path with Tommy’s doppelganger, Latte Pronto, a man suffering from mutism. That’s when a sad sack publicist named Lenny thinks he has struck gold by signing Pronto as a client.
Of course, Pronto’s elective mutism becomes a problem that limits his roles. However, his popularity as the new star of the moment has him run into some of the more eccentric Hollywood figures. Those include a madcap director, a no-nonsense agent, a now homeless and former star of The Dagger franchise, a narcissistic diva, and a method Johnny Depp type, and all help lead him through this narcissistic wasteland.
For better or worse.
Fool’s Paradise Ending Explained
Why is the protagonist have mutism?
We don’t know precisely why Day’s character is mute, but at the beginning of the movie, the physician evaluating him states that he has the mind of a five-year-old or that of a golden retriever.
The patient doesn’t communicate but can mimic people talking to him. The physician states this could be some age regression caused by trauma or losing a loved one.
How does Latte Pronto become a star?
Latte Pronto becomes a star when Tommy accidentally kills himself while prepping for a hanging scene. The clip shows Tommy putting the noose around his neck and slipping on a crate.
However, the producer tells everyone it could have been Tommy performing erotic asphyxiation.
Since Pronto was helping shoot scenes for Tommy while he wouldn’t leave his trailer, the filmmakers stated that Pronto would help them finish the film.
Why does Latte Pronto think Lenny is dead?
After falling out of Hollywood’s favor, all Lenny can do is get Pronto parts in pornographic films. However, when Pronto doesn’t commit to the scene, Lenny takes over, and Pronto plays a voyeur who watches. After leaving the set, Lenny apologizes but passes out from exhaustion. At the hospital, Pronto is told that his friend has died.
However, it was a misunderstanding, as the nurse thought Pronto was visiting an older man in the same room as Lenny. Lenny was taken to get CT scans, but Pronto was given another man’s ashes. For much of the movie, Pronto carries those ashes around, thinking his only friend has died.
What does Pronto say at the end of the film?
Pronto says “I love you” to Larry after his publicist tells Pronto how much he means to him. This is significant because “Pronto” does not represent the entire film and observes the sharks in Hollywood acting inhumanely to their fellow human beings.
It’s at this very moment “Pronto” has found someone authentic, vulnerable, and broken, just like himself.
Why does Pronto say “I love you” to Lenny?
Pronto told Lenny he loved him because he exposed him to kindness and empathy. Let’s go back and examine what the physician said at the beginning of the film. Before the physician throws Pronto out because the city will not pay for his therapy, he mentions that he must have suffered some trauma. With enough “exposure” therapy, he could regain communication and social skills.
Pronto was exposed to Hollywood’s most distasteful human beings and was introduced to Lenny, who showed him kindness and empathy when no one else would. If you look back at the entire movie, Larry is the only character that treats “Pronto” as a real person instead of a money-making machine that needs to be constantly squeezed for profits.
What did you think of the ending of the 2023 film Fool’s Paradise? Comment below.
