Directed by, and starring, Burt Reynolds, this is comedy about a salesman learning he has only months to live is in Woody Allen territory. The script has joke upon joke, few of them demanding to begin with, but then embellished by bits of business that are a little distracting.Well, I'm giving the elements credit because it's not that easy to make a comedy about having a terminal illness. Dabney Coleman managed to inject a few funny boluses into "Short Time" but "The Bucket List" was a slapdash affair providing an excuse for two older (but sometimes magnificent) actors to do the things we wish we had done. I almost hate to say it but arguably the most entertaining comedy about dying is the Rock Hudson and Doris Day film, "Send Me No Flowers." Burt's direction of "The End" is function and lapses only into one easy cliché -- a man wakes up sweating and thrusts his goggle-eyed face into the camera. He also drags out amusing moments. The script by Jerry Belson is fast and touches the bases. It may depend a bit much on obvious jokes -- "I told you not to cuss, Godammit." But it more than makes up for such weaknesses. Eg., Burt goes to make his last confession. The priest is Robby Benson, who looks about fifteen years old. Burt uneasily explains that he has a little difficulty calling him "Father" so the priest suggests Burt just call him Dave. In the confessional, Burt begins with, "Bless me, Dave, for I have sinned." And when the priest isn't regaling Burt with his OWN confession about lust and ambition, he flosses his teeth while listening to Burt talk about infidelity. Burt is doing his best to get organized but there is the intermittent "pluck" and "plick" from the other side of the confessional window.I really like Burt Reynolds. He's the least prepossessing movie star who ever breathed. Confident enough to be self deprecating in public despite his dark handsomeness. Cary Grant would never have made fun of his own ouvre the way Burt did at an Academy Award presentation by portentously rattling off a string of his own hits, like "Navajo Joe" and "Sam Whiskey." He can handle serious drama well and with the proper plot he excels, as in "Deliverance." But his ordinariness doesn't seem to work well with comedy. What you get without cultivation is lowbrow slapstick that sometimes is more silly than witty. As a performer Burt has a certain range but comedy broaches the perimeter of possibilities.

I first saw THE END on the NBC network around 1980, and thought it was a very funny and yet very touching black comedy about dealing with the end of life. It became one of my favorites. But back in those days, movies were still being heavily edited for television, something I wasn't aware of.A couple of years after that, I got to see the original theatrical version on cable, and I was shocked! It seemed like a completely different film; the original film was filled with foul language, crude sexual jokes about orgasms and other functions, and other unnecessary excesses. I was very disappointed.This is the textbook example of just how much difference TV editing can make for a film. It is also an example of how editing can sometimes IMPROVE a movie. Unfortunately, since video, DVD and cable are king now, it is only the unedited theatrical release that is available to viewers. That is a shame, but I still have fond memories of the hilarious and touching comedy I saw on TV so many years ago.On an unrelated trivia note, when Burt Reynolds published his memoirs a few years ago, he contended that veteran character actor Sam Jaffe had a small role. Apparently this scene ended up on the cutting room floor. Too bad.

With the talents of Burt Reynolds and Dom Deluise, most people would expect The End to be hysterically funny, as it has often been referred to as an under-rated "Black Comedy." The problem is "The End" is only funny in spots. Other times it tries to be a serious drama. The plot basically has Burt Reynolds, a real-estate executive, diagnosed with a terminal blood disease. He is told that he has less than a year to live, that the range could be as short as three months. Desperate, Burt decides to contemplate ways to commit suicide. After a failed attempt, he lands in a psycho-ward, where a patient (Dom Deluise) tries to help him achieve his death wish. At the film's conclusion, Burt decides that life is worth living after all, but his deranged inmate and friend is still trying to kill him in a memorable ocean-side scene as the credits roll.Another issue is that Burt's character, Sonny, never fully develops into someone really likable or funny, which is a shame, because Reynolds really tries to make the character work. While there are some chuckles from one-liners, a lot of the times, Sonny's moods are very "bipolar", often in the same scene. One minute he says something funny, and thirty seconds later he's moping around feeling sorry for himself.Dom Deluise also tries very hard to be comical, but again, he is only funny in spurts. The best scene in the movie is with Burt and he on the "tower" trying to carry out Burt's death wish! I think that is the funniest part of the movie. However, most of the time, both protagonists seem forced in their dialog. Burt's fake "crying" is so obvious when he is depressed in this movie, that "Sonny" often becomes more annoying than comical.I agree with another user who said that "The End" tries to be more than it is. However, the premise of the movie is uncertain where it wants to take the viewer. The first half is more serious than funny, and the second half is more funny than serious, but the movie just doesn't "come together" very well. I put the film just slightly above average at a six for the great "Tower Scene" and the song, "Another Fine Mess", which is good. However, this movie is not as good as it could have been.

Funny in a dark sort of way. I like the ending, and Burt Reynolds is funny in a sick way. This film is dated, and looks very 70's. The material is older, but still has some laughs. I caught about a quarter of it, after not seeing it for 10 years, and found it ok, but it depend what mood I am in when I watch it. I would watch it again on TBS but probably chanel surf at the same time. 6/10