I looked this up on Tigerdroppings and saw minimal discussion about the movie. Reddit had some discussion about both the book and the movie, but not my specific questions.

Clearly there are spoilers from this point on.

1. What most confused me was the reaction of Elwood’s grandmother. Before the final reveal, we see that “Elwood” goes to her home in Tallahassee. She responds by emotionally crying and saying “he’s alright, he’s fine, he’s free” several times while hugging “Elwood”.

This seems an entirely reasonable response to a grandmother seeing that her beloved grandson is at her door step.

However, it is an entirely unreasonable response to seeing the proof her grandson’s friend is alive, which means her beloved grandson is dead.

Is there any point to the dialogue and scene besides continuing to string along viewers before the final reveal?

I guess someone can say that her words are indicative of her faith in the afterlife and hope Elwood is in a better place, etc. However that seems like a stretch which is used to justify a plot point.

2. By contrast, the scene at the bar in 1985 or so is well done. When Chickie Pete shows up at the bar, he recognizes the main character. He’s not especially close to Elwood or Turner, but he is a good guy who is fine terms with both of them, as far as I can tell. Unlike the bully Black Mike.

He never calls the character by a specific name so it’s feasible he is speaking to either Turner or Elwood.

In addition, he is on good terms with both as teens, but not best friends or anything, so his reaction works. On top of that, the guy who we think is Elwood doesn’t have a business card, so Pete writes his number on a bar napkin. This is all fine.

However, as Pete leaves to use the bathroom, we see a shot of “Elwood’s” arms and it’s clear that he is lighter skinned than Elwood. The illusion of adult Elwood not actually being Turner could have survived this scene if not for the choice to show the adult Elwood’s arms.

Doesn’t this seem like quite an oversight for a movie that puts a good bit of effort in minimizing plot holes and keeping the plot twist hidden?

3. Point 1 bothers me much more than Point 2.But my biggest issue is this: the only reason that Turner changes his identity to Elwood’s is for the point of having a plot twist. Right?

The authorities know that Elwood is dead and Turner has escaped.

Turner’s decision to become Elwood isn’t done to avoid the authorities.

Besides this is all done in 1967 when escaping and changing identities was actually possible.

When an identity change occurs in a film, there is usually a purpose beyond having a plot twist for its own sake.

A criminal takes the identity of a victim, a brother sought by the cops takes on the identity of his brother to avoid getting caught, etc.

Here, the best explanation I can come up with is that Turner felt bad that Elwood died at such a young age. He viewed Elwood as a pure kid who deserved to have a happy and full life, perhaps more so than even he did.

But compared to the examples, I gave above, this much lower stakes and entirely symbolic.

Turner and Elwood are no names. No one in New York knows who either person is. The only person who would care (Elwood’s grandmother) knows the truth.

Also this is a pretty damn sentimental reason, full of symbolism and metaphor. Elwood is a smart and sentimental guy, so it wouldn’t be out of character for him to do this.

But Turner, while a good guy, isn’t particularly smart nor sentimental.

So is there any reason Turner “becomes” Elwood except to have a plot twist?