Was the original poker game con designed to fail in order to draw her into the bigger con?
When they leave the bar together the con must have already been set up and
a phone call to one of the others set it in motion.
i think its likely they wouldnt know if she was going to fall for it or not.
however the water in the pistol is no accident. if she fell for it then they get 6 grand, if she doesnt they can then draw her into a bigger con.
The con started ever since the "gambling addict" stepped into her office. You see him in the end, when she spies on the con gang splitting her money. So yes, the first poker game was definitely part of the con - you also hear their comments on it during the money split, I think that they laugh because the poker scene ended up too melodramatically.
there's a highway that is curling up like smoke above his shoulder
The con started ever since the "gambling addict" stepped into her office. You see him in the end, when she spies on the con gang splitting her money. So yes, the first poker game was definitely part of the con - you also hear their comments on it during the money split, I think that they laugh because the poker scene ended up too melodramatically.
1bilbo, literally everything was part of the con. I don't understand if the young guy (her patient) was really a patient but I don't think so. He deliberately gave a huge amount to get her to go to House of Games to talk to Mike.
sharewhich actually should have told her that they are pulling a bigger con on her btw. if the only reason she came to that place to be conned there was that her "patient" gave her a number like 30 times the amount he was in debt with, then she should have known something very fishy is going on.
ok they gained her trust basically telling her the trick of the treat which is nicely done, but all the more a reason to get behind it all because why and how on earth would one of these guys be so stupid to fill that pistol with water. they show her that they are very artistic and calculating with everything they do and chances are if they would be dumb enough to allow such failures they wouldnt be out on the streets anymore. so if u add one thing to the other it's all pretty clear guy allures her to a place where they stage a failed con and so anything that comes next has to be a hoax.
prolly she was written to be so far up her ass with her head that she couldnt get it, but still ... id rather have her outsmart them and take what she wants from them instead of this over-styled "character study" because that one looked just cheesy to me with Mamets approach and the 80ies looks adding to that. and btw. a film is not a stage on broadway so it might be a good idea to at least try to make it look like a movie. them shots and the wodden dialogue and delivery might be Mamets style but that style suxx.
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" People being stupid is not a plot hole " - by redwingjs
I agree that everything was part of the con - they targeted her specifically BECAUSE of her book.
They figured she'd be too embarrassed to go to the cops, even if she sussed everything out later.
Why didn't they put 25,000 on the kid's tab instead they only put $800 ? It could have been a flag to her, so I didn't get why they chose to do that for the con. I think that was more of a story gripper for the viewer.
shareIt was to tell the psychologist that Billy was really a patient who had things mixed up and was overreacting. It was to tell her that $800 was still a not very small amount for Billy. It was also to tell her that $800 was a harmless amount for the gang. That made her feel more comfortable in their presence than if it would have been $25000. It makes them look like "small time".
shareMike showed to her that Billy actually owed her less as a way to earn her trust. It would show that he was honest and trustworthy, so winning her confidence, which is exactly what a con-artist does.
shareExactly, I was surprised when he showed her that yellow notebook, he gained even my trust!! he looked like an honest man! con artist he was!!
Thats the exact meaning of that scene.
I thought that Billy was doing his own cons on the side.
Given the psychologist had bumped into a very high income bracket, he may have thought $25,000 was no big deal to her. If getting her to the house of games didn't happen as part of the Mike's con (She may have thought twice about being a woman going to a rough part of town alone and meeting with people who could rough her up), she may have loaned Billy the full amount to help get him out of trouble. Of course, in this scenario it would not turn out being a loan at all. If she decided to go the the house of games, then Mike's con was in play; however, the amount Billy stated and the amount Mike had in his book (which could be slightly off) was so far off that I thought it should have raised a red flag.
In addition, I wondered whether Billy was running his own con against Mike when he brought the gun to his counseling session, knowing full well he would be leaving it with the psychiatrist. Maybe he thought he was treated as too small a part in Mike's operation and wanted to take Mike out. But he couldn't do that directly so he pretended to want to commit suicide so she would get the gun. Then when he went to her office after the big con was over, maybe he deliberately drove his red convertible (that she "stole" in the parking garage) so she would see it, become suspicious, and then later find it parked in front of the restaurant door (how obvious was that). It's as if Billy wanted her to find out the truth and watch the guys divvy up the money. He knew she would be so angry at being tricked that it would DRIVE her to use the gun and kill Mike.
My take is that the original con was for $6000 and started early with the planting of Billy's story.
However, after sizing up the mark (Ford), and the way she was ready to give out $6000 to total strangers just to "help" them, they would have planned the big con.
Oh no IMO I believe it started with that girl asking for the autograph. That is a way of telling if she would be game. If she refused the autograph it would indicate she was not likely to try to help anybody. If Some girl runs up to me out blue she runs up and ask for a autograph I would want to ask how did she know I would be there and how she happened to have the book on her. Oh and now they also have her signature. I think that is when they knew that they could get the patient to scam her. She seems cold but she really is nice. Oh and I believe the original con was 6000.00 bucks too. I think she might not had went there if the price was attainable. This man was threatening suicide. They had to make sure she would come.
shareI think the autograph was a way for the audience to know that she had a book out, that it was a bestseller.
I think the con started with the guy who was her patient, he knew Mike & the gang and told them about her.
I think that could of been done numerous ways. I really that is where it started. It show her personality and would she apt to help a patient out. They could of just shown the book sitting up with her face on it. Or when her colleague mentioned it.
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