Pretty great movie with some very memorable dialog and performances, but I feel like I missed an important detail or maybe watched a theatrical cut. What was the deal with the man who killed Gwyneth Paltrow and was keeping his victim's hair? I thought he was going to be revealed as Alec Baldwin, but it seemed like some random guy?
What did I miss?
The rapist/killer was a maintenance man who worked for Andy's school and who saw the girls he wanted to attack in Andy's office (as girls who had appointments with Andy at the college). The man is shown literally bumping into Gwyneth Paltrow on her way out of Andy's office after the one appointment that appears in the movie.
It was significant because the proximity of the girls to Andy gave the police detective a reason to ask Andy for a sperm sample to clear him as a suspect.
This was significant because it resulted in a lab test which showed Andy as being sterile.
This was significant because Andy told the police detective that Tracy had been pregnant when her ovarian cyst erupted and her life was in danger.
This was significant because it caused Tracy's and Jed's insurance scheme to fall apart.
The rapist/killer was a plot device, in other words.
Hitchcock would call the plot device of the rapist the "McGuffin."
shareHitchcock would call the plot device of the rapist the "McGuffin."
The murderer of Gwyneth Paltrow's character, Paula Bell, was Jigsaw!
And before he murders her the killer and victim have a brief interaction in Andy's office.
"You're not Jigsaw bitch!"
Lol