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Plot hole? How did Clarence not realize that he left his I.D. at the crime scene?

posted 3 years ago by Threadkiller (2954)
17 replies | jump to latest

First off. I really like this movie. I'm probably one of the few people you will ever hear say that it's my second favorite Tarantino movie after Pulp Fiction. One nitpick that has always bothered me though is how did Clarence somehow never realize that his driver's license was left at the crime scene? It's totally plausible and even likely that in the confusion & chaos at Drexl's place that he would have have forgotten it. That being said, it shouldn't have taken very long. Perhaps, a day or so at best before he realized it was missing, let alone not ever realizing it was gone or where he likely lost it for the rest of the movie.

Has anyone else ever wondered about this or have an explanation I over looked?

[–] legnadibrom (5719) 3 years ago

it's a good question, but doesn't really affect the impact of the film

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Except that is how Christopher Walken's character finds him

[–] legnadibrom (5719) 3 years ago

i mean, the fact that Clarence never realizes or mentions he left his ID, wallet at Drexl's

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Things got rather heated in in that scene between Drexl and Clarence, so its possible that Clarence forgot about his license.

Very foolish, but possible

[–] TearofLys (2398) 2 years ago

If Walken isn't able to track him down somehow, there is no movie. It is a reasonable scenario however. Clarence is engaged in mortal combat, against all odds, he somehow prevails, his adrenaline is pumping. Reasonable to think he wouldn't stop to look for his wallet.

[–] davodikum (5971) 3 years ago

I think he would have realised he lost it at Drexel's. They just didn't bother showing a scene of him having that realisation.

[–] StinkyPoopyPants (2699) 3 years ago

Honestly, I don't think of that as a plot hole, goof or even unrealistic. I can easily see that happening after everything he just went thru. If it were me, I'd probably be miles away before I even looked at my license, lol.

[–] TheArgentinian (6452) 3 years ago

I don't know if you noticed it but he was in a high stress situation where you don't think clearly.

[–] Mrmojo4700 (20452) 2 years ago

Exactly 👍

[–] Jsully9 (377) 2 years ago

Criminals do stupid shit all the time. Who cares if he never mentions his DL.

[–] daveyh (585) 2 years ago

For most of the comments, the OP to be fair does say "It's totally plausible and even likely that in the confusion & chaos at Drexl's place that he would have have forgotten it. That being said, it shouldn't have taken very long. Perhaps, a day or so at best before he realized it was missing...."
The issue isn't that he left it there with all that was going on, the issue is that we're not shown him later on realising that he left it there.
My answer to the question is that he did realise and that's the reason they up and left for the coast so quickly. And that's also why he visited his father - no make sure he wasn't a suspect in Drexl's murder (the only reason he would be is because of his ID being at the scene). His father confirms that it's being treated as a drug/gangland thing.

[–] Threadkiller (2954) 2 years ago

If we're going with the premise that he indeed was aware that he had left his driver's license at the crime scene and that's the reason why he asked his father to look into what the police were reporting about the incident, then the fact that they apparently hadn't found his I.D. at the crime scene should have made him just as worried as if they had been looking for him.

Common sense would tell him that the cops wouldn't have simply overlooked his I.D. & if they didn't find it that meant the strong possibility that Drexil's criminal associates discovered his I.D. before the cops got there & would be dead set on tracking him down, especially after he stole their high grade drugs. Of course that's exactly what happened yet Clarence assumes he's free & clear, thinking nothing of how he's endangering himself & his father, actually going as far as giving him the exact written address of where he's going, which the gangsters find almost immediately.

[–] daveyh (585) 2 years ago

common sense would tell him that. Problem is I'm not sure Clarence had much of that. He was naive when it came to the criminal world and deluded when it came to everything - imaginary conversations with Elvis and all that.
And it's in one of these conversations Elvis tells him that getting away with it's the easy part. So he may well have concluded, incorrectly, that the police overlooked the ID - either through not bothering to search the crime scene properly (like Elvis told him they wouldn't because, hey, it's only a scumbag pimp), or because they thought it might just belong to one of Drexl's many clients or that it was a fake or stolen ID that happened to be lying around. Naive I know, but there's plenty of true crime stories out there in which the perpetrator has grossly underestimated the thoroughness of the police's investigations.
As for the suitcase, I think he was a lot more concerned with going down for murder than he was with someone potentially coming after him for the drugs. So it either didn't occur to him that the police might not be the only ones looking for him, or he underestimated who was coming after him. Maybe he figured at best it might just be another 2 bit punk like Drexil, and looking in his apartment and maybe the comic book store would be as far as they'd go, and therefore skipping town would be enough. That even tracking down his father's address would be beyond them.
He didn't know he'd have the mafia coming after him.

[–] Poozer91 (572) 2 years ago

It's been a while since I saw it but, I don't think that he would ever attempt to go back to Drexl's to get his license, as it would be extremely dangerous and probably be assuring his death. Maybe they filmed a scene of him noticing it was gone, but he was on the run most of the movie and it was probably the least of his problems.

[–] moviechatterer (13341) 2 years ago

but also not doing that would "probably be assuring his death"

Its like some "Worlds dumbest criminals" tvshow shit

"... and this moron left his ID at the scene of the crime!"

[–] Poozer91 (572) 2 years ago

The movie clearly paints him as not bright to put it lightly. Plus I don't think he was planning on killing Drexl (he thought it would be like all the movies he watched and he could intimidate him). Once he did kill him he freaked out, was not thinking clearly, and left without knowing he left his license. Basically, it was like spray-painting his name over the house claiming responsibility for the death.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 2 years ago

First: Tarantino wrote the script. Tony feckless Scott directed the movie; so this is a Tony Scott movie, the exact ending of which the untalented Scott brother used for his climax in his feckless Domino attempted Keira Knightley vehicle.

Second: Clarence was a fucking idiot. He wouldn’t have noticed if he lost his dick. The dropped driver’s license was LAZY WRITING in the script, which needed a mechanism so Christopher Walken could track Clarence down and have a classic scene with Dennis Hopper.

The more time I spend thinking about the oeuvre of Quentin Tarantino, the less I like him.