what was up with the Rolls Royce place...?
forgive me if I missed something, but how did Campbell Scotts character find Dell the day after being stood up from their dinner appointment?
shareFair question. And one that in recent weeks has been much on my mind. It is my considered opinion that, it was not coincidence or chance. Dell and company knew where Joe lived and knew where to strategically place themselves so that their respective paths must cross and they did so in a manner that made it appear coincidental.
shareAfter watching this film and this scene again for what feels like the 100th time, I see what the con men have done. They know where Joe lives. They place Jimmy's buzz-cutted body guard/cohort in a car on the street where Joe will inevitably have to walk past on his way home. Joe had seen the buzz-cutted guy before in the islands with Jimmy. So when the big buzz cut guy gets out of the car at the strategic moment, Joe recognizes him as Jimmy's body guard(Buzz cut makes sure Joe sees his face to be certain that Joe recognizes him). Then, once Joe see's Jimmy's bodyguard going into the garage, Joe follows him to see if the Buzz cut will lead him to Jimmy.
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and they are rude to Joe, because they cant be sure that he isn't on to them already. Joe may have already discovered that there is no young female matching Dell's description of his sister, at the apartment. They need him to find THAT out later on.
By staging this meeting, and being accusatory, they, in effect, grill him to ascertain that they can move onto the next step.
Take it a step further: Joe discovers immediately that no young pretty Emma DaSilva lives in the building - what would he do? At the 'car dealership', he'd start ranting and shouting, and asking what's up. 'Jimmy' would then just back away, make some excuse or state that it was a practical joke, and then fold the 'con'.
When Joe just displays upset at a broken dinner engagement, they know that their 'con' can continue: the 'setup' is working.
:-) canuckteach (--:
i have seen this film in english and the texts were quite hard to understand sometimes, cause i am not a native speaker, so i can be wrong, but...
steve martin knew at that point very well that the main character doesnt know that the sister doesnt exist.
its no problem to talk with the guy at the door, to get this infos
it was even planned that way!
s.martin is quarelling with him exactly because of that with him,
that he hasnt brought the book by himself, but should have,
because martin is predicting that he wanted that they meet!
(note in the book)
that was the reason why he acted just if he was angry with him at that point.
the main figure should believe that martin want them to fall in love
all of this seems to be the plan.
even if the main character would have tried to give her the book by himself,
maybe the guy at the door wouldnt let him inside, because that wouldnt be common at this place.