Could someone explain why Amy reported (or pretended reporting) about Vince's drug possession?
Well, it's illegal but what I mean is that I understand Jon being reported of his rape if he really did it, but what did Vince deserve really?
I liked how Amy just simply walked away like she walked away from their (Jon and Vince's) lives, though. She knew Vince didn't got Jon confess for her but for himself. Maybe it has something to do with it?
Another related question:
Jon's body language seemed odd to me at the end. Is there any chance they conspired somehow?
As far as Amy "reporting" Vince's drugs, I think it was to show that she didn't consider him the "good guy" in this situation either. As she pointed out (and I believe correctly) Vince was doing this for himself, not for her.
As for the second question about Jon's reactions at the end, I really don't believe Jon and Amy conspired anything. The only real thing that I considered a bit odd was him laughing as Vince was desperately trying to get rid of the drugs. I think at this point he was just so amazed/surprised that ANY of this was happening he just kind of resigned himself to it. Let's face it, Vince's freak out was kind of humorous. And we know from Vince and Jon's earlier conversations that Jon didn't condone Vince's dealing drugs, so I don't think we can expect to show him any sympathy for losing some.
Just to add to something I said above, I think Jon was so in shock about what was happening that he stopped being to nervous/pent up and assumed the attitude of "Whatever happens happens." Think about it. About an hour and 30 minutes prior he showed up to meet one of his oldest friends to celebrate. Fast foward that hour and a half, the cops are on their way, he's about to be arrested for a rape that he probably isn't even sure happened anymore because of Amy's reactions, and his best friend is shoveling drugs down the toilet and having a total freak out. If he didn't laugh, he'd have probably cried.
"I really don't believe Jon and Amy conspired anything." Maybe, but it had that feel about it to me. To me, it was almost like an intervention for Vince. And for it to really work, I suppose Amy has to walk out to pull it off. Because if Jon and Amy had to reveal that the rape and confession were all just made up, then the intervention would not work. Vince has to know that he dodged a bullet and should think about changing his life style. I guess I'd like to know what Stephen Belber, the playwright, has to say about it. I guess I should do a little more looking around the Net.
shareThe rape was supposed to have happened 10 years ago. I thought Americans had something called statute of limitations which meant that after 5-6 years has passed you cant be charged with a crime. Or perhaps thats just certain crimes.
If its true it adds a bit to the film because Jon would never be worried about being arrested, therefore being/staying in the hotel room had nothing to do with potential blackmail or getting the tape back..
writing this as I watch it now.
Amy specifically pointed out that this did not apply to rape.
I am not a complete idiot. Some parts are missing.
my thought is that amy really hated vince the whole time, and not jon. i mean, when vince called her she wanted to go and talk to him to see what he was playing at and maybe to get back at him. she might have been mad at him because while they were dating he didnt respect her because he wanted her to sleep with him instead of just loving her. i think that's really what upset amy. as for jon, im not sure whether the rape occured or not. im sure it was a kind of consentual-at-first-then-taken-too-far type of thing. and so maybe she was mad at jon. or maybe they did sleep together and jon thought he was rougher than he shouldve been and thought amy didn't like that but maybe she wasn't entirely bothered. since she went out with vince for a lot longer, she had a chance to see what a douchebag he could be, and this was probably also perpetuated by his behavior and need to hear that jon raped her. so, by calling the cops (well, pretending) she could see if jon was sorry, or since she knew nothing would happen to jon, she didnt really care about him. but she knew that vince had a lot of drugs and maybe she really wanted to hurt him because of all the stuff i just mentioned, so best case scenario for her he'd dump them.
just a theory.
"If the lines on your hands are wrinkles, it must mean your hands worry a lot."
I liked the movie, but I'm a total indie flick freak... someone else would probably just hear a bunch of blah blah blah
the druggie thought he'd take his pal down a peg, but his true motives were revealed
the yuppie is always trying to get the splinter out of the druggies eye, ignoring the log in his own
the psycho acted like she was afraid of her own shadow and was in total denial about what happened to her until she acted in an official capacity, then she was competent and effective
all of them must have come away from that meeting dissatisfied, although at the very end it seemed some sort of breakthrough had been achieved between them
they should probably avoid each other in the future, don't you think?
Tape is a movie without flashbacks, narration, back story, and no ultimate resolution. because of this, it is really open to interpretation, because its all about the characters' actions within about an hour and a half.
I think everyone can agree on this: Tape is really just a question of morality.
My interpretation of the event at the end, with the whole calling-police thing, is that Amy was just testing to see who was the better man.
There was definitely some tone of revenge hidden inside her actions, but that wasn't her only agenda. She was pissed off, because she had loved Jon, and this whole rape/didn't-really-love-her thing had been brought to her attention. Calling the police for real, especially on Jon, would have been totally uncalled for. He was sincerely trying to apologize to her, although he wouldn't have done it had Vince not recorded him, but he was sorry, and he wanted everything to be okay. He did what anyone else would have. Her reaction to his apology was a bit wacko, and her method of revenge was sick, but once she saw that Jon was choosing to stay and be "arrested", she probably cooled off a bit (although Jon may have known that she faked it).
My opinion on Vince: total *beep* Though he may have been doing something that was a little bit righteous, he did it incorrectly. His idea of getting Jon to admit to it was sick, and all he really wanted was to take Jon down a notch and get back with Amy (he did admit that he just wanted to be her first sex). He was full of himself, and childish, and unchanged (as Amy pointed out), and he was sniffing cocaine. He had something coming to him. Like i said, Amy's idea of punishing him was skewed but she knew something had to be done.
And, one last note, i don't think it was really rape, and i don't think Amy suppressed the memory. She wanted to be with Jon. Vince just tricked Jon into exaggerating the story into something it wasn't, when Jon had been the one who had grown up and seen the error of his ways, whereas Vince had not at all.
good job summing up my feelings.
shareThanks! I don't quite agree on Amy testing to see who was the better man, but the rest of your interpretation was what I had in mind as well (a lot more vaguely, though). :)
shareWhy did Amy call the cops? Because she wanted to.
Why did Amy sleep with Jon? Because she wanted to.
Both of those things pissed Vince off.
Amy wanted to sleep with Jon 10 years ago, because he was a refreshing change from Vince. Vince was kind of malicious and sneaky, and immature, and totally unambitious. Jon was more ambitious and seemingly (10 years ago) more stable and "going places" This attracted her to Jon. Jon probably did get a little aggressive but ultimately it was not rape, he had just built it up in his head and this anxiety about what was compounded by guilt that he slept with his oldest friends girl and that it was a source of tension between Jon and Vince.
And everyone has to have a first time. Amy is nobody's fool. She was probably a little too young to sleep with Vince when they first started dating, and by the time she was ready for sex she knew Vince wouldn't be the one.
My interpretation (my very *long* interpretation) of who these people are and my theory about what happened in the hotel room:
First I want to say that I found none of the characters two dimensional in any way. They are real people. Therefore, none of them can be cast as "the villain" or as any of the other terms that we use to try and simplify the whys and hows of human behavior. That kind of thing has its place. But this isn't a Disney film and we're not talking archetypes here. So...first we have....
Vince. Here's how I see Vince: He is a jaded, selfish, manipulative person with no purpose. He's been kicked in the head one too many times to think that people are good and he's done the kicking one too many times to think that he's any better. It's the very fact that he can't find his purpose that makes him so aimless in life. He deals with his view of the world by doing exactly what he wants. The fact that doing what he wants leads to self-destruction and violence is not that surprising. I don't think he knows why he set the whole thing up with John and Amy. He simultaneously acknowledges and denies his issues. But he doesn't have to fully acknowledge them to let them be his motivation. Maybe he really had feelings for Amy and was hurt when she slept with John. Maybe it made him even more angry when Amy came to him later and tried to tell him something about the encounter that implied that not all was well. That put strain on his relationship with John. For ten years. So. Vince makes up this plan. Who knows how long it had been stewing in his weird-ass brain but it was obviously pre-meditated. Get John to admit what he did. Get John to show himself to be a liar and a fake. Get Amy to see how bad John is. Oh, and it will probably help Amy deal with the issues she must obviously still have. Yeah, that's good. I'm sure that was probably as far as he got in terms of reasoning. And even if he *could* conceive of the situation being more complex and difficult than he made it, then...well it just doesn't really matter. He's still getting what he wants right? Deep down the guy is scared and alone and angry and confused and dealing with it. Badly.
Then we have: John. John would rather not get involved. He's that guy. The one who thinks that he's well adjusted and sincere - but only because he refuses to acknowledge his mistakes and is in the process of trying-to-deal-with-not- dealing-with-his-past in an idealistic, philanthropic way. It makes him uncomfortable to see just how *beep* up he was once. It's terrifying to acknowledge that people are capable of doing such terrible things to each other. He IS trying to do something with his life which is more than we can say for dear Mr. Vince but he's just as selfish. At the beginning of the film, he doesn't have much moral advantage over Vince but he does have the potential to be a better man if he could own up to his mistakes, admit that people do bad things, and make the choice to better himself and the world.
And that brings us too: Amy. Picture this. You're a 18 year old girl. You've just broken up with your first boyfriend. That's kind of a shame but he was putting too much pressure on you to have sex with him anyway. AND you've been kinda....*noticing* his best friend. That John guy. Oh, who are you kidding? He's the one you really want - the one you've wanted for some time now...and it just so happens that you're both at this party...you're both drunk...he's getting frisky...And you love him right? You want him to be with you, right? So...this is what he wants. Why not give it to him? I mean, it can't be that bad...maybe it will be okay...oh! Ouch. This..this isn't exactly what I wanted but...Ouch! Stop...Stop! What? What did you say? I-I know but...yeah, I want to...but... Yeah. That's what I said but- ....Okay. Yeah, it's fine...
And later....
That's...not what I expected. He...didn't even talk to me after...He..he doesn't love me. He doesn't care about me at all. I can't believe I- What was I thinking! I'm so stupid!...
Fast forward through the years of self-hatred, self-pity, and anger. Jump right on past the time it took for her to gather some self-confidence, suppress the worst of the lingering pain, and dedicate her life to putting bad people behind bars.
So there we go. I think Vince had a plan. I think the plan got away from him. I believe that John was forced to take a step in the right direction. Like I mentioned above - his real issue is dealing with responsibility. And, in the end, he stayed. He may have been just too flabbergasted at that point to care about what the hell was going on but he did make the right decision. He's a coward. But when pushed to the limit, he made a good call. Amy, I think, got a tiny bit of closure, if nothing else. John passed her test. It won't change much. She's had to deal with that pain for too long. The encounter won't automatically make her healthy and whole but now there's room to move on. There's room for truly forgetting, if not for forgiving. As for Vince, like Amy said, there will be more drugs. I don't think he'll go away from this completely unchanged but the only people who were really helped by this little Dr. Phil moment were John and Amy. Who knows what will become of him? Probably not much.
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Well he wouldn't need be concerned about being charged since was well past statu limitations as well as he didn't confess anything on tape which was made illegally u can't secretly tape someone to use against them also again all he said was held her arms and stuck his dick in her doesn't say I held her arms forcefully also same time u can argue even if he used those words forcefully doesn't mean was without her consent since people do like "rougher" sex than others... And again woulda been he said she said and too many years gone by for any sort of legal case, since case in point he doesn't even recall what took place.
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