Maybe it is just me, but at the begining of the movie Walter retrives the shell casing from the bank, and said he shot JFK and picked up the casing. a few minutes later Walter is at Dealy Plaza explaing how he shot JFK and he said he shot the president and put the gun under his coat and walked away. He failed to mention picking up the shell caasing. I know it is a small thing, but it seems a oversite none the less.
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For one thing, just because he forgot to mention it doesn't mean he didn't do it. But that doesn't matter anyway, because:
The casing was still in the rifle. It was a bolt action, so it's not automatically ejected.
I'm with paulthomasaltman, the casting of Raymond J. Barry was a dead giveaway for me.
shareI don't think that's what was meant as the "giveaway". It's perfectly obvious, whether the actors are famous or not, that this is not a real documentary. No one uses the camera that extensively, for one thing. For example, when the house was broken in to, why was firing up the camera the first thing the guy thought about?
Another thing is that if this was real, there would be a whole lot of public fuss about it.
The giveaway in question is whether or not the character actually did kill JFK or not, and that cannot be given away by the cast itself. It's an open ended movie where you're supposed to be left wondering: "Did he actually do it or was he simply deranged?" I don't think the filmmakers realistically hoped to fool anyone into thinking that this was an actual documentary.
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yeah i don' t think they were really trying to fool anyone. like the previous guy said, raymond barry is too recognizable an actor. i've seen him in "year of the dragon" and "born on the fourth of july" among other things. if they really wanted to fool anyone, they could have picked some really good old guy theatre actor who'd never done a film. they're out there.
shareWhy would he mention picking up the shell? He wouldn't pick up the shell, because he only fired one shot. After firing that one shot he did not load a second one. Consequently, because it was bolt action, the shell was not ejected in the first place. It was still in the rifle.
sharedont you just love how people can totally ignore your post about the fact its bolt action for that long...
also i didnt recognize any of the actors, so had i not been an avid imdb user i would of been fooled by this most likely, altho the shooting caught on tape kinda gives it away and i would also think why wasnt any of it national news worthy..
either way, excellent film.. i give it an "8"
besides it being a bolt action and the shell not flying out of it, I also think you people are mistaken in him ever having said he picked up the shell at any point. He says he put it in his pocket but I don't remember picking it up being part of the story.
I didn't recognize any of these actors I am not a "movie buff".
I was never under the impression that this mockumentary was meant to be taken seriously, but I did recognize Barry so maybe that's why I was never fooled. I still think it's a good film, regardless, although I felt the ending was anti-climactic and a bit frustrating.
shareHe didn't have to sight in the scoped Mauser after picking it up at the gun shop.
First shot was on target, and every shot after hit something. No scoped rifle is going to be dead on like that without some time spent in sighting in, zeroing to a specific range, and making adjustments for each shooter.
It wouldn't have worked like that in "real life."
Actually I took it off the Video shelf in the store thinking that it was a real documentary. Then as I was watching it I really believed it was true, I mean the concept was quite cleverly done. But as I watched the more intense bits I started to get weary, I mean the fact that the camera man was not afraid of doing all of that snooping, how the private dective didnt ask many questions, how John's son told the guys where his father would be straight away, and it was adead giveaway when I didnt see any President ...also the white houses secruity would be much much more heavier than that. also how on earth would you be able to sneak a gun to hand luggage and through both security gates? thats just quite unbelievable, nonetheless it all was avery cool conept. The only huge giveaway that would make everyone suspicious is that if this is real howcome there was no news event on the attempt assassination of Clinton or Bush?
But anyway, if this was a real documentary it would have been much cooler as everyone else had said. The last bit was spooking and very cool.
This is one of the few movies I selected almost randomly and what a surprise it was! During the course of watching it I realized it was not a real documentary but I was still intruigued. I thought it was very clever and entertaining. I would love to see more of this kind of movie where the lines between reality and fiction are a little blurry.
sharethat and the scoped "Mauser" was really a scoped Enfield - no way a gun nut like walter (or myself lol) would mistake one for the other
shareI must admit that I noticed this also. I agree with you, it's not a big deal, but yes it's an oversight.
Your title however, I must disagree with. Anyone can tell that this is indeed a mockmentry by not only the first few SECONDS of the film, but also just by reading the back of the DVD cover.
Last movie seen: Interview with the Assassin (2002) *******
Of course, it's equally possible that the writer deliberately omitted a detail like to amke you wonder if Walter really did it or not. The story has some inconsistencies and the question of his time in a mental hospital is meant to make you question the story. The movie doesn't really answer any of the questions it asks.
shareThis thread is amazing. I've mentioned twice before, and some people simply will not read even the first replies to the OP -- which is plenty short enough to read all of it -- and now I'll have to explain for the third time that the rifle was bolt action and so there was no need to pick up the shell afterward -- because it wasn't ejected. This was not an error or omission in any way, shape or form. In fact, had he specifically said that he picked up the spent casing, that would have been an error -- because a pro would never have ejected it in the first place.
shareThis movie never ever ever attempts to pretend that its real. The documentary narrative was simply a stylistic choice to tell the story.
Did you think Cloverfield or Diary of the Dead were supposed to be real, too?
Agreed
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