If Claire has talked to Ben, and he hasn't seen Christine for 4 years, why is she shown to be calling Mike's cellphone in his car (17 missed calls)
And why does she talk about Adams death and say Ben was "in bits"?
Sorry, I enjoyed the movie up to a point but it was so simplistic and artlessly violent in have end, that I have been driving myself mad trying to work out what Claire's 'role' actually was
Did I miss something?
The phone belongs to Christine, which Dr Nash had given her. Dr Nash's first name was also Mike. Very big coincidence that both characters called Mike.
To be honest I didn't much liked the film, much prefer the book. A big very disappointment.
I've just seen the film, I'm trying to suss out Claire's roll in the film too - we know Claire in the discussion with Christine (at Greenwich) said that she and fake Ben started an affair whilst looking after the ailing son Adam and then soon left riddled with guilt. We know this was a pack of lies so what was her roll with fake Ben - Just his bit on the side? what was the main reason for fake Ben's persistence on pretending to be Christine's husband, how do you get away with that for years?
sharethink claire had affair with the real ben ,if you remmber in film she tells christine he has scar i though film was great
shareYes you are correct but didn't she said she mentioned that Adam (Christine's son) had died...whilst talking to her at the Greenwich observatory.
sharethink claires comment was after what happen with adam he couldnt carry on with marriage , so christine must have though that meant adam death but feel it was she lashed out at him. but agree with you as ann marie duff given big write up before movie came ou and only had a 2 min piece was strange.
shareNo, no, no, Claire never says or implies "after what happened with Adam" at any time during their conversation. You've all been suggested into thinking along the lines of that by the OP.
Fanboy : a person who does not think while watching.share
No she did not. I just rewatched that scene, she never mentions anything about Adam's death, the OP pulled this out of his *censored*. She just said that Ben was torn apart due to Christine's state and aggressiveness.
Fanboy : a person who does not think while watching.share
I didn't read the book so I thoroughly enjoyed the film. There were twists and turns every few minutes.
The set up was done nicely and the shocking revelation about Ben was a real treat.
Well done.
As for the OP's question, if only they paid more attention.
'sigh'
. Dr Nash's first name was also Mike. Very big coincidence that both characters called Mike.
His first name wasn't Mike, she imagined it, as the doctor later explained to her.
****"Some folks call it a sling blade I call it a kaiser blade hmm hmm!"****
If the doctor's first name wasn't Mike, then why did his ID badge say it was?
shareIt was a pretty cheap trick on the part of the film maker to not show that Mike had taken Christine’s phone. Thereby distracting the audience into wondering how Claire and Mike knew each other. Some people may have assumed he had taken the phone, but it was a 50/50 assumption and they could just have easily been wrong.
There was a similar cheap coincidence in calling Dr Naush, Mike.
Top thrillers/twist movies are rare because it’s difficult to make one without relying on plot holes and/or ridiculous character choices, whilst keeping the twist a surprise. Using this film as an example, here are my main gripes (and I don’t think any of these are pedantic)
Christine is a university educated woman in her 20s with a good job and a young son (and therefore almost certainly a significant social circle). And yet other than her son/husband, not a single person (other than Claire) gives two hoots about her. She has absolutely no family and only one friend. That is very unlikely
Ben and Adam stop visiting. What, completely? Really??? Surely they would still pop in maybe a couple of times a year? Surely they would occasionally get an update on how she’s doing from her doctor?
The pictures on the wall, which Claire would no doubt have looked at most days for the last 4 years, were absurd. They are suddenly revealed to quite obviously be fakes. It seems Mike has taken them into his school and got his class to just stick his face over the top of Ben’s face. Except the next day, by magic it’s a more professional job again
Mike’s character just isn’t strong enough for what this film is trying to achieve. It starts off very well…
He is a power obsessive who is in love with Christine and wants her to leave Ben. Finally when she rejects leaving her husband (maybe one too many times), he lets his true temper show and almost kills her. However he is so obsessed with having her, that he stays close enough to the situation over the following years to know when Ben and Adam have stopped visiting. Then he takes her in and for four years lives the life we see. He is so obsessed that he lives this terrible existence where she doesn’t even know him and he is essentially a full time carer. It’s a meticulous plan and he has covered all the bases and has an answer for everything. It’s the strongest part of the story and for those couple of minutes when the truth is revealed the audience is both terrified of him and sympathetic towards him.
But then what happens? He hits her. Why other than for cinematic effect? It doesn’t matter that she has been seeing Dr Naush. All he has to do is take away the phone and the camera. At that point, she is revealing her complete trust in him so will accept anything he tells her (in fact she would want him to take away the phone and camera). Its an absurd move on his part. The only thing more absurd he could have done is take her back to the scene of the crime and try to get her to realise what a complete whack job he is
But by far and away the number one absurdity…..how the hell did Mike get away with the attack in the first place??? The police know she is having an affair. They would quickly deduce she has been at a hotel. Mike would have been caught very easily.
I know that’s a hell of a rant, but few things in movies are more annoying than a film throwing away the potential to be really good
The book is far, far better than the film. Pretty much everything you say doesn't happen in the book.
In the book, Ben and Adam do stop seeing her. She's left to rot in a mental institute, and Mike finds out about it. He waits some time before bluffing his way into releasing her.
In the novel she isn't given a video camera by Dr Nash. She has an actual paper diary that she writes in. She also has to learn how to use a mobile phone because she'd never seen one before (every morning when she wakes up).
It's been a while since I read the book, but I do remember it ending differently (Mike is burnt alive in the hotel room).
I feel the story shouldn't have deviated too much from the novel, but hey - that's what directors do!
Also, in the book, "Ben" is found not to be a teacher at the school after all, but in the movie he appears to be. Just watched the movie today, and it was far too fast paced. I get what they were trying to do, but there were too many deviations from the book to make it satisfying.
shareIt was a pretty cheap trick on the part of the film maker to not show that Mike had taken Christine’s phoneIt was immediately clear that Mike/Ben had taken the phone from the house. Mike was talking on his own phone while the other phone was ringing. Claire said she was going to ring Christine back, which was what was happening. Mike turned the phone ringer down so Christine wouldn't catch on.
Another one. How did Dr. Nash know about her case and where did she live? And why he didn't want her to tell her husband about their daily encounters?
share[deleted]
Just saw the film on cable. This is in reference to mike-wright-1's post: You make excellent points, sir.
I haven't read the book yet, but regarding your observation that no one, friends nor (ex?)-husband and son seems to be keeping in touch with Christine, it would have been better explained if it was revealed that Mike/fake Ben had taken Christine to live in another country where no one would know her, hence her isolation would be more realistic.
As it is, Dr Naish's behaviour in the film seems somewhat unprofessional, in that he is treating Christine deliberately without her supposed husband's knowledge.
It is also odd that a clearly paranoid Mike/fake Ben seems perfectly happy to leave Christine alone in the house all day, without fear that she would go out and run into somebody she once knew. And that once she started revealing facts of her past life to him, he wouldn't have become suspicious despite her explanation that she is starting to remember bits of memories, searched the whole house, discovered her camera and phone, and gotten rid of them.
And I was expecting a deranged Mike/fake Ben to attack Claire and Dr Naish once he found out that they had been in contact with Christine.
It's a real pity. The film could have been plotted so much tighter; as it is, the loopholes that many have pointed out here are glaringly obvious.
Thank you, all, that has filled in a few gaps.....generally disappointed because I really wanted to like it and I've always loved Mark Strong, but a miss for me overall :(
shareI did not hate it, it kept me interested. I never read the book, but I knew instantly that he took her phone. It was so obvious. As for the Claire thing, it does make sense, in the letter it was explained why she said after what happened with Adam, she went crazy and he was terrified. It was not a cheap trick. I think it was actually well made. I am sure the book is better, the book is always better.
shareI agree, the simple fact that there were 17 missed calls by Claire was enough to tell us that it was Kristines phone that Dr. Nash had given to her.
But I have to admit the novell seems alot deeper in many ways, just from what I've read here.
I don't know the truth about Sep 11th. What I know is that the official version isn't the truth.
If Claire has talked to Ben, and he hasn't seen Christine for 4 years, why is she shown to be calling Mike's cellphone in his car (17 missed calls)
That was Nicole's phone. She called her 17 times after the revealing of Mike and the photos. It is OBVIOUS Mike took the phone.
And why does she talk about Adams death and say Ben was "in bits"?
WTF does this means?
Claire never EVER talks about Adam's death. If you watch the scene where Christine and Claire are talking they never mention Adam's death, they only talk about Claire taking care of him whilst Christine and the real Ben were at work.
Also, if you watch again the scene where Claire calls Christine for the first time and they agree to meet Claire says she CAN'T come to her, why? well, because Christine mentioned that she was with Ben and later on is revealed that Claire and Ben had an affair, so there's that.
I personally think that this movie was great, nothing like Shattered or Memento (which are great, too). Strong performances from Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth. The plot definitely has suspense and there are sufficient twists and turns, and of course, you have so inconsistency on the story line but nothing too big.
It was Christine's phone and Claire never said anything about Adam's death. Ben was in bits due to Christine's situation, not over Adam's death.
Fanboy : a person who does not think while watching.share
It was a bit obvious that it was Christine's phone. I don't know how someone would think otherwise. After the camera confession, he knows that people have been calling her. He takes her cell phone (because Christine doesn't even remember having it, she doesn't miss that it's gone) and Claire called on the house phone before saying she would later call her cell phone. There were 17 missed calls because Claire then kept calling the cell phone. The director makes it obvious this is what happens, because the entire time fake Ben was sitting in his car one block up the road. It wasn't until after he talked to Christine on the phone and was sure no one had contacted her again that he started the car and left.
share[deleted]
Claire never talked about adam's death and never said Ben was "in bits". It was the fake ben aka mike who said he was in bits. the conversation on adam's death was between chrissy and fake ben aka mike.
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