Two Major Logic Flaws (spoilers)

1: I figured that Sam had been lurking around the acting classes and auditions to pose as a struggling actor for several days. It's pretty easy to strike up an acquaintanceship with someone in a short time. Sam may have met Jake's friend at an audition or something a day or two earlier, then sees him again and acts friendly. It seems like it would be a pretty natural situation for someone to blend into.

2: Not sure how he had access; I don't remember if he crashed through the gate or what. He did seem to dig that grave pretty fast, and it seemed perfectly dug, too.

1- Yeah, as the previous poster pointed out, he must have been hanging around open auditions for a while, and happened to strike up some acquaintances. He was after all, looking for the right patsy to fit in to his scheme, and may have been searching for weeks.

2- Haha, I immediately thought the same thing, "How the hell did he dig so fast?" But then the camera panned over to show 'Jake' hiding in the background and watching, and I assumed it meant to imply some time had passed while he sat there, unsure of what to do or how to make his next move. Or maybe he was just too scared to do anything. The guy was kind of a wuss.

1. Why is it impossible - or even improbable - that Sam and Scully would have a common acting buddy?

2. Not the kind of question one should necessarily worry about in a De Palma film.



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

1 - LA is a big town, so it's pretty easy to go unnoticed or unrecognizeable unless you are some major Hollywood star. Revelle was wealthy, but probably not in the public eye. He was estranged from his wife, probably living somewhere else setting up this scheme, making random acquaintances in the seedier parts of town, "getting in character".

The two biggest flaws to the film for me were...

1. Jake actually going into porn just to talk to Holly Body. That he would essentially throw his career down the crapper, not to mention having the confidence and nerve (which he hadn't exhibited all the way to that point) to literally have sex on camera....well, it's a major stretch. Why not just contact Holly and talk to her? You know, like he ultimately ended up doing.

2. Sam's dog breaking through the glass on the jeep door. TOTALLY took me out of the scene. It was so surreal. Was that believable to anyone?

But Sam was not in the class, the professor doesn't recognize him. He had overheard Jake's conversation with his friend about the class they had at 3 o'clock, and went in there pretending to be a student. And he knew Jake's friend - well maybe he had indeed posed as a student for a while, waiting for a bait.

As to 2, yeah the guy was a grave digging pro . No he shouldn't have been able to dig it that fast, and perfectly shaped too.

there's a highway that is curling up like smoke above her shoulder

My take is that Sam actually was a struggling actor, who happened to marry a rich girl he wanted to get rid of. Otherwise, why choose the acting profession to go lurking around looking for a "witness"? The qualifications for the witness being a guy looking for a place to stay, who likes to watch girls undress and masturbate.

The pool of possible subjects would be much larger than just the acting profession. The answer is that Sam was familiar with actors, because he was one himself, and it was natural for him to look for candidates within that social circle. It just so happened Jake was the guy looking for a sublet. If Jake hadn't passed Sam's "screening", Sam would've moved on to someone else. There is no unlikely coincidence here, because Jake is a random element with certain perceived qualifications. He could've been any guy. You only see it as improbable, because the audience knows Jake is the lead character, and was the first character introduced in the film. Within the context of the plot, Sam just happens to come upon Jake, and Jake happens to possess the qualities Sam is looking for. Jake could have just as well been unsatisfactory to Sam's needs, and Sam would have continued to look for someone else. But as viewers, we know ahead of time that Jake has to be the guy.

Jake's claustrophobia, is just an added bonus for Sam. A trait he can manipulate to enhance his scheme.

The entry into the reservoir and perfect grave, are minor issues, as we don't know the real elapsed time that Sam has had to perform these tasks. We don't know how long Jake was grappling with the police, or how far he had to run to get from his car to the reservoir. Could have taken about half an hour or so. Plenty of time for Sam to get as far along as he did. Probably helped that the soil was fairly soft as close to the water as it was.

Alexander (Sam) isn't rich, his wife is. That's the whole point of him doing away with her.