MovieChat Forums > Stir of Echoes (1999) Discussion > Question about Samantha...

Question about Samantha...

posted 13 years ago by shoegal998
8 replies | jump to latest

SPOILERS**

Two things I don't fully understand..

So...she was a little slow in the head then? I remember the guy calling her retarded, but I didn't know if that was just his way of calling her dumb since everyone thought she ran away..which is why it pissed that other dude off. But her thinking there was actually a surprise and then saying "you can kiss me if you want," when she should have obviously noticed it was a bad situation at that point and ran, lead me to believe she was actually a little slow up there.

Also, what was with Frank leading Tom to believe he was dead? Did he know prior to talking to him that the two were going to come over and try to kill him? I just don't get why he made him leave the basement, fired another shot and hid down there while he heard the two attacking Tom...and if not for the wife they would have smothered him. So why did he pop out and save their butts at the end, when he was clearly MIA when they were about to smother Tom with the pillow? I'm pretty sure I'm missing something here lol.

[–] Tracey73 13 years ago

I think Samantha was somewhat mentally slow because when Tom was asking the neighborhood guys about her, one of them referred to her as the "slow one" (or something like that). Plus, the other guy got ticked off at that one calling her the "retard," which makes me believe that she was actually mentally slow or delayed.

IMO I think that Frank knew they were coming over to confront Tom. I have a feeling that Frank was the one who told the other man that Tom knew something about this murder. As soon as Tom found her body (and was "shown" who killed her and what happened), he went over to Frank's and told him that his son shot himself because of this (not realizing that Frank and the other man helped cover it up).

As for Frank making Tom believe his was dead ... I really don't know. It's possible he thought about killing himself at that time, but then changed his mind. The only thing I can think of was that he realized it was "all over" when he heard Maggie come through the door. I think maybe he finally had a conscience and was feeling very bad for everything that happened and didn't want anyone else to die.

(These are just my opinions.)

Some hurt, some love, some shout. I fought the world and I lost that bout. ~ Blue October

[–] shoegal998 13 years ago

Well I think they're very good opinions, and help the film come together more at the end, at least for me. So thanks (:

[–] Ghost_Of_Me 13 years ago

Some more info for you, they weren't trying to smother Tom with the pillow, he was about to shot him in the back of the head! He was just trying to use the pillow to silence the sound of the gun blast.
And yes, I believe Samantha was supposed to have been a little slow. She prob didnt have to many friends and thats why she went inside the house with the "popular" boy. Sad story really.

[–] Nirhtuc 13 years ago

I don't think she was intellectually impaired. I think she might have something like Asperger's... she probably has some social or pragmatic impairments (trouble reading social cues etc.).

[–] heddyjohannesen-621-626744 9 years ago

Samantha clearly wasn't popular. She asked the guy why he would talk to her. This indicates a lack of confidence in herself. I don't know why she fell for the obviously cruel trick of entering a house with that guy for a 'surprise'. I would not have. But maybe to finally feel good about herself, she did go for the surprise. Then, once inside, she sees it was a lie. But she still let the guy kiss her. So um, as much as I hate to say it, yeah I think she was slow.

[–] rj-27 9 years ago

IMO I think that Frank knew they were coming over to confront Tom. I have a feeling that Frank was the one who told the other man that Tom knew something about this murder.

Actually, what tipped off the landlord about Tom discovering the body, was his son peering in from the basement window.

Frank comes independently of the other two. He didn't have time to call Damon.

Why he chose to stay in the basement until the crucial moment could be because he was wrestling with himself over what to do and finally resolved to end it by defending Tom from his attackers. But that fails to explain the "fake" suicide shot.

One minor plot point: Frank fires a round to scare Tom into leaving the basement, and then you hear another round go off, presumably the suicide shot. He is holding a six shot revolver. Then, when he shoots Damon's son, he hits him with three shots and then shoots Damon with another three rounds.

So unless he brought extra bullets with him, he fired 8 rounds from a six shot revolver. Something that frequently happens in Hollywood unless it is a Dirty Harry movie.

Democracy is the pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. H.L. Mencken

[–] smokescreensemerge-538-372043 9 years ago

This movie was nostalgic because I'm around those kids age at the time. The 90s was so full of ignorance at some social settings due to lack of broad band information. But at the same time there was a certain amount of innocence that you just had to love. Samantha seemed to be a good heart person that was just young and naive wanting more social acceptance. I don't think she was slow at all but desperate to find a social circle. I know if I was there I would have been the dude to befriend and protect her. Sucks.

[–] AmandaJoy1978 8 years ago

Her sister said at the train station that she had the mental age of 8, so yes, she was slow and would have been gullible. There was a real case of a teenage girl with a lowered mental age raped by a group of football players after they tricked her to coming to their party alone. So this scenario in the movie is very accurate.