MovieChat Forums > Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009) Discussion > Question about plot *spoilers*

Question about plot spoilers

posted 15 years ago by Beejai
6 replies | jump to latest

Okay - I paid to see this in Singapore which is probably the only country in the world showing this movie on the big screen. Visually it didn't seemed qualified enough for a theatrical release and the story - well, the story was quite good but something was missing - it just didn't seem right - call it bad acting, bad casting, bad dialogue or bad directing - I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Anyway.... when you find out who dunnit at the end something made me think about the story leading up to the end... you kinda figure out who the girl was calling CJ at the office all the time, why he really was limping when Finley knocked on his door to take him the crime scene... but what I really started to think about is - what happened to the clothes he was wearing during the actual murder? I know it doesn't matter but I'm just curious... and why didn't the police find them - he couldn't do much with them between the time he killed her and getting back to his house for his friend to wake him... and what about being peppered sprayed? His eyes weren't red until he was sprayed the second time and Ella commented whether he had been crying...

Or maybe I'm just thinking about it way too much.

[–] seinfeldallofan 15 years ago

I know the pepper spray thing. I guess the effect was passed very soon. and they made the spray was to get the pepper water on the hat to be detected when they examine the evidences.
I thought it was the assistant AD called him all the time.I think he can dump the things in any garbage can. They are cleaned early every morning, aren't they? I think it's a good movie. Only his colleage was died worthlessly.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] zopop119 15 years ago

If there is one thing that is missing is that CJ himself before the fact or Ella after the fact, doesn't look for any alternative suspects to the actual murder. It becomes a pissing match about circumstantial vs forensic evidence and lost in all that is anyone's alternate theory regarding the true murderer. Even AFTER CJ is released you would think there would be some reference to that... so when you throw that into the whole picture, it really makes the twist at the end more plausible..

I still liked the movie.. and i liked the ending.

[–] jgain 15 years ago

That didn't bother me so much because what you had was a dead, junkie hooker. Those deaths are always a trick gone bad, a drug deal gone bad, a straight robbery. Basically a stranger on stranger crime that doesn't lend itself to being solved in the traditional manner. You can't look to someone for motive, or even know where to start looking because it literally could have been anyone, and these cases stay unsolved all of the time.

It's not like the typical murder where the assailant knows the victim and has a plausible reason for doing it. At least there would be a starting point in that investigation.

[–] rrpostal 15 years ago

That didn't bother me so much because what you had was a dead, junkie hooker

Ah, but there you have the major problem with the story. If he really wanted to "get away with murder", it would have seemed the easier way was just kill her like he did and drop all of the hoopla. Really there were too many things he was counting on for this plot to really work. How could he be sure the DA couldn't resist planting evidence? what if the DA just goes "meh, I don't need this one". It just seemed like a very low chance of success plan with too many complications, when there probably wouldn't be much of an investigation for a dead junkie whore to begin with. The best case scenario he has a big fat DUI charge potentially screwing up his career.

Here's a murder that I likely won't be linked to of a woman who the police likely won't investigate very much. I think I'll implicate myself in the murder with a complicated plan that depends on many variables outside of my direct control...sounds good!

[–] lenlarga 15 years ago

This is not a very 'deep' movie, so you don't need to think about it too much lest all the plot holes become visible. Better to be enjoyed for what it is- a cheap-to-rent, second rate suspense thriller with Michael Douglas.