MovieChat Forums > The Tourist (2010) Discussion > So at what point did you know? SPOILERS

So at what point did you know? SPOILERS

posted 14 years ago by clearz2
78 replies | jump to latest

I diddn't know anything about this movie before seeing it so I wasn't looking for a twist but some some things caught my attention.

1) When the tourist first gets attacked in the hotel bedroom the morning after the kiss he scales across some roof tops and balconies without any hesitation. While this diddn't give it away to me I thought it to be a bit strange for a teacher.

2) When the crime boss kingpin strangles one of his men, I got the feeling that it was pretty cliché and to not expect much in the way of intelligence form the movie.

3) I only guessed it was him when he excaped from the police at the end and the head police guy kept saying he will turn up.

So when did you guess it was him?

[–] dk407 14 years ago

When Frank/Alexander stayed in Venice after she told him to leave. You could sense the "change" in the character.

[–] flo116 14 years ago

Yes, The character did change but Elise did 't seem to notice. When he really changed was when he escaped the police and entered the hotel to save Elise still she didn't seem to see it. But his whole demeanor changed I think it would have been really hard to be a plain tourist when he was actually an international playboy. I think Johnny did a great job with playing both.

"Close your eyes and pretend it is all a dream, that's how I get by."

[–] sanddragon939 14 years ago

The possibility entered my mind when the Scotland Yard guy (can't remember his name) starts joking to Frank about how he 'knows' he is Alexander whose undergone plastic surgery. It occurred to me then that this would be an excellent plot twist but I had no idea that it was actually the case...when he walked in claiming to be Alexander and was planning to open the safe for Shaw...that's when I thought it was a likely possibility...even though I still wasn't absolutely certain.

[–] TheHypnotron 14 years ago

Honestly, I knew he was Alexander Pierce after the letter told her to be on a specific train and to find someone who could pass as him. It's an old formula for these types of movies and this one did not stray from that formula.

[–] Sofistali 14 years ago

Me too. They were still on the train and I said to my bff "I bet it really is him."

[–] live4coffee 13 years ago

The moment she met Frank on the train, I got up and wrote "Depp IS Alexander Pearce" on a piece of paper - then gave it to my fiancee at the end of the film.

"The dead do not suffer the living to pass"
"You will suffer me"

[–] nicholassixx 13 years ago

I knew when I saw the huge green ring he was wearing.

[–] ecidnac 12 years ago

I do that with movies sometimes too. I did it with The Sixth Sense and a recent movie whose name escapes me. Unfortunately knowing/suspecting the "twist" usually robs me of my ability to enjoy the movie. There's no suspense if you know what's going to happen.

I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class, especially since I rule.

[–] zeeke 14 years ago

I havent seen the film and I knew

"...I'm a contradiction"

[–] stolman6098 14 years ago

I 99% sure it was him when i saw johhny in te 1st nightmare on elm street.
But was 110% certain after seeing him in scissorhands

[–] MissFortuneCookie 13 years ago

LMAO!!!!!

Formerly EmpatheticSympathy

[–] LightningLad 13 years ago

Stolman's answer cracked me up. Nothing wrong with smart@$$es who are genuinely hilarious.

http://themortalcreeps.weebly.com/

[–] ramin_85 13 years ago

because Johnny Depp wouldn't be casted as just a... tourist. I knew from the beginning.

[–] martinji 13 years ago

as with a lot of people I suspected he might be from early on, just because that's the sort of twist these sorts of thrillers like.

I was reasonably sure around half way through, AJ asks him to moor the boat and the camera lingers on a shot of him expertly tying a certain kind of knot with the rope ... seemed to be deliberately illustrating he was an experienced sailor which his teacher background hadn't suggested.

[–] Jelly-4 13 years ago

because Johnny Depp wouldn't be casted as just a... tourist. I knew from the beginning.

Yep, that was my nagging suspicion as well. As well as he acted the part, I couldn't buy Depp as a math teacher from Wisconsin. Just couldn't.

[–] nrangerseven 11 years ago

Everyone keeps saying how brilliant Depp was as a tourist but he certainly was NOT a math teacher from Wisconsin. I realize Depp has a weird European-like accent now and he clearly made no effort to attempt a Wisconsin accent. And the name of Frank Tupelo was obviously fake. Not doing any touristy things but instead going along with everything this woman did was fishy as well. I probably would have paid more attention to Depp's identity had I never been to Venice. I knew there was no pretty scenery on a train ride into Venice and that the Venice airport is nowhere close. I laughed out loud when I saw a huge commercial airliner supposedly smack in the middle of the city. Those discrepancies threw me off so I blew off the problems with Depp's character.

But did I think at any point that he was really Pearce? Nope. Just seemed too lame of a "twist" to be believable. Don't really believe it now! I've created my own twist in which Depp's character is only pretending to be Pearce to get the money and the girl. My assumption that Pearce is dead. Remember that it was presumed that Pearce would come get her. I don't think Depp was cold-hearted enough to actually kill him. Perhaps Pearce contracted a terminal disease and revealed the code to his safe on his deathbed. Depp lured the girl there to convince her it was really Pearce with plastic surgery. Did he do it of his own free will or did Pearce pay him to pretend as some creepy way to control his woman from the grave? Doesn't matter. Depp gets the money and the girl. Happy ending...

The people you idolize wouldn't like you.

[–] Syntheticon 14 years ago

I considered it (but hoped they wouldn't do something so clichéd) as soon as they mentioned that he may have had a lot of very expensive plastic surgery :( but while I also briefly considered that Elise may have really been the thief and Alexender was just a decoy (or at least a significant other that had gone into hiding to throw them off her trail) I knew for certain as soon as Rufus Sewell's character was first off screen long enough for us to stop caring about him and start wanting Frank to have a chance of being with Elise...after about 15mins I'd say-the whole thing was a real disappointment in general but some of the gags weren't completely awful...

http://nocleanfeed.com
hypocritelunaticfanaticheretic
It's almost never Lupus

[–] SunNumberOne 14 years ago

"That's a terrible name."
"It's the only one I've got."
"We'll have to find you another..."

"My nose was chiseled by the gods themselves..."
-Dennis, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

[–] Macee10 14 years ago

I actually thought "what if Alexander is actually Depp" from the very beginning, but then dismissed it. I just thought that would be the big twist for the film, but decided to ignore it. I even dismissed it after hearing the woman's voice (possibly Jolie's) reading the letters instead of Pierce. I thought it odd that it wouldn't do a mans voice and then thought it was Depp again but dismissed that too.. I, from then on, didn't think about it because I didn't think about the extreme plastic surgery. I could've still thought it was him if Elise didn't play into his character so much or drop him off at the airport, but he just did an amazingly convincing job at hiding his true identity.. Should've stuck with my first instinct!

I am not horsing around, okay? I am porsching around.

[–] Leondonet 14 years ago

I'm completely with you. Before watching the movie, I thought about "what would I do to make this movie interesting" so yet, I thought it was him from the beginning, and observing Angela's character dismissed it. As a watcher I felt let down and would expect to be able to watch it again and be able to notice clues, but alas I didn't.

Personally, I blame MTV.

[–] dbre 12 years ago

I had the same suspicions. I began to think that maybe he was Pierce and then I did a mini review in my mind to see if there were any tells that disqualified him from that possibility. The more I realized the movie was protecting that option the more I began to suspect that as the outcome.

[–] paulimiles 14 years ago

When they were still on the train. The most transparent "twist" in recent memory.

[–] synthetic_aberration 14 years ago

As soon as Elise received the letter telling her to look for someone with the same approximate build, I thought they might go that route. I really hoped they wouldn't, as the chances of her picking him out of an entire train full of men would be too far outside of the realm of believability, but there you go. That's moviemaking for you!

[–] jon_lajoie 14 years ago

The scene where he's offered a ride from Elise on her boat. I mean, she's attractive and all, but I'd at least ask a question or two. He doesn't even blink. That's when I suspected it.

I...drink...your...MILKSHAKE!

I DRINK IT UP!!!

[–] dmcdknf (16) 3 years ago

Water taxi is by far the easiest (and most expensive) way to get to Venice from the station. If I had spent an entire train ride from Paris to Venice with someone and they then offered me a lift on their water taxi I would take it without question.