I did see that possibility, but at that stage it was too early to determine if the story will actually go that way. There were so many possibilities in my head that I couldn't just pick one and assume that's how the movie will turn out.
At the end, when it happened as it did, I wasn't disappointed because I was amazed at how they execute the whole story. At every act, there's a bit of a twist and some mystery that keeps me wondering what actually will happen next.
I mean, we all had guessed the "What" of the story, but it's the "How" that makes the film amazing for me. Also, in most films involving con and robbery, we see the story progress from the conman's perspective, where they're the main character(s). This film offers something different. We see it from the victim's point of view. And unlike films such as Ocean Eleven, The Sting, Italian Job or Flawless, it's not about getting rich or winning, either. Which is a plus for me.
Another beautiful thing about the story is that even though Billy betrayed Virgil in such a cruel way, he actually gave him the one thing (one piece of art) that Virgil had never had. That is the experience of falling in love and being in a romantic relationship, fake as it might seem, with a beautiful woman. The feeling that none of the items in his collection could have given him. I guess if you've already decided to turn your attention away after only 15 minutes in, you wouldn't be able to appreciate this brilliant and possibly one of the most important bit of the movie.
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11 years ago
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AlexSefton
11 years ago
It's good that you could appreciate this movie.
The OP and many people here couldn't help but guess about what was going to happen in the story. They had an idea of how the story would unfold. When it did unfold the way they had thought it would, then they feel that they've already known about the twists.
The truth is, the writers could have decided that Virgil somehow knew about Billy's plot and had came up with a counter plan, OR that 'Claire' changed her mind because she actually fell in love with Virgil, and there will still be some people who post here saying that they knew it was going to happen that way.
Anyway, I was just trying to make a point that even though many people were coincidentally successful in guessing the plot, it doesn't mean that the film isn't that great. In fact, it seems that the filmmakers didn't even bother that much to 'surprise' the audience. They instead focused more on showing the whole psychological roller coaster experience through the eyes of a loner like Virgil. His character alone is interesting enough to make me engage in the film throughout. Then we have the pieces of the puzzle that come together beautifully in the end.
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fentress
9 years ago
I think you make an excellent point. It's normal for anyone as they're watching a movie to be thinking of multiple possibilities as to how the story might turn out. Then when one of them does turn out to be the case, it's easy to say after the fact, "Oh yeah, I saw that coming from a mile away. So obvious."
I don't think because someone doesn't see the twists that others claim they found to be "predictable", that it makes that person less intelligent. I didn't see the full twist coming, and I think I'm a reasonably intelligent individual. But there' something to be said for engaging a movie on its own terms as you view it, not watching with an attitude of trying to outsmart it and play "Gotcha!"
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morganseer
9 years ago
The truth is, the writers could have decided that Virgil somehow knew about Billy's plot and had came up with a counter plan, OR that 'Claire' changed her mind because she actually fell in love with Virgil, and there will still be some people who post here saying that they knew it was going to happen that way.
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LOL. It reminds me of a crazy guy who wrote a book, predicting every possible disaster in every possible corner of the world, and if one came true, shrieking in capital letters that he had foreseen it.
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