Question: How does he fold the Monet in half to fit into the briefcase? Originally I thought he'd separated it from the wooden frame (ie. just a canvas), but when he takes it out back at his house he holds it up, and the wooden frame's still in one piece. Also, surely folding it in half would crack the paint, but despite the painting being twice the width of the briefcase (it fits snugly when the case is open), he then shuts the case down to a "normal" size. Any ideas?
Answer: The only explanation I can come up with is that the inner part of the frame is precut. With the frame cut that way it would allow the picture to fold, but when unfolded it would be fairly rigid with the exception of bending it forward at that point. When he pulls the painting out, it still holds the square shape of the frame. Best I can come up with.
Answer: He doesn't fold it. The frame is solid. It's just movie editing to make the viewer think he put it in her briefcase. You can't fold a Monet.
He absolutely folds it. We see him put it in the case and him then shut the case, folding it in half.
Question: What does old Tom Hanks drop out of his pocket when he walked out of the door of the old folks home?
Answer: Paul seemed to take the windbreaker in a random fashion. I'm not sure if it even belonged to him. I've no idea what it was but I agree. Not a piece of toast.
Answer: A piece of toast.
I've tried and tried to see what it actually was. It couldn't have been toast. This object hit the floor hard and rolled out of camera range, quickly. I thought maybe door knob or thread spool. Possibly a thread spool because of Mr. Jingles. Door latch was intact.
Question: Maybe I missed a major plot point, but why exactly does Tom kill his lover at the very end?
Chosen answer: Tom and his lover, Peter, are travelling on a boat. Meredith, who knows Tom as Dickie, is also on the boat. If they were to meet her while together, Tom's false identity would have been revealed. Peter would have been able to figure out that Tom actually murdered Dickie.
Answer: He had to kill him. Tom couldn't kill Meredith because she wasn't travelling alone, and Peter was.
Question: Why does Biscuit try to run right before he's let out? Why does he say he can't go home to his mama?
Answer: Because he is gay. In the time this movie is set, being homosexual was not only an extreme moral and religious taboo, but it was illegal in most parts of the US. Biscuit is too ashamed of letting his mother find out about his relationship with Jangle Leg, so he runs, knowing the guards will shoot him dead.
Answer: It wasn't in the script for him the die - the actor who played Biscuit went into a interview and said that he improv that scene the letter he opened up was initially was an call log not an release paper and he stated if his character was going to die he wanted him to die by crossing the gun line.
Question: In the scene where the three officers (one of them being Martin Lawrence) went to the airport to check out the situation there, Mallone picks up a piece of the exhibit. Wouldn't the FBI run the prints on the items, and if so, Martin Lawrence's fingerprints would come up and reveal his true identity since he is in the system?
Answer: Yes, however Malone is not a real cop, only pretending to be one. Therefore it is safe to assume he would not know procedures of the police department and would not think his prints would be run by the FBI. He thinks he is safe because he is a cop. That's how big his ego is.
Yes, but the reason they don't worry about fingerprints is because they decided to immediately set up the sting operation, since they only had hours before the package was to be delivered in 3 hours. So, they had to hurry and make it there in time to do the bust.
Question: Given she leaves the state while on parole, possessing a firearm, holding her ex at gunpoint, how does Libby avoid prosecution for these offenses?
Answer: Because there were exceptional and extenuating circumstances and, technically, Libby was never guilty of the crime she was convicted of and had to resort to extreme measures to prove her innocence. She may have had a gun, but it could never be proved that she held Nick at gunpoint, only that she shot him in self defense. Also, it's a movie, which often are unrealistic regarding details like that.
Question: So did Frau convert to lesbianism through the time after being straight with Dr. Evil?
Answer: It appears so since she was with Dr. Evil in 1969 and was with Unibrow (the female golfer) in the present time. She does say (after the time with Dr. Evil), that she would never love another man again - to which he replies - "That's right", referring, of course, to her future sexual preferences.
Question: While recognizing that this film is entirely fictitious, how likely is it that an IT firm in 1999 would have allowed a former employee access to the premises after being laid off, never mind continue to send him a paycheck as with Milton Waddams? I myself was fired the following year and got the walk of shame treatment ("you have 5 minutes to clear your desk - the taxi's waiting outside") which at the time already seemed pretty standard.
Answer: Simply because he is basically invisible to them. Anyone can walk into that place, no guard outside, no key-card required. Nobody cared. At least you got a taxi.
Exactly. These things can happen. It depends on the place and how they operate. As recently as January 2024, I read about one young woman who went into a Kroger grocery store and worked for six hours, as an experiment. She has also done this at Target and Walmart. She wears clothes that look like a real employee's.
Answer: They never told Milton he was fired, they just cruelly cut off his paycheck, figuring he'd eventually get fed up and leave (he'd actually been laid off years ago, but a payroll glitch kept him getting a paycheck). The management is hoping if they're cruel enough, he'll stop showing up.
This is actually the reverse of what happened. The glitch caused him to continue to receive a paycheck, even though he'd been laid off. The "Bobs" corrected the glitch, so he would no longer receive a paycheck. In an effort to avoid confrontation, they chose not to say anything to him, hoping he'd realise it and leave on his own.
Question: When the generals daughter is being brought out in the coffin at the end, "Amazing Grace" is being played on the bagpipes. Is this a military thing for dead soldiers, and if so, why "Amazing Grace" and why a Scottish instrument in particular?
Answer: It's just a generic funeral song and the bagpipes are supposed to make it more...mournful.
Question: Why does Lana at the end of the movie call Brandon "Teena"?
Answer: Brandon's birth name is Teena Tenae Brandon. When Teena decided to become a man, he reversed his first and last name to become Brandon Teena. Lana may have continued to call him Teena as a form of "I know the real you" familiarity "pet name".
Question: When Nicky Shivers is being held hostage, De Niro is about to belt him in the face with a metal pipe and make him fall into a hole. This most likely would have been fatal. But De Niro has a change of heart and walks away. Then Nicky sardonically comments "Well geez, that was pretty painless." Given that he was just spared from a painful ending, why would he make such a smart-alec comment?
Chosen answer: That's how he dealt with facing certain death and then not being killed. Some would be silently grateful as you suggest, others wouldn't. Everyone reacts differently.
Question: What is the idea/situation behind the whole scene at the beginning of the film where the two 'Saints' walk up to the alter?
Answer: The priest thought they were trying to attack or assault the other priest, but since they Saints are very religious and the other priest knows it, he let them be. They kissed the statue to show respect.
Question: Is it actually possible to get on to a moving train as implied in the very last scene?
Answer: Unless the train stopped, it is absolutely impossible for someone, particularly a senior man and a woman in a tight skirt and high heels, to be able to jump onto a moving commuter train, and on one that would have automatic doors.
HA! A looser skirt and flat-heeled shoes wouldn't improve the odds.
Question: Why doesn't Porter demand more money? Sure, his cut was $70,000, but since he's a crook, why not demand more?
Answer: Quote, "A work man is worthy of his hire." In the original version, the Mob Boss asked, "why are you doing all this?" He replied, "I want my money." It's as simple as that. He did a job and wants his payment.
Answer: I believe that the Monet that Crown hides in his study is not the one that was stolen, it is a copy that he already had prepared. He can enjoy the copy knowing that the original (with the broken spreader bars) is also in his possession. The stolen original then goes to the forger who repairs the broken spreader bars, and then paints another painting (using water soluble paint) over the Monet, so he can "return" it to the museum 3 days later. It gets more complicated when he discovers that Russo is on to him so he has a second forgery made (even the edges forged to match) over the top of "Dogs Playing Poker." He doesn't know if it will be necessary, but given his research into his new adversary, he concocts this contingency. It is likely that he has many contingencies in place, but the "Monet with a ghost underneath" is the only one we get to see. Of course for my theory to hold water, there must be (or have been) that earlier forgery - unless it has been destroyed.
It's not the forgery that he takes out of the briefcase. Even if it were, he still put the Monet in the briefcase at the museum and would have had to break the frame to close the briefcase, thus also breaking the paint and tearing the canvas. The real answer is that it is just something that couldn't really happen, and the movie people don't want the viewer to notice.