SPOILER! The absurdities that ruin 'Shattered'
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RJ-Flethcer — 18 years ago(June 19, 2007 04:04 PM)
That's true because both parts "parts" were being played by the same actor, but I think the argument being made above is that since we're to believe Tom Berenger is playing 2 different men, each should have his own voice. The fact that they have the same voice is the flaw that is being pointed out.
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starwalker_az — 18 years ago(July 03, 2007 02:17 AM)
Another thing that sort of spoiled it involved Bob Hoskins. He did a fantastic job as Gus Klien, but the idea that his asthma inhaler would allow him to survive being submerged is ridiculous. I use two inhalers for COPD, and the metered spray will not provide breathing support if underwater.
You can't fix stupid - Ron White -
TrumpIsAHump — 13 years ago(February 23, 2013 08:21 AM)
No, both parts weren't being played by the same actor. Check the cast listing. Scott Getlin played Jack Stanton. I haven't seen the movie in years, but most likely, they had Tom Berenger dub Scott Getlin's lines so that the voices would sound the same.
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BoSoxRule — 12 years ago(December 14, 2013 03:05 PM)
"I haven't seen the movie in years, but most likely, they had Tom Berenger dub Scott Getlin's lines so that the voices would sound the same."
That's exactly what they did. When Stanton is talking to Judith in the car after she kills Dan, he clearly has Berenger's voice.
I'm happiestin the saddle. -
DalcassianKnight — 17 years ago(November 03, 2008 11:16 AM)
I thought this was a great movie and well acted. Many of your points here are excellent points but all of them can be logically explained.
First, the obvious.
Blood type Unless the detective and his business partner each took a bllod sample, I doubt they would have noticed a difference in his blood type.
Voice It's entirely possible and in fact likely, that if he had severe lacerations to his face, he may also have had lacerations to his neck and upper torso. After several reconstructive surgeries, he may also have had reconstructive surgery to his throat and larynx which would probably change his voice. Unless somebody is a real jerk, nobody would be so insensitive enough to point it out to him.
Mannerisms having come so close to death and enduring dozens of reconstructive surgeries, having amnesia, it's likely that a person might act a little differently. They might be a little unfamiliar, even towards people who have known them for years. The person may be very meek and mild when they realize they were clinging to life by a straw.
So, although these are all very good points you bring up, it is possible that people noticed his different voice and mannerisms but were just to polite to mention it. -
starwalker_az — 18 years ago(July 03, 2007 02:13 AM)
Not only are his voice and mannerisms different, but he would have no idea how to be an architect. Then you have fingerprints. What about blood type, it would be a stretch of the imagination to believe the husband and lover both had the same blood type.
You can't fix stupid - Ron White -
abchulett — 18 years ago(January 27, 2008 07:30 PM)
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Suspension of disbelief is one thing. Expecting us to be complete idiots is another; it's called "having no respect for the intelligence of the audience." I was shocked at how bad the movie is at the start; the first 15 minutes is howlingly awful, but then it hooked me for its next hour or so. By then I knew what the ending was likely to be, and I was right, and that was ridiculous too. I won't go into ALL of the spoilers, but how about these: NOBODY could survive that kind of a crash without seat belts and air bags; NOBODY could have repaired his face and body to near perfection; NOBODY could buy the fact that she would go to all that trouble to cover the tracks of someone who was leaving her, especially not knowing that he would have amnesia.
Ugh. Hoskins is SO GOOD in this movie that it almost makes their bungling of the story worse. 3/10. Yikes. -
beauedson — 15 years ago(March 05, 2011 10:46 PM)
the op's post is completely retarded, yours only mostly so. you make one legitimate critique:
"NOBODY could buy the fact that she would go to all that trouble to cover the tracks of someone who was leaving her, especially not knowing that he would have amnesia" (mainly the last part)
this is all that matters because his wife is the only character still in the movie (other than hoskins at the very end w/the rescue) after the doppelganger reveal and the doppelganger switch recognition. he has like two scenes with her, so it's natural for the viewer to ask 'well why would she do it if she didn't know he had amnesia'.
the plausibility of surviving the crash, voice and mannerisms change, degree of precision of plastic surgery - all are totally irrelevant at that point in the movie. it's doppelganger reveal, recognition of doppelganger switch, about two scenes with wife(*), movie over. they do the twist, and they get out fast, and that makes all that other nonsense mentioned by you slothturds matter not.- here, again, viewer questions as to her motives and reasoning should arise
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ilikefunnyrabbits — 16 years ago(April 07, 2009 03:48 AM)
who would be comparing there blood type? It's not like the hospital had a record of stanton or Merrick's blood type on file. And who's checking his fingerprints? I'm sure a high profile architect doesn't have a criminal record or his finger prints on file, so again what/who would they be checking against? And he doesn't know how to be an architect that's the point. It is clearly explained when his partner is looking over his work and says, "Not bad considering you don't know what your doing."
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rstonesfan — 16 years ago(April 15, 2009 05:33 PM)
There is a part in the movie right after they get home the wife says on the phone to a friend his voice is even sexier or something to that degree implying that something had changed. you have to a bit of attention and imgaintation.
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lshack623 — 18 years ago(August 18, 2007 09:11 PM)
Yeah, but how could anyone NOT figure out the ridiculous ending? I would think most people would have it figured ut 20 minutes into the movie. I like everyone else have it figured out already. It was just a fun popcorn movie seeing how they would get to the end that was pretty obvious to me.
Walter Sobchak: Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules. -
sweetpeajrt — 18 years ago(October 02, 2007 07:22 AM)
Good twist but the face change and same voice totally ruined it! Even if the wife gave doctors a picture of him to reconstruct his face they would notice that his skull/muscle features would be different. Accident and memory loss victims can have different personalities and/or mannerisms. So that didn't bother me.
Loved 'Gus' character except when he uses the inhaler as a SCUBA. If I were shot, I'd be screaming and thrashing not thinking rationally and pretending to be dead while using my inhaler.
CacaPoopooDoodie
For a good part of this movie, it simply is a beautiful neo-noir. Casting, location, atmosphere - it's all there. However, I cannot get past the absolutely ridiculous ending that
has us believe that Dan Merrick is actually Jack Stanton. Merrick goes back to work, goes to see Jenny, the interaction with Klein, all of this and NOBODY seems to notice that "Dan Merrick" has a different voice. A different personality. Different mannerisms. On and on and on. The writer(s)/director thought that by just changing the FACE, they could pull off a believable thriller. No way. It ruined the entire movie and is one of those that implies the audience must be brain dead to fall for all of that. Just a little bit of thought - and you realize you have been HAD. First 1/2 of the movie is an A. The second half (and especially the last quarter): F -
maybe730 — 18 years ago(October 03, 2007 05:57 AM)
In the book Tom Berenger's character's voice is different because he suffered a fractured windpipe in the crash. He mentions it sounds to him like 'gravel poured down a galvanized pipe'. In the movie Tom Berenger sounds like Tom Berenger but maybe the voice we hear is different than both Dan's and Jack's (though if that was the case you'd think the filmmakers would think to mention it)? I don't know. I read the book because, like you, I liked the set-up but thought the end was weak. The other stuff like personality and mannerisms being different doesn't seem like it would be odd bc he did suffer amnesia after a horrific accident. And that would also explain his lack of architectural knowledge.
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the sphynx — 18 years ago(January 05, 2008 10:36 PM)
Amen, but you forgot some other absurdities:
- No American hospital would have released in three hours a woman who had just survived a car crash of that magnitude and had her husband there in critical condition. They would have kept her to watch for shock, if nothing else. In fact, with such minor-looking injuries, she might still be in the emergency room at dawn, waiting for a few stitches.
- The wife's just committed murder and is desperately anxious to cover it up by creating a paper trail that shows Jack left town. Why, then, would she send an obviously traceable fax from a machine that could only be accessed from her husband's office, on a day when no one else would be in?
- The detective (who we have no reason to doubt) reports that the hospital doctors don't believe the facial injuries could possibly be the result of the crash alone, but this discrepancy is not explained by the final reconstruction of events.
Yeah, the gimmick is surprising, but the logic doesn't hold up at all, which invariably ruins movies of this type for me no matter how well they are acted. The best you can normally hope for is that the movie's logic holds up until the second viewing. Mystery/thrillers like "The Usual Suspects", the plots of which are as perfectly constructed as a Swiss watch and survive three or four viewings, are rare. But you definitely don't want to be scratching your head and picking the thing apart before the credits roll the first time.
