Nola was pregnant…so it was easy for police to solve case
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NoodleLizard — 12 years ago(June 18, 2013 12:44 PM)
They probably did know she was pregnant - it was probably in her diary, for starters. James Nesbitt's character had pieced it together when it was revealed that a drug dealer was found shot in the area with the old lady's ring on him, which gave far more strength to the drug robbery theory than suspicions about motives.
The plot doesn't show us "how good he is", it demonstrates the tennis analogy from the very first scene and the recurring theme of luck being more important than hard work. Isn't that obvious?
These bastards! -
hmguk90 — 12 years ago(June 28, 2013 01:55 PM)
I agree. It was a demonstration of how lucky you can be. The police already knew they had an affair, so the knowledge of the baby wouldn't change much. Of course it gives him an even stronger motive, but not enough to compete with the druggie.
I think the entire set-up was rather clever. Chris was clumsy, but got off due to sheer luck - confirming his point that luck matters a hell of a lot more than we think. -
anwar-aneek — 12 years ago(September 14, 2013 11:56 PM)
Exactly that's the point.
The scene where the ring hit the bar at the river-side, it could have fallen into the river and then the detective would have followed the case and at least Chris had been convicted. But it was sheer luck that the ring fell on the other side, a junkie picked it up, was killed and cops found the ring. So detective dropped the idea of pursuing the case.
Lucky, isn't it? -
koffeenkreame41-1 — 9 years ago(December 09, 2016 12:54 AM)
Exactly that's the point.
The scene where the ring hit the bar at the river-side, it could have fallen into the river and then the detective would have followed the case and at least Chris had been convicted. But it was sheer luck that the ring fell on the other side, a junkie picked it up, was killed and cops found the ring. So detective dropped the idea of pursuing the case.
Lucky, isn't it?
Agreed, that it was.
"I'm the ultimate badass,you do NOT wanna f-ck wit me!"Hudson,Aliens -
MrAleisterCrowley — 12 years ago(November 12, 2013 04:16 PM)
Exactly. First, people have unfortunate fantasies about how the police work because they've seen far too many CSI episodes. The police everywhere are interested in wrapping cases up as quickly as possible. They do NOT spend ages sifting through DNA tests, etc. That is only in fantasy, on absurd, unrealistic television shows, or in the most high-profile cases in which the prosecution and defense hire expensive expert witnesses. The vast majority of cases, including homicides, do not get a Sherlock Holmes-level of scrutiny.
The whole point of this film is that his "escape" is due to luck, blind luck. And that is what happened the ring in possession of the drug dealer, when drug dealers had already committed crimes in the building and area, was the direct link the police needed. The police knew about the affair; that was not enough to prove that Chris that murdered Nola. There was no direct evidence like the ring.
"I love those redheads!" (Wooderson, Dazed and Confused, 1993) -
leeuwroar — 9 years ago(July 22, 2016 04:59 PM)
The police would discover Nola s pregnancy obviously. That would make Chris much more suspect, especially after they did DNA checks, which there is no way they would not do. Then the nonsensical coincidence about the ring wd never hv stopped the clever policeman.
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holatKolnoa — 2 years ago(September 30, 2023 09:38 AM)
What did DNA have to do with it? The police knew that Chris had had sex with Nola. What other DNA was involved?
When you think of garbage, think of Hakeem!
Folks, calm down! This is not the last chopper outta Saigon! -
GeneralBuck — 12 years ago(June 30, 2013 08:31 PM)
The police never mention that Nola was pregnant. Neither in their discussion with Chris, nor amongst themselves. That means that she did not write about it in her diary, and it did not show up in the autopsy.
Nola was not truthful about her pregnancy. -
PseudoFilmCritic — 12 years ago(August 28, 2013 06:49 PM)
I thought that too - in fact, mention of this was also made about Alex in Fatal Attraction. Was Alex lying too? Who can say since Match Point doesn't clarify it, though Fatal did.
Jerry at the Movies
http://jerrysaravia.blogspot.com/ -
Bernerdawg-732-853460 — 12 years ago(July 07, 2013 01:38 PM)
As another post pointed out, the drug dealer's possession of the ring trumped the pregnancy, since "motive doesn't make a case."
I don't think Nola was lying about being pregnant. She spends the entire movie blowing auditions, so either she's not good at
acting (and thus not very good at pretending) or just unlucky; her character isn't written as a manipulator, only one who follows her passions and takes risks.
I think assumptions are made about Nola because she doesn't get the same screen time as Chloe, so judging her motives is trickier. At one point Chris suggests she's just trying to exact some revenge on the Hewitt family, to which she replies by asking if the pledges of love Chris has been making for months are real or not.
It's like she doesn't love him either, and the anger and frustration she displays isn't aroused by unreciprocated love but by the ease which with Chris maintains his "sham" life. I don't think Nola has nearly the guile credited to her. -
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Ramuna — 12 years ago(September 10, 2013 01:03 AM)
Nola was never pregnant.
The first thing the police will do on a murder victim is to do an autopsy, and one of the many things they checked on female victim was whether she was pregnant or not. There is no chance they would miss that on autopsy. And besides, nothing about pregnancy seemed to be mentioned in the diary.
So obviously, Nola was never pregnant in the first place. -
LovingBooks — 12 years ago(November 08, 2013 12:18 PM)
I agree that Nola was never pregnant.
Did anyone else notice the crazy number of pills she was taking, every time Chris was arguing with her about leaving Chloe, she rifled through an alarming number of bottles, chose one, and took some pills out. I'm pretty safe in saying they weren't vitamins, who thinks of taking a prenatal supplement in the middle of arguing about the course of your life?
She said that she had an abortion when "she was young" and another when she was engaged to Tom. I didn't get the impression from Tom that he was the most loving and affectionate husband material, but I also didn't feel like he was likely to push someone to an abortion.
I think the two of them deserved each other and their lies. -
Missyrocks — 12 years ago(November 12, 2013 06:05 PM)
Interesting. I never thought of her not really being pregnant but I did think it was a huge hole in the plot to not have the pregnancy mentioned in the diary nor the autopsy. And even if she really wasn't pregnant, given she kept the diary, she would've discussed having tTOLD him she was. It's a huge hole in the plot either way. But either way, Chris gets lucky by missing dumping the ring and they have their suspect. But, of course, if the bullets used in the dead drug dealer's murder don't match to the gun in the other crime plus Chris' motive More holes.
This is always a good movie again similar to Crimes and Misdemeanors- luck trumps reprehensible immorality.