The bank was for the money; that was done out of pure greed. Mel was forced to go into the store to replace the goods that had been destroyed by the flare.
You've seen Guy Standeven in something because the man was in everything.

He apparently did buy everything, but it was destroyed when the flare got thrown into the box.
"This isn't TV, it's real life. Can't you tell the difference?"
"Sure - I just like TV better."

"he could have called the police while in the store. 5-10 minutes could be enough time for the police to arrive. "
Exactly.
It wasnt long after that I turned the movie off. She couldve pulled the fire alarm, called the police, robbed the exactly one (really? one?) person working in an inner city grocery at 2 am, and had her hit the alarm.
And thats just my problem with the store scene. That driver wouldve been strangled with my belt while he was driving long before we got to the store. Ill take a car accident over kidnapping and torture anytime. Done. Movie over.

Exactly, the flare destroyed the stuff, which is why the driver was so pissed that she tossed the flare in the back seat (where the goods were).
MOVIES BY THE MINUTE >
http://moviesbytheminute.blogspot.com

He had bought bread and everything but the girl destroyed them with the flare rocket. He couldn't go himself in the store because he had to watch the others. And the stuff had to be bought before the girls were sent off not after lol.. in the end you can that stuff in the crate

I took the scene with the ATM to be a symbol of their unadulterated greed and a sadistic desire to pilfer from their victims everything of worth. It was also an indication for the captors to give the captives a sense that they intended only to rob them and then release them.
I looked at the store scene as either sick humor on the part of the captors or as a sign that they had quite a bit of experience in their trade. In the experience case: the plan was so coherent and effective that the captors got lazy and demanded that their captives do all the work. However, the plan failed to work flawlessly as was usual because of the ballsy chick.

I agree. The store part was so dumb. Even if he had forgotten the bread and water, how about buying it afterwards? He could easily go to the store after he pack the girls in. Plus, she could have called the police while in the store. 5-10 minutes could be enough time for the police to arrive. I feel the bad guy is too inexperienced.
I can explain the ATM part though. The bad guy could have wanted to create an illusion that he was only after their money.

the guy said he was paid 40.000 dolars a month
why in hell he would risk that for hundred bucks?

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