As cinemagoers, we’re more than used to suspending our disbelief when the time calls for it; after all, some of the very best films have called for audiences to completely abandon logic for a moment and just buy what is taking place on screen. If the overall heft of the story is convincing enough, it can work, as with most of the instances below, though it’s usually in retrospect that something clicks and we realise, “Actually, that is pretty freaking ridiculous”.
Here are 10 absurdly contrived bad guy schemes…
10. Oliver & Cheryl Lang – Arlington Road
For the majority of its runtime, Arlington Road is a perfectly fine, paranoia-filled thriller about a college professor, Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges), who becomes suspicious that his neighbours, Oliver Lang (Tim Robbins) and his wife Cheryl (Joan Cusack) might be terrorists. It seems like the film is going to be a commentary on the reactionary nature of trigger-happy Americans,...
Here are 10 absurdly contrived bad guy schemes…
10. Oliver & Cheryl Lang – Arlington Road
For the majority of its runtime, Arlington Road is a perfectly fine, paranoia-filled thriller about a college professor, Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges), who becomes suspicious that his neighbours, Oliver Lang (Tim Robbins) and his wife Cheryl (Joan Cusack) might be terrorists. It seems like the film is going to be a commentary on the reactionary nature of trigger-happy Americans,...
- 11/21/2012
- by Shaun Munro
- Obsessed with Film
We asked you to suggest the most defective crime capers on screen. Here are some truly ludicrous grand plans
@AcropolisNow Ocean's Eleven – how did the fliers for hookers, which doubled as the money, get into the vault? If the Swat team had brought in large bags that looked like money and then came out without them would that have not sent the alarm bells ringing?
@RichAlchemy Ocean's Twelve. The fact that they spend at least half their time trying to steal £2m worth of stuff, when they need £90m, and their equipment looks like it costs far more than £2m. The fact they construct a ludicrous plan to steal an egg from a museum, only to find that the French guy did it by dancing round the lasers. Oh, and the fact they actually get said egg by nicking a guy's backpack off a train.
@unke How about the scheme...
@AcropolisNow Ocean's Eleven – how did the fliers for hookers, which doubled as the money, get into the vault? If the Swat team had brought in large bags that looked like money and then came out without them would that have not sent the alarm bells ringing?
@RichAlchemy Ocean's Twelve. The fact that they spend at least half their time trying to steal £2m worth of stuff, when they need £90m, and their equipment looks like it costs far more than £2m. The fact they construct a ludicrous plan to steal an egg from a museum, only to find that the French guy did it by dancing round the lasers. Oh, and the fact they actually get said egg by nicking a guy's backpack off a train.
@unke How about the scheme...
- 10/17/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
There's something extremely unsettling about hearing stories of spies and espionage set outside of the realm of fiction. In case you haven't heard, eleven men and women have been arrested in the United States as suspected members of a deep cover Russian spy ring with an untold long-term mission in the country. We're not just talking government officials or members of the press — some of these spies were average Joes living right next door to you.
Like I said, pretty unsettling, isn't it? The developing story is reminiscent of a high octane espionage thriller, where the main character slowly realizes that these men and women he's known his entire life are secretly enemies of the state. In fact, this story has played out several times on the big screen. After the jump, check out some of the most stunning spy betrayals in cinema history.
Alec Trevelyan
Dubbed 006 by the MI...
Like I said, pretty unsettling, isn't it? The developing story is reminiscent of a high octane espionage thriller, where the main character slowly realizes that these men and women he's known his entire life are secretly enemies of the state. In fact, this story has played out several times on the big screen. After the jump, check out some of the most stunning spy betrayals in cinema history.
Alec Trevelyan
Dubbed 006 by the MI...
- 6/29/2010
- by Josh Wigler
- MTV Movies Blog
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