5 ‘Clever’ Movies That Have Glaring Plot Holes

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Watching movies is still one of the most popular ways to relax in your spare time. With a vast range of genres to choose from and current streaming services like Netflix making them more accessible than ever, we will not run out of Hollywood blockbusters to watch soon. One type of movie that people like is the ‘clever’ ones that make you think. Sometimes, though, films get too clever for their own good and forget to close off glaring plot holes.

But which of the clever films are the worst examples of plot holes?

Ocean’s Eleven Plot Holes

Like watching films, playing casino games has been popular for a long time. As well as land-based casinos, online casino sites are popular with people who enjoy classics like poker. Whether online casinos in Michigan or elsewhere globally, gaming platforms are the perfect place to have fun. Of course, casinos play a massive role in movies – with Ocean’s Eleven being a great example.

This complex, the intricate movie was the first installment in the popular Ocean’s franchise and was released in 2002. The basic tale sees Danny Ocean plotting to steal around $160m from casino owner Terry Benedict, who is now his ex-wife’s lover.

There are some glaring plot holes at times, though! The biggest one is Ocean’s team carrying out all the money they steal from the casino vault. $160m in cash weighs a lot, and this would have meant each character involved having to carry an impossible weight in cash.

Back to the Future Plot Holes

The whole Back to the Future series of films was hugely entertaining and famous worldwide. The movies were also pretty clever because they involved time travel. This is undoubtedly the case in the first film, which sees Marty going back in time to help get his parents together when they were still at high school. One glaring plot hole remains to this day, though – how did Marty’s parents in the modern-day not notice that he looks exactly like the person who helped get them together when they were at high school?!

The Butterfly Effect Plot Hole

This 2004 thriller starring Ashton Kutcher certainly hits the mark in terms of being clever due to making time travel and the titular butterfly effect central parts of its story. When it comes to movies with big plot holes, though, this one ranks highly. For example, at one point, Kutcher’s character goes back in time to stab the childhood version of himself in the hands.

As we advance in time, we see that the only effect this results in for an adult Kutcher is scarred hands. This is implausible, as such a traumatic childhood event would have a more significant impact moving ahead.

A Quiet Place Plot Hole

While playing cool games like Diablo II Resurrected is always exciting, some movies can be hard to beat in sheer thrills. Although it might not include anything like time travel, A Quiet Place still rates as an intelligent film with a clever concept. In simple terms, it is set in a post-apocalyptic world where one family remains silent to avoid blind but noise-sensitive aliens that have killed most humans.

Midway through this movie, the family goes to a waterfall close to where they live to talk – the reason is that the noise of the waterfall hides the sound of their voices. But why did they not just move there permanently to live in safety?

The Usual Suspects Plot Hole

Perhaps one of the cleverest movies of the last 30 years has been the 1995 mystery The Usual Suspects. With excellent direction from Bryan Singer, it is full of wit and sharp dialogue. The basic premise sees a low-level criminal called Verbal Kint being interviewed by the FBI after a dockyard shoot-out. This sees Kint relay a complex backstory around a mythical villain named Keyser Söze.

The final twist in this story is undoubtedly clever but does leave many questions. First, why did Kint even bother telling the story when he was free to go? Second, if Kint is Söze, why risk revealing himself or getting involved in the dockyard shoot-out? Third, why did Verbal Kint not simply escape after the dockyard shoot-out?

‘Clever’ Movies Not Immune To Plot Holes

As this shows, even the cleverest films are not immune from the dangers of giant plot holes. While directors can try to cover all bases, sometimes they forget to ensure that everything ties up in a commonsense fashion. This is not bad, though, as you can have lots of fun re-watching movies like these to spot your errors.

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Mikki Smith

Mikki is a graduate of Indian River State College and currently living and working in Isreal as a developer of AI chatbots for the travel industry. She writes part-time and is working on her first book about chatbot development.

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