Question: Is this a true story? The ending with text "John W. Creasy" and lifetime dates makes it seem like a true story.
Answer: No, the movie was based on a fiction book. The book takes place in Italy, and the kidnapping ring is run by the mafia.
Answer: The movie was completely lifted from a much better 1987 version of the same story.
Question: I noticed from the previews that this movie looks very different. What is it? Is it a digital camera that has been used? Or no lighting effects used? The movie really has a "behind the scene" feel.
Chosen answer: It was shot with a digital camera. IMDB is a great place to answer questions like this. Go to *Technical Specifications* in the *Other Info* section of the menu on the left hand side of the screen. In an interview in American Cinematographer, Michael Mann said that as far as he was aware, this was one of the first movies to attempt to make a "look" out of digital video rather than trying to make Digital Video look like film. This approach meant the movie could be shot in the low-light scenes of urban desolation Mann wanted - because Digital reacts much better to low light than film. The approximately 20% of the picture that was shot on film was mostly, according to Mann, the portion set in the "Fever" nightclub - because this is the scene with the brightest lighting states, a condition in which Digital Video does not perform as well.
Question: This question applies to the whole series. Why do some of the people who actually manage to survive Jigsaw's traps end up working with him instead of either helping capture him or killing him and insuring that no more innocent people get killed?
Answer: Jigsaw's traps would more than likely leave a person mentally unstable, which could result in Stockholm Syndrome, a condition which involves a victim sympathising with their captor. In fact, after Lawrence Gordon escapes the bathroom after severing his own foot, Jigsaw nursed him back to full health, thus gaining his trust (this is shown in Saw VII). He also plays mind games on people, which is shown in a flashback in Saw III in which he convinced Amanda to side with him. In her unstable state of mind, she realised that he was the first person in her life she could actually relate to, and thus became an accomplice.
Question: When Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts and what's left of the gang go to the museum, several people tell Willis how much they liked him in "that one movie". Then they add something like "I knew it when she didn't speak to you in the restaurant". Are they referring to an actual movie?
Answer: The Sixth Sense. They mean that they figured out the true nature of his character when his wife doesn't directly acknowledge his presence in a restaurant.
Question: In the extended version, when Frank confronts Jimmy about his betrayal, why did he make Jimmy commit suicide instead of killing Jimmy himself?
Answer: Jimmy is drowning in massive gambling debt and has had to resort to selling everything of value he owns as well as steal money from evidence lockers to help pay his debt down. He has nothing to live for and is merely going through the motions of life, and coupled with his guilt over selling out Frank and getting his family killed, Frank concludes Jimmy needs to take his fate in his own hands.
Question: How come Harry and Peter stopped living together?
Answer: While it's never mentioned in the film, the most likely explanation is that Harry, as a rich kid, grew tired of "slumming it" and decided to move back into his mansion.
Question: When Ethan Hawk takes a new life, does he have to shave his fingerprints/get plastic surgery/new teeth etc. because when he started he looked way different than the present day Ethan.
Answer: Yes, he must do this to truly feel like the different person he is trying to be. Also, so the police won't suspect anything if his traits don't match his identity.
Question: What is the song called that the girls like so much and that the boys (dressed as girls) didn't know the words to?
Answer: The song is "A Thousand Miles" Performed by Vanessa Carlton.
Question: How does Ryan copy the video from the camera on to his phone?
Chosen answer: His Nokia phone has a video recorder on it. He simply records the display on the camcorder with his phone.
But the video on his phone was too clear, not like he recorded the video on the camera but like he downloaded directed to the phone.
Answer: Even if he'd been able to copy the video onto his phone, we see him running through water under the pier. There would've been water damage to the phone, rendering it useless.
Question: What really happened to Ashley Judd's parents and why did Samuel L Jackson do what he did? Also, why did he start killing again? Was he planning on killing Ashley Judd as well?
Answer: He killed the parents because the mother was sleeping around and it was driving the father insane. He began killing Ashley Judd's lovers because he could see she was becoming like her mother.
Question: Why is Catwoman's name "Patience phillips"? wasn't it Selena Kyle in "Batman Returns"?
Answer: It was, yes. The filmmakers deliberately didn't bother with anything resembling film continuity, intending to make this a completely new character.
Question: The song being sung when we first see the gala at the end was used to open a romantic comedy, but I can't for the life of me think which film it was - can anyone remember?
Chosen answer: It's from Adam Sandler's film - The Wedding Singer.
Question: How do they draw blood from a vein with a syringe, or inject a liquid into somebody's arm or neck? It doesn't appear that the needle is retractable, and you can see the liquid/blood being injected or drawn. If it's a closeup, it could be a fake arm, but many times you can see the person as this is being done. This appears in many movies. Anyone actually know?
Chosen answer: I used to have a "magic trick" syringe - the syringe has a double wall so that there is a tiny space around the outside that actually fills up with fluid from a reservoir in the syringe, the middle of the syringe (majority of the volume) remains empty, but it looks full.
Question: Why is there a 4 in place of an 'a' on the title? It says "L4yer Cake".
Answer: Because the logo's a car registration plate and a number fits that structure better than just letters.
Answer: I think the 4 stands for the drug Ecstasy.
Question: If Det. Graham had already identified his brother's body at the crime scene, why would it have been necessary for his mother to have to do so at the morgue, especially since it was very traumatic for her?
Chosen answer: Since he was directly involved with the investigation, to identify the body would have been a conflict of interest. Therefore he had to notify the next of kin beyond himself.
Answer: Daniel "La Voz" Sanchez was based off the kidnapper Daniel Arizmendi López and Aurelio Sanchez was based off his bother Aurelio Arizmendi López, so some of it maybe true but not a lot.