The Burbs

The Burbs (1989)

3 plot holes - chronological order

(5 votes)

Plot hole: According to the detective at the end Walter believes Ray kidnapped his dog, assuming he saw the note that Ray put in Walter's mail slot. But if that note was grabbed along with Walter's mail and the wig it would have burned up along with everything else when the house exploded. So how did Walter know that Ray had his dog?

Plot hole: In the scene when the two couples go over to the Klopecs' house for their visit, the subject of Walter missing is brought up, and the Klopecs act as if they don't know where he is. But in fact, it is revealed at the end of the movie that the Klopecs were legitimately picking up Walter's mail, therefore knowing that he was in the hospital.

Plot hole: The Klopeks have only lived in the house for a month, but they somehow had a massive furnace/incinerator installed in the basement without anyone noticing the arrival of equipment, parts, delivery people, service technicians, etc. The neighbors only notice something is amiss after the new "furnace" is operational.

raywest

Continuity mistake: When Art is eating breakfast at the Peterson's house, he takes items from the fridge. Watch when he comes back over and talks to Ray. The position of the pineapple under his arm changes from shot to shot. (00:10:40 - 00:11:25)

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Ray Peterson: So they keep to themselves, can you blame them? They live next door to people who break in their house, and burn IT down while they're gone for the day.

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Trivia: The writer of The Burbs (Dana Olsen), is the cop near the end, when the Klopeks' house is blown up.

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Answer: I watched the YouTube clip. The closed captions interpret it as, "Hey, Ricky, get this limo out of your yard." Listening to it, however, it sounds like he says, "lame-o" (as in a lame person) rather than "limo."

raywest

The closed-caption setting on YouTube is voice-activated, and it often displays typos and "approximate" words when it doesn't recognize the audio output (especially slang terms). In that scene, Rumsfield yells, "Hey, Ricky, get this lame-o out of your yard!" In response, Ricky puts his arm around his friend's shoulders and laughs, "Get out of my yard, Lame-o!"

Charles Austin Miller

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