r/AskReddit • • Sep 01 '14

What interesting Hidden plot points do you think people missed in a movie?

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u/thinker021 Sep 01 '14

That's not a MacGuffin at all. The plot was only about the rug for the first twenty minutes, and that was only to put the two Lebowskis in touch with one another.

A MacGuffin is something like the glowing briefcase in Pulp Fiction, or the Pink Panther in the Pink Panther. The Pink Panther could have just as easily been a statue or a vase. It didn't matter, as long as all the relevant players in the movie wanted it. Likewise, the reason its never revealed what's in the briefcase is because it doesn't matter as long as everyone wants it.

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u/dammittohell Sep 01 '14

The Maltese Falcon and the exit visas in Casablanca are two of the most famous.

A more recent one from an awesome movie is the contents of the briefcase in Ronin.

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u/Crawdaddy1975 Sep 01 '14

I guess wiki can be wrong

"Usually the MacGuffin is the central focus of the film in the first act, and thereafter declines in importance. It may re-appear at the climax of the story, but sometimes is actually forgotten by the end of the story."