10 Deleted Movie Scenes That Explain Confusing Moments
When the answers lie on the cutting room floor.
There are few artistic mantras more commonly repeated than "kill your darlings." It basically means that a smart artist will be ruthlessly efficient in cutting self-indulgent material which, while inspired, is ultimately to the detriment of the overall project.
In cinema, this requires filmmakers to balance their desire to tell the entire story with the need for the narrative to maintain a firm pace and keep audiences consistently interested. A bloated runtime with saggy scenes is an easy way to lose an otherwise intrigued viewer.
While brevity can so often be the soul of wit, it's also fair to say that many films have suffered from excess trimming, particularly if mandated by a scissor-happy studio.
As for these 10 movies, the removal of certain scenes and moments ended up confusing attentive audiences, leaving them at least mystified if not totally baffled.
From unexplained character actions to unsolved mysteries, missing backstories, and everything in-between, these 10 deleted scenes would've easily solved nagging audience questions had they been included in the final cut.
Thankfully most of them were ultimately made available as home video extras, and many have since been re-posted to YouTube...
10. Why Does Brad Pitt Still Wear His Wedding Ring? - Moneyball
The Confusing Moment
Many viewers of Moneyball have noted the puzzling fact that, despite Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) being divorced in the film, he's still visibly wearing his wedding ring in every single scene.
Given that Billy doesn't seem to have any obsessive residual feelings for his ex-wife Sharon (Robin Wright), why on Earth is he still wearing the ring?
The Deleted Scene
An entire subplot was removed from the film but included as an extra on the home video release, featuring Billy's new wife as played by Cold Case star Kathryn Morris.
This of course effortlessly explains why Billy still has a ring on his finger, painting him as a far cry from the brooding divorcé that the final cut characterises him as.
There's no word on why director Bennet Miller cut these scenes, though given that the film already clocks in at a beefy 133 minutes, it might simply have been a case of trimming the fat.
The ring probably could've been pretty effortlessly painted out with CGI though, right?