10 Huge Movie Plot Twists That Make No Sense

8. Matchstick Men

The Twist

In Matchstick Men, Nicholas Cage plays twitchy, divorced conman Roy Waller, who discovers he has a 14-year-old daughter he never knew about. Naturally, he invites her to move in with him, and connects with her in a way he never knew he could. As a result he decides to go straight and renounce his nefarious ways.

This being a movie about con-men, though, all is not what it seems, and it turns out Waller never had a daughter. His "daughter" was playing a part in an elaborate con concocted by his ex partner in crime Frank (Sam Rockwell) to get the number to his safe deposit box.

WhyIt Doesn't Work

All Nic Cage movies take a certain about of suspension of disbelief, but Matchstick Men takes more than most. After this total stranger walks into his life claiming to be his estranged daughter, Waller at no point thinks to call her mother - his ex-wife - to talk about it. Frank's big con ropes in a lot of people to trick Waller, but his ex-wife is not one of them. One call to her, one question about her "daughter", and Frank's long con would be over and done with.

Infuriatingly, Waller actually does decide to call his ex at one point, only to chicken out and hang up before she answers. As with many elaborate cons in the movies, Frank's big plan owes as much to blind luck and stupidity as it does to clever plotting.