Another question about HEAT (1 Viewer)

[PS Nystrom]

I was watching HEAT yet again this evening and began wondering about the part where the police attempt to use Chris Shaharlis' wife to ID him. Is this necessary? Do the LAPD not know what he looks like by now? They did all that recon on the crew and had all of them bugged for some time prior to the heist. What's the point of having Ashley Judd around to 'make the call?' Is it not possible to arrest him without her for some reason? I'm guessing it's some sort of police procedure I don't know about, so if anyone can fill me in I'd appreciate it.

 

[Michael Reuben]

I don't think they need her to identify him; they need her to find him. She makes the call (presumably to a cell phone) so that he'll come to a specific location, where they can arrest him.
M.

 

[Ken Situ]

She's a babe (bait).:b

 

[Carl Johnson]

Chris was coming back specifically to get her. That was his reason for deserting his crew after they patched him up. If I remember correctly LAPD could have busted her too but she cooperated for fear of their kid being sent to a foster home.

 

[Aaron Wisner]

I consider this a pretty big "plot hole". There is no way the crew that stopped him wouldn't have known what he looked like. the LAPD had files on all of them, Chris included.

Ah, well.

 

[Tom-G]

Charlene wasn't being used to ID Chris, instead she was used as bait for the LAPD to arrest Chris. His whereabouts were not known and the LAPD was hoping that Chris would show up for Charlene and Domenic.

I don't have a big problem with that scene and I don't consider it a plot hole because Chris had changed his appearance and he had a "clean" getaway car and identification.

 

[Howard Williams]

In reference to Chris not being identified and held by the police, I'd take the middle ground on this one. Even though he had a new hair cut he matched the general desciption enough to at least be checked out a little closer, especially considering this guy the LAPD is looking for just shot up the entire downtown district. I mean, wouldn't the police expect him to have some sort of a disguise? How come no officers were positioned to see their reactions to each other and the signal on the balconey? That scene was at least a medium plot hole for me. Still, one of my favorite movies.

 

[Michael Reuben]

The "signal" was a small, brief gesture that could easily be overlooked. You'd have to be staring at Ashley Judd at just the right moment to see it. Chris was the only one doing that; everyone else was staring at him.
As for whether he should have been recognized: The officers on the scene probably never saw Chris in the flesh. They would only have photographs to go on, probably mugshots. How many of you have ever picked out someone strictly from a photograph? It's harder than it sounds, particularly if the person has changed his appearance dramatically since the photo was taken. (That's why, in In the Line of Fire, the Secret Service creates all the variations of Mitch Leary's photograph -- and he still gets by them.)
M.

 

[Miguel Paredes]

You'd have to be staring at Ashley Judd at just the right moment to see it.

Who wouldn't be staring at Ashley Judd?
Seriously, though - it's not that big of a plot hole - the police cannot go around arresting everyone who LOOKS like someone, especially in L.A. He did disguise himself a little bit, anyway.
Also, remember that he is dangerous to them, which is why the police were out of sight until he started to leave. And even at that point, it was just to make sure Judd wasn't playing both sides.
The police assumed that if he was pulled over somewhere on the road, another shootout would occur.
my .02.

 

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

Cause she got a GREAT ASS!!!!! And you got your head ALL THE WAY UP IT!!!

 

[Miguel Paredes]

Favorite Line: "You could get killed walking your doggie!"

 

[Carl Johnson]

I don't see Chris getting away as a plot hole because in the real world stuff like this happens all the time. What was the cop supposed to do, fingerprint any white male in his early 30s who happened to walk down the street?

 

[rhett]

I always assumed the reason they never ID'd Chris was because it wasn't him driving the car. He goes and asks the group of people for directions and it never actually shows him getting in the car, so I thought he got someone else to drive him while he hid in the back, or maybe never even got in the car in the first place and just arranged to meet the driver a couple blocks away. Just my thoughts, amazing film though.

 

[Berk]

Rhett:

You may want to watch the movie again. Chris was indeed driving, alone I may add.

Berk