Lockpicking in Motion Pictures?

[TheSnakey]

On dexter they used a proper pick and tension wrench.

[Mousie]

An episode of Desperate Housewives had a guy break into a house using a pick and tension wrench. I was surprised by how well it was depicted.

[op-sec]

Hmm...a lock pick with a hole drilled in one end so it can go on a key ring, along with a tension wrench....not a bad idea anyway.

That is a good idea, its also very easy to prove criminal intent if you are caught with them by the police.[/quote]

OK counselor. In which jurisdiction are you a prosecuting attorney?

actus reus or having the picks (on a keychain or not) does not constitute mens rea or "guilty mind" (criminal intent).

There act of placing the tools on a keychain no more implies mens rea than having them in a case in your pocket or in a nice briefcase.

You might want to go back to law school before you try to pass the bar.

[mkultra23]

Not a fan of the show but I watched one scene of Prison Break and they were breaking into TL30 type safe by using an 8" diameter holesaw on the back. Only took them a few minutes. I hope it was at least carbide tipped.

[TMIB]

In the pilot episode of "Fringe" the agents break into a series of padlocked storage units. They only show the picking in a flash, but it looks like he's using a tension wrench and another pick of some sort. I was surprised when I saw it, as it's unusual for a show like that to be in any way accurate when it comes to picking.

[skedone]

yeah i watched the episode of fringe and thought wow a real pick set lol

[squelchtone]

In the pilot episode of "Fringe" the agents break into a series of padlocked storage units. They only show the picking in a flash, but it looks like he's using a tension wrench and another pick of some sort. I was surprised when I saw it, as it's unusual for a show like that to be in any way accurate when it comes to picking.

The show producers probably did their research here at lp101 =)

[dmux]

I just wonder why they dont show the correct way, maybe they just dont know or might think it teaches too much. i think it would make a movie more interesting.

[Major Boothroyd]

It's probably just unnecessary, unless it's a major part of the movie/show there's no real need to show more than a couple seconds of it or proper technique. Just they broke in and that's that, now to continue with the story. I guess

[Urbex]

I just wonder why they dont show the correct way, maybe they just dont know or might think it teaches too much. i think it would make a movie more interesting.

It seems like some sort of liability.

Joe Cool gets somewhere he doesn't belong via lockpicks, and make up some story about how he learned it through the movie it was featured in. I'm not a lawyer but there is probably some sort of lawsuit that can be filed against the producer.

People can sue for just about anything these days.

Thats just my opinion on the matter.

[Cesar]

I just wonder why they dont show the correct way, maybe they just dont know or might think it teaches too much. i think it would make a movie more interesting.

It seems like some sort of liability.

Joe Cool gets somewhere he doesn't belong via lockpicks, and make up some story about how he learned it through the movie it was featured in. I'm not a lawyer but there is probably some sort of lawsuit that can be filed against the producer.

People can sue for just about anything these days.

Thats just my opinion on the matter.

meh, i think it they just dont know proper technique.......i mean if they can show you how to build bombs, hot wire cars, ect. i dont think they have a problem showing people how to pick locks.

[raimundo]

movies never intend to teach lockpicking or even represent it correctly,
lockpicking is a plot devise used to make the villians look impressive or to make the hero seem extraordinary. For this, it only takes a few frames to say "see how he does this" in explaination of how he moves the plot along by getting inside somewhere that the antagonists would not want him to get in and where the antagonists feel secure. It made rockford look cool in the 70's and it was sexy when gina gershon did it in 'bound' the mafia movie set in chicago.

[yoyoboy]

'No Country for Old Men' is hilarious. The guy with that pneumatic pig killing thing blows the cylinder straight through the door and (even on the deadbolts) the door magically becomes opened. I'm pretty sure that they would blow a hole through an aluminum trailer door before it blows the cylinder straight through cleanly.

Did anyone else notice that he hits a knoblock with it, and later you see a rim cylinder lying on the floor instead?

[raimundo]

movies often get it all wrong on locks, in that movie, forgot the name, with michael douglas and gweneth paltrow, "a perfect murder" perhaps it was called, Douglas is a super rich guy living in manhatten, and to get his wifes lover to kill her, he tells the guy about a blind spot in the video on the building, and gives him a key to get in the back way. the key looks a lot like a kwickset, to me it would have been so much more realistic if it were a medeco on some multidwelling full of millionaires.

[spoolspanker]

Bad Santa! with billy bob. I didn't know much back when I watched that, but I remember he picks safes a couple of times. Don't know if his methods were BS or not, but it was a good movie.