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Ive got a scene stuck in my head and I cant figure out where I got it from.

A man finishes hammering a plank of wood into the floor of a room (I think its his apartment). The plank of wood is full of nails, most of them poorly hammered into the plank, lots of them sticking out and bent. The plank of wood is next to a door.

The man places a wooden chair between the plank of wood and the door handle to the entrance to his apartment, in this fashion:

locking a door with a chair

Then, the very people the man was hoping to keep out of the room, open the door. Instead of butting up against the chair, the door opens outwards and the chair falls (uselessly) onto the floor.

I think later on somebody trips over the plank that is still in the floor.

I think this is from a movie made in the last 20 years, probably in the last 10 years. The scene was in colour, the language was english, I think the movie originated from America.

I dont remember much about the man who was doing the hammering, just that he was trying to secure the room from unwanted intruders. Don't remember much about the intruders either, my mind focuses mostly on the plank.

I think this could have been a comedy (due to the comical nature of the scene) but it might have been a funny part in a crime film.

Sorry this doesnt narrow it down much. For some reason this scene has been stuckin my head for about a week now and last night I was dreaming it, and it's kinda driving me crazy that I cant remember where this scene came from.

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    Please try to add anything that may help identification. When was it released? Was it in Color or Black & White? What time period was it showing? What country was it likely from or what language was it in? Are there any other plot details you remember? Descriptions of scenes or names of characters or actors you can give? Anything at all? Feel free to edit any additional details into the question. For help writing a good identification question, see: Identify-This-X Questions.
    – Paulie_D
    Jul 17, 2017 at 11:22
  • @Paulie_D Hi, Ive added more details to my question - sorry I dont remember a huge amount, its just a singular scene that is stuck in my head - is this enough information? i think the plank was being hammered into a wooden floor - does this help? please advise, I really dont want this question to be closed...
    – Jimmery
    Jul 17, 2017 at 13:20
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    I know I've seen this film. I want to say it's from Trainspotting. There is definitely a scene like this, but I don't know if it's the one where the door opens outwards.
    – Darren
    Jul 17, 2017 at 14:09
  • As an aside, if you can't see the catch plate (that brown thing on the door jamb to the right of the knob), it's a good bet you're wasting your time. Those are only visible from the side of the door that opens inward.
    – Johnny Bones
    Jul 17, 2017 at 15:26

1 Answer 1

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30
votes

The scene is from The Big Lebowski:

The Dude is trying to stop Jackie Treehorn's thugs from coming to get him.

Dull fact; external doors always open inwards so this scene is kind of a goof, but the error was at the expense of a good laugh so it's OK.

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    It's not the case that external doors always open inwards. External outward opening doors are installed on occasion but need special pins that fall into the jam on the hinge side so that a burglar can't simply pop the pins out and pull it off the frame.
    – JimmyJames
    Jul 17, 2017 at 18:30
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    Residential exterior doors generally open inwards. Commercial exterior doors generally open outwards. As The Dude lives in an apartment building, in Los Angeles - where building construction and maintenance can often be other than standard, almost anything is possible.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Jul 17, 2017 at 20:25

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