My Plot Summary (Total Spoiler)
Here’s my chronological ordering of the movie if you didn’t get to watch it twice to tie it all together:
In the past, Alex fell in love with Matt first. She stalked him and knew he worked at the camera shop. Her dropping off the camcorder for repair totally backfired, ultimately bringing Lisa & Matt together.
We later see Alex sabotage their relationship, withholding Lisa’s note and deleting the answering machine messages. Then the final dagger, lying to Lisa that she caught him in bed with another woman.
Two years later, here’s how the movie unfolds chronologically:
Day 1
• Luke drops Alex off at Bellucci’s where she’s meeting Lisa. He bumps into Matt outside. Lisa is already inside at the bar. Alex calls Lisa to keep her from seeing Matt, and then tells her “go there now”, to her apartment.
• Lisa then calls Daniel; this is the conversation that Matt overhears
• Matt takes a sleeping pill for his flight
• Matt retrieves Lisa’s Drake Hotel card and then her makeup compact case from the hotel
• Matt ends up falling asleep at The Drake because of the sleeping pill
Day 2
• Matt borrows Luke’s car to attend funeral
• Matt Follows Daniel to Lisa’s apt, retrieves key, leaves note and rose
• Matt returns the car (late) to Luke
• Alex gets to speak to him (on the phone), for the first time.
• She encourages him to return to look for Lisa, so he does
• Alex feigns illness and cancels her date with Luke, returns to Lisa’s apt.
• Alex finds Matt there; she later seduces him
Day 3
• Lisa finds Matt’s handkerchief with Alex
• Lisa returns to Bellucci’s and gets the note from Matt, with Luke's #
• She tries to call Luke but he’s in the shower and has no answering machine!
(Major plot hole that Matt didn’t give Lisa his cell number)
• Luke asks Matt to attend play
• After play, Matt returns to ticket office but also retrieves Lisa’s discarded key.
• He returns to Lisa’s apt. and finds clothes are gone, but red shoes he sold her, with broken heel, are there. If he rummages around enough, certainly he can find something to prove it’s “his” Lisa’s apartment. He buys the 8 ½ shoes to trap Alex with. He probably spends the night at the apartment waiting for Alex, but she never shows up.
• Alex finally spends the night with Luke, at his place.
• Where did Matt sleep? He must've spent the night again at Lisa’s.
Day 4
• Morning: Matt calls Luke. Then Lisa calls Luke. Alex races back to Lisa’s apt. to keep Matt away from Luke, and delivering Lisa’s message.
• Alex tries on a new pair of 8 1/2 shoes, they don’t fit
• Matt leaves, pissed. Alex calls Luke “let’s meet”, so Luke won’t be home to give Matt the “Wicker Park” message from Lisa.
• Matt runs into Luke outside of Bellucci’s (AGAIN!), meets Alex for a drink (in a bucket?) and "the confession."
• Matt and Lisa miss each other at Wicker Park but connect at airport