I can't keep you cuffed on commercial flying. I got checked my gun with my luggage, but you fuck with me once. I'm gonna break your neck I can't fly what you heard me. I can't fly.
No, no, no, no, no, you're gonna have to do better than that panel No, I don't have to do better than that because it's the truth. I can't fly I suffer from abiophobia What does that mean? It means I can't fly I also suffer from acrophobia and claustrophobia. I'll tell you what if you don't cooperate You're gonna suffer from podcast of phobia.
I was a good selection. Thank you. It was layered now My number one line from midnight run is these things go down Because like that's why that speaks to right it speaks to me so well, but also it is so funny Like even if you're not afraid of flying his delivery of it. It's so magnificent so much of it is delivery Um and when I was at Sundance last so 2020 I guess is that the last time you were on a plane?
Yeah, you don't think you're getting out of this episode without talking about that it is I mean look someone I think I would have taken a plane Yes, since if I was it is the main reason there was no flying for a while obviously right and then most film festivals shifted to at least hybrid virtual But I had a kid so really just it yeah, it like the opportunity hasn't presented itself I know some people have young children and they're like we got to go visit family in California We're getting on a plane. I don't have family that I need to visit like my family's in New York Like you know, I mean like it's your family and you and I think I do I mean I have some well well more distant relatives in the UK I do have some family you don't I mean where it's like there's some people who are like I got to take my kids to see my you know the grandpa All of it in law is way right now, right now and so it just hasn't happened this came up in Blanco recently and Artite right now, and you said that January 2020 was the last plane I'm gonna say that I genuinely don't know when I'll go on a plane again By the way, David has already started biting his nails at Trump's So I need to not be topic but to finish my son it's these things go down That's the thing so I met lunch with Brigham Taylor shout out Brigham who works at Disney producer right now the show who's a great guy and I tell him like I think I was probably like maybe gonna fly the next day But I'm like I'm kind of anxious about flying like you know I always am and like I'm always in my head and like people could be Brian had just died obviously an helicopter accidents Which is different work like you know, it's kind of in the air and everyone was kind of rattled by that because I was really You know shocking more afraid of helicopters and planes, right? I'm sure I never been in a helicopter. I'm certainly not that they're scarier than Thank you.
I think there's a reasonable sense of sanity. There's a chain of logic. I would never get an helicopter Neither would I I mean I've had like rich sort of people who have been in helicopters kind of tell me like don't kidding those things like they don't make a lot There's that service blade don't let's not let's not I think it's like uber yeah blade blade is uber for helicopters, right? Yeah, it's in a uncut gems I always think of uncut it's we're not exaggerating it is truly like disgusting rich New Yorker uber for helicopters Yeah, how do I buy I want to catch a blade to write, you know, Foxwoods or whatever the fuck it is I see them land yeah, you see if you're near the water you can see the hell like it's like on 33rd Street in Manhattan It is insane to watch them land.
It's really scary the thing with the doctors is they both make sense in a way where you're like, okay? Well, it just goes down like this like and then you're also just like but how does that work? No, the helicopter literally parallel parks. Yeah, it's so scary This is also a movie where Robert De Niro shoots a helicopter blade with one bullet and nothing explodes through without handgun with a handgun He just kind of squints and gets it and you're like it does crash into a cliff Right.
He sends it spinning out of control, right? But it's also basically four feet away from that cliff at that moment. It barely has to spin. That's true.
Yeah, that's true Um, anyway, I say this to Brigham and he just looks at me. He's like these things go down man They go down. He just kept saying it to me. This is very funny.
This is one of those movies where you're in the club Yeah, exactly right. I think you know and you can quote the lines back to them and the lines aren't like obvious Well, the way that's worded that could only be from a movie quoting and conversation things. You're not a fucking Regal ad right no the quotes from this movie can be repurposed a normal conversation because so much of it Is just the way in which they're said right? I was clocking while watching this There's so many dialogue exchanges that I find so incredibly funny that are about like a nine part back and forth Yeah, that on paper there is no obvious punchline and it's just about the rhythm Right and a lot of it is sort of like the anti punchline that happens where I was like is this one quietly?
This is a take is this one be quietly a big inspiration on Wes Anderson interesting is it do we know shit like the redwood conversation? Yeah, I'm like that feels like a Wes Anderson joke I will say my wife's favorite bit from the movie is one of those in the tree zone egg scene before the waitress talks about trees Yes, exactly, you know, how much of the coffee is 53 cents Yeah, how much is tea 50% and then groten just as the perfect pause perfect And just go I'll have tea well, he says she says coffee He looks down and it's like he's individually counting the coins on the counter check How many has yes, then he looks back up the ass for teeth the same number he looks back down for three times as long Like he's checking to see if the amount of money has changed That feels like a thing in a Wes Anderson trailer Now we he's not I googled I couldn't find any you know moment if I'm ever saying like you know a movie absolutely fucked I run PTA sites this movie all the time obviously made a sort of secret sequel to this movie There are a lot of guys of this generation who are like that's quietly one of the best constructed American films of the 80s if not ever Right, so I wouldn't be surprised and what's Anderson always fucking sight heat I just we love Michael man and Michael man's like very methodical approach I wouldn't be surprised if this movie is in his suit little but there's nothing to back that up I don't I get like the Tracy Walter scene, you know when mostly finds him that feels very much like a Wes Anderson Yes, yeah, there are a lot of them and like I read the quotes page And I'm like God all of this is so funny But I could see how if you hadn't watched the movie the quotes page wouldn't make you laugh Yeah, no, it almost sounds happy like the exchange. We just read right, you know the fist in you know fistophobia You're like okay, right? I performed it perfectly no one has ever sounded more like Robert's a neuro guy that no one knows how to impersonate and I'm the first one to crack it Nobody nobody knows nobody knows who's saying To be clear I just know that you have to make it a question The thing he does there and dinner does it again on like I got two words for you shut the fuck up and a couple other moments Where it's like it feels like the stress of being in a quippy comedy is starting to get to him Yes, not maybe the actor to some degree, but certainly the character where it's like he's set a precedent that he has funny One-liners, but he thinks he's only gonna be with this guy for 12 hours Yeah, and now he's just sort of starting to surrender So there's something in the way that De Niro performs it where like Fistophobia if someone sold that with all of their might you'd be like is that really an interesting joke, right?
But the way he plays it's like I don't know fucking fistophobia. Yeah, I don't have any better He's tired everyone in his room. We're grown calls it out back to me. He's like I know I know what you're gonna say You're gonna throw me down at whatever the thing is that is so funny Yeah, he's basically I have a madlift structure right a couple of ways you threaten me.
Yeah, exactly I thought that's what you're gonna do by the way for it for the intro is shut the fuck up Yeah, yeah, I mean it's it's my favorite line in the movie or come to words for you shut the fuck up You're gonna check your grown man. You have control over your own podcasts. I Mean every every line is good within its context. Yep.
This is a movie We want to emotion silence and rage. Yeah, it's huge for me. Yeah, so I go on No, this is a movie We want to do since the beginning breast one of these guys as we've been saying that says cleanly into the sort of thesis of this podcast is anyone Right, and this is one of my favorite movies Movie I watch many times I watch at least once a year Yeah, and is in that rare canon for me of movies that get better every single time I watch them right every time I watch it I go like I'm noticing things I haven't noticed before I'm able to appreciate the craft of the construction even more Yeah, and in telling people that we were doing this series because we have a couple sort of short series in a row We've been reaching out to potential guests We'll send them a list of like 15 upcoming episodes and it's across the rear four different directors And the amount of people who've gone like well obviously midnight run I go like midnight run is claimed and they go well if anything happens if anything shifts And I'm just like there has never been a harder lock on an episode in history And then I tell them who the guest is and every one of them's gone. Okay, that makes sense.
I'm not gonna fight that I'm not jealous This is blank check with Griffin David. I'm Griffin I'm David it's a podcast about A filmography is directors with massive success early on in their career and given a series of blank checks and make whatever crazy passion projects They want this is certainly his first blank check. Yes, but it's a blank check to do the type of movie He's proven he can do well with more creative freedom and it's right sort of a casting blank check Yes, sort of a control blank check the next three are more crazy passion projects This is him taking something that's an obvious sort of like commercial layup and being like I'm going to treat this like it is My Magnemopis. I'm gonna make this thing fucking diamond cut We're talking about the films of Martin breast potverly Hills cast is the name of the series and today We're talking about what I consider to be his masterpiece midnight run.
It's the apex. I would agree certainly I don't really even know if there's well, I guess Beverly Hills cops very special, but no this is a better film Yeah, I watched that again last night. No, this is miles and miles better as great as Beverly Hills cop I look but Beverly Hills cop is a little bit of a like lightning in a bottle movie Yeah, it's almost a happy accident that it's so good Yeah, like the talent involved makes sense that it's good and fun But then you're like, huh, this is actually like a little bit better than it should be midnight run is beyond that like and it's all intentional Yeah, you're like this is just a perfectly made film And this is the best version of this kind of story the odd couple on a road trip road trip movie the one crazy night movie I know it's basically the platonic ideal of an action comedy I think in terms of like the thing I always point to in this movie that it gets better than I think anything else I can cite is it stays funny from beginning to end right you care about the characters and Like the the center of the action movie plot is not nonsense. It is intricately designed But it is understandable It is compelling there are clear tension and stakes in every scene and they genuinely get themselves into a thing where you're like I don't know how they solve this movie and it's incredible that the dane mon of this film is like a non-action sequence that is so Exquisitely constructed to be a pressure cooker and hour after we've seen fucking helicopters exploding cars exploding now So many a couple guys talking in an airport is like the highest things you could possibly imagine Right, and it's also it's able to make all of those things coexist because Beverly Hills cop was reverse engineers Just you know, I'm sure you guys have talked about it's a bester's alone vehicle They bring Eddie in and he riffs a lot It's really funny the parts of the movie that are left over from the semester So own version stick out like a sore thumb and everything here like the comedy the action the menace what it wants to be serious It is serious in a way that seems like it fits along with everything else and all the pieces make the other pieces better perfectly When we go to Jack's house Yes, that makes everything that follows funnier because we've understood how low he is sunken so many movies like this rush hour film I do think is quite good the first one like when you cut to Tom Wilkinson great actor that he was yes And you're setting up the fucking serious part of the movie everyone's like checking out a little bit You're like when we cut him back to Jackie and Chris.
Yeah, this movie What he calls for Dennis Perina you're like hell yeah, I mean business. I mean, yeah, that's true people forget People forget the Tom Wilkinson is third build in rush hour Yes, and I remember when my mom interviewed him for you know some Tony or a nicer project around that time He was like that was the movie that changed my life Yes, not getting a nascar nomination for in the bedroom which happened like three years later obviously that could see better parts of it But like and not the full Monty which was a big break up picture now. It was being in a box office smash like rush hour anyway That might be a five-time or club story now. You've told that never fine.
No, no in a good way But at least all the ones before this is a movie where the shoe leather is all entertaining The stakes are never compromised like there is a consistent sense of danger in this movie We're also sometimes you get to the part where the fun guy has to save the day It's one of the reasons Beverly Hills Cop works is that Eddie plays that shit? Well, yeah some other guys. It's like you're not serious You can't coexist in this movie with a serious actor playing a serious villain or It's like when the movie starts to get caught up in the plot You're like can we get back to the jokes This was fun half an hour ago and now the movie is caught up in its own bullshit This is like like I want you back my pick for the greatest pop song of all time my personal favorite is a song movie I've got song it great movie. I think it better than most movies as a movie even though it's a song But that is a song where I'm like the magic of that song is that the chorus and the verses are equally good There's no part about what you back where you're like can we get through this to get to the better part?
Yeah, where you're like every section of it is good in its own way, and this is similarly the same thing Alan's up. Oh hi guys American scholar on midnight run. I'm just gonna say I'm owed this appearance. Yeah, you know It's carved in stone Was there threatening to do him forever?
We just message you and we went it's happening. Yeah, no I you never need to have me on the podcast again after this because this is this is really all I wanted if you want to have me back I love being here. But it's like two times. It kind of took yeah, you took a couple strays Twinted like a girl and members of invisible Puss plus oh We shouldn't even think about him during discussion of the fun film midnight run.
I don't want a second of post-thoughts Do you remember when that was a pain? I know and some people said he was good. We were Complained about that before multiple times. Yeah, well Not that I'm saying like oh you can have this but what now would be the next movie where you're like well that's My number one favorite right now that it's off the table I think almost everything like you have this great collection of guests all of whom I think are mostly better qualified than me because I'm okay There are three movies that if you were to do them I would again break into the studio and insist it was me and this is one of the three of three additional three addition to this And you may notice a commonality between the other three your letter box for which are these are not my letter box for These are the ones where I feel like I could do better than anybody else Okay, the Martian if you ever do really part two sure Apollo 13 if you ever do Howard right stuff if you ever do cow from So after this is just space yes at NASA it's it's my bad It's not what about rocket man because my mom has claimed a rocket man no, but if you do watch over sky Okay, it was called rocket man.
Yes. Yes, mom has claimed rocket man I haven't listened to it yet. This is the on the die hard to yes correct. I know I Would have done that hard, but you know Kevin Smith is slightly you know better qualified to do that than that's I'm gonna buy is there any chance we ever do extra flexure on the podcast no No, I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know No, no, you're it's a good point.
Yeah, I don't care about rocket man. She might I mean I don't she probably enjoyed herself Very it did she wasn't like if you ever did that I mean you might do quorum. That's not that many movies. I could do gravity Sure, okay, so basically anytime we We scroll on an astronaut helmet.
We should at least throw it by you. Yes I mean if you want to consider me further things that's great I again love the show, but I don't feel like I'm essential versus other people I don't remember when it came up in our friendship Maybe it was just from you posting about the movie a lot and I posted about it a fair amount as well And then you and I have had a number of conversations about it both online and offline and then was it last fall You did a screening of this film and I have seen with my solar sites or was it longer? It was sometime last year. Yes Yes, which was my first time getting to see the movie in a theater Which was incredible.
Yes, and so then we talked about it even more than but I feel like for the last couple of years Whenever you and I talk about this movie, it's like just fucking do breast It wasn't incentive to further push it up the chain although I have just been waiting for you to come on and do this episode I'm so excited. We're gonna be here for seven hours. Yes. No, no, no, no We are not we can talk about films and love them without having to break running time records This is a marker.
I am throwing down for this podcast and length does not equal appreciation Oh, but this is a four-hour. No, it isn't although this movie is not long long. It's basically two hours I'm but it's roomy to sex. I mean yeah an argument could be made It's slightly too long like I don't know that you need the car chase in the desert.
It's wonderful sure in and of itself But they're not gonna have his eight sex solo without it. I think this is one of them's best course I do too, but that's a controversial statement. I know really it is incredible It's incredible work and do you guys know the the lyrical version of the end credits? I listen to it all the time as do I is on my workout mix try to believe try to leave try to believe I'm just my point on the learning time is more just like yes, like there's a leaner version of this movie Yes, probably still great.
Yeah And a movie like this you feel like should be lean and fun right classic cable classic, right? But and so you feel the breast roominess which will only grow but this is where he's found the perfect to me Yes, exactly he's found the room about this guy's very hair. Yes It's a hangout movie like yes I mean we want to spend as much time as possible with Jack in the Duke where a sense of a woman It's like let's hang out with these two guys and I'm like I'll put you know screaming at a non entity Like that's who we're hanging out with like that's it. Are we hang out with anyone else?
He's like no, I mean if it was pachino and Philip Seymour Hoffman I want to spend like a day with that we've recorded that episode make that certainly talk about that concept we make that case How can you not get that case? But yeah midnight run is it's just all perfect here And then it's he never quite has it again, but is Beverly Hills cop 90 some odd minutes Beverly Hills cop is 105 minutes Okay, even that's like one foot a smidge roomie a smidge room now or 45 This one has 20 minutes on that and that's one minutes does feel like it is character detail primarily like it is It all benefits the integrity of the movie. It's not wasted time But then it's really sent of one then adds 30 more minutes and me go back then adds 30 more minutes She's I mean Glee. He's like I pulled myself back to two hours and you're like two hours is long Yeah, cuz going in style is 90 basically right on the dot right going in style is I mean in my memory coach or 97.
Okay, the thing with going in style is that also feels roomy. Yeah, like which I like It's very deliberate. Exactly. It does move very fast.
Oh, it moves across the country It moves across twice and you're cross cutting off in between like five different sort of threats Yes, there's the thing that JJ pulled up in the dossier that I think we should read the full quote at length at some point But it was the turnkey on this movie at length. Okay. Yeah, I mean I'll open the dossier now But yes that it took him years to put together But this movie is his riff on it's a mad mad mad mad world sure which he cites as being his transformative movie experiences a child And he was not consciously trying to emulate it and in design he was citing other movies But then he was like oh, I'm realizing that crystallize my mind as a young child is like this is the coolest a movie could be just like fun characters fun tension constant moving energy action and And it does have that thing we're like towards the end of the movie. You're like they're like eight or nine different threads Mm-hmm.
You know, you're following Marvin. You're following a serrano's henchmen. You're following serrano and Jimmy You're following Moscone Jerry. Yeah on top of obviously the Duke and Walsh and mostly and mostly and mostly yes Yes, obviously the Duke and Walsh's primary and the other guys are in and out in terms of importance No, they're they're set up at the beginning and that stay until because you need every time one of the men in sex another one Combash in like just as quickly and it's got the mad mad mad world thing where you're like It's basically always cycling through them.
There's no one where it's like you've been out of the movie for 45 minutes two questions Please one have either you seen it's a mad mad mad world. Oh, I grew up like my family loved that I think that's the time to riff it has just blown my mind. I thought this I saw the quote today and it blew my mind as you seen it Yeah, I was obsessed as a family. I have not seen it in a long time I've ever seen before that is a movie that is deeply indulgent.
I have a long long as the shortest cut right Three hours long was the studio hack job It was meant to be like three and a half. Yes, it was before two oh two was the original cut Okay, just looks at one of the running bits in the movie now Sidsies were locked in a hardware store and he's doing everything he possibly can to get out And just since he's are one of the great physical comedians in TV history Just getting beat up over and over again trying to hardly escape and by the end of it He just looks like an utter wreck. That's Jack Walsh. Yeah, Jesus I mean and that the movie for people who don't know was a comedy made by Stanley Craig Right who's not primarily a comedy director?
No, issue pictures It was like an attempt to sort of make the original action comedy But also make like the biggest budget comedy imaginable that was all the comic stars You could put every funny person in a movie and the setup have you ever seen this movie man? I have right loosely remade his rat race Right Jimmy Duranty dies says there's a briefcase with a ton of money buried under the big W And the ten people who pull over to the side of the road and see him die all go off in their cars to try to get to the money first And it's just like one car is these two one car is these two like and you're all these narratives But it is in a way it feels like six different movies I mean the point is when you're cutting from like Ethel Merman to sit Caesar. They're in different threads Yes, Phil Phil silvers winds up in the river with the kid which then the Simpsons did and The part of the vigilante right and there's just the central thing of where everyone's after the same money It kind of feels like a sketch movie. Yeah, totally.
Yeah, no 100% It was like it's it's a um It's a storage device short for comedic ideas Right like the premise is so big and it's just we got to get from here to here and in that destination in that journey to the destination Anything can happen. We can run into the three stujes for four seconds. Whereas this is like it's very focused This is a weirdly plotty movie. Mm-hmm, but it is focused.
Yes, of course. It's not 16 different storylines like that are in parallel like a rat race every piece of this movie moves the story forward But it doesn't have a smash mouth in it. It doesn't problem Turning it to Hitler which is one like good part of rat race. I think the squirrel thing is fun You should have bought a squirrel thing is funny.
It's funny stuff. Like that's a good gag I think the class Barbie sequence is the one like perfectly designed That's like a clever sequence where you're almost like this feels like it should almost be in another movie, right? That's what rat race kind of is just like what about this or about this or about that You know, they don't have anything to do with each other But that sequence also has the sort of Kerber enthusiasm thing where you don't quite put together what they're building the Barbie museum to be They think they're going to it love. It's his part of a family.
I think they're going to the Barbie museum. It's actually class Barbie the German Nazi Monster and their car breaks down and so they steal a Volkswagen from the Barbie museum and then love its burns his tongue on the car Cigarette yes and his upper lip somehow gets smeared in right? Yeah, look look you can imagine where this all goes It's much like the father said plot line where there is a weird square of dirt on the window That no one has bothered to clean and then father shut his in front of the square It starts ranting it's someone it looks like it look like it there anyway, ten at ten Alan you saw this movie theater is my other question. When did you first see midnight right now?
I'm not 100% positive because I have a very strong memory of seeing die hard in theaters that week because I went with like, you know Some teeny Hebrew summer camp travel thing and we saw it. Yeah, exactly We just everybody lives everybody went nuts with that I must have seen it I must have seen it with my dad because it's the kind of movie my dad loved and it was already and I was 14 at the time So, you know, he would have had to take me my strong memory of it I was just seeing it on HBO over and over and over again I the first strong memory I have of seeing in the theaters years later when they did a screening at the 92nd Street Why were groten appeared and was gonna take questions after and I realized part of the way through the movie that he was sitting right in front of me Oh, and then he gets up afterwards and it turns out he is he does not want to talk about the movie He is there to discuss his charitable work on behalf of non-violent criminal offenders We say very noble cause right and but this is a hundred serious dude His life were spent primarily trying to get people off of death row Yeah, and that's that's great And I get like if you want to turn but take advantage of the captive audience to some degree Sure, but he kept steering almost every question back to that either that or he would start telling stories about feuds He had with different people in show business where he was always the wrong party. Of course. Yes.
I mean I Would prefer he was like trying to get maybe Clifford back off of naughty row I was trying to do a Clifford joke He sees go down You guys have left out what Griffin what you said before but he noticed new things every time Yeah, when I did it with my family a couple times ago I'm always laughing so hard at these things go down that I had never before heard in the middle of the rant He then says it's too big it can't go out. Oh, no, that's a huge part of it Like that he says he's go down and it can't go up like one after the other is incredible. It's very funny Which is I mean, it's not my actual like source of my abofovia or whatever is like I don't understand I run oh, I don't understand how planes so big can go in sky Yeah, but I do think that is like everybody has that thought at one point or another when they're in a plane with They're like this things made of metal like how is this working again? Like I know physics or whatever?
Like what the hell is going on here? Well get to an ascent in a second, but I also didn't realize that is truly the like root genesis of this movie is that It was like the concept of this movie stems out of what if a bounty hunter was afraid of planes and you took that easy Solve out of the situation. Oh, yeah, George Gallo has told us that was his seat Yeah, he met a cop who told him like he had transported prisoner the prisoner wouldn't fly I got stuck in the car right was on a plane and had a panic attack and was like if you build a road movie where there's a Ticking clock and high stakes, but the plane is out of the question that feels like a funny starting point for a movie Right. I do think to what you just said this feels like a movie that not one person would identify as a masterpiece or a classic They're first time watching it.
No, I remember seeing this for the first time I there were people in my life who I would hear my friend Derek's mother would always say you didn't see me I run don't you love movies you haven't seen me and I run we were growing up when I was like a kid right I remember this being part of like the third installment of I love the 80s when they started like circling back and redoing every year and they were like, okay What's like the eighth most important movie of every given year and they did a midnight run segment and like a lot of the talking Hands were talking about this is like one of the best comedies of the 80s I'm like this is not talked about by people in the same breath as the major comedies of the 80s that I think of it's interesting that These guys are canonizing this to this degree and then I saw it on cable at some point a couple years later And I was like yeah, that's good It's rock solid and I got to the last scene and I got choked up and I was like huh that's surprising That it hit me that hard emotionally because I didn't feel like I was that locked in until that point Although I have no gripes with this film and then I rewatched it and I was just like you know what this thing's kind of undeniable And then I just keep fucking rewatching and it keeps getting better for me It is one of those movies that did all right in theaters But became such a cable TV mainstay and I think like elevated its status because it is the type of film where the more you have to watch it The more you love it right um saw this thing on a friggin porch Baby great porch movie. Yeah, I think as a critic or whatever You put this kind of movie if you're in a bucket of like yeah, that's that's great entertainment right it's not high art Like so I wouldn't cat you know I wouldn't treat it like higher I have one of those we put it really out of ten. Yeah, exactly anyone at the time Which is three and a half stars, but even he was like this is a very formulaic movie But they do the formula very well hats off to like impeccable craft He wasn't like the film that everyone will be studying for the next 40 years Right and then I think as you I do I think in general in criticism There's been a movement back towards more sort of like a pop-demy's kind of thing much as this happened in other mediums Yeah, yes of like well, you know, we should we should actually have more appreciation for like formula done perfectly Or right like you know like mainstream stuff like stagecoaster and then right and then you talk to people like Paul Thomas Anderson Who you're like well, this isn't our teeth and he's like yeah But what I admire most is like craft at the highest level something like me there right he's like this is a perfect invisible craft Right and you're like well, you know like I do feel like my feelings on that have shifted as I've matured I'm so much I'm mature. You're oh deeply mature.
Yeah, David Knaf like always cited So the reason I'm like ends up in G. Like there's a lot of guys of that exact generation who are very high level in Hollywood who are like That's the fucking like the Rosetta stone. Well, I will tell you much you turn off the shelf I will tell you a story that is also a shameless plug but a good story in relevance to this Okay, so I have a new book. It's coming out next year.
It's about our call Saul It'll be out in February and I've been doing interviews with people on zoom and I've got a midnight run poster Great poster. Yes, exactly. No, it's the one of him dragging Yeah, the other one and it's over my shoulder in you know on the wall behind me when I zoom I'm talking to Peter Gould about better call on about a hard time I had figuring out what that show was gonna be and finally says one I'm looking at your poster and it reminds me like one day I just had this thought in my head what if it's Bob Oden Kirk and Jonathan Banks hand cuffed to each other wandering through the desert and That to me unlocked. Okay.
It's that relationship. We will do that on the other show dead on Yes, because when they first announced that show it was we're gonna do a half hour sitcom wouldn't be funny transpose this character to a straight up Yeah, law office at comp and also right bounty hunting is TV friendly like there's in case of the week And breaking bad was always like much like sopranos and admin one of those dramas that is quietly funnier than most comedies on TV But better call Saul has this like incredibly bizarre tone this weird balancing act that I think it pulls out perfectly That is it does feel very indebted to me and I run yeah And I finally like in the next last season they did the episode where they're stuck in the desert together He's like we thought we would do that midway through season one and it just took them forever to get to it I do want to call out. I don't know if you guys have noticed Ben is wearing something different today He's wearing a blue cardigan. He's wearing a blue card again.
He's dressed pretty conservatively on the grand scale of things But then I've heard I've heard a certain item. What are you talking about? What did you do? I just noticed that Ben has handcuffed himself to himself.
Oh, yes. Yeah, he is engineering the episode while truly handcuffed It's it's just a misunderstanding with you. Yeah Well The friendlies corporation boy and I There's just not they're not too pleased with me right now But I don't I don't want to dwell on it. You thought that the money from the teacher chair sales was going to charity, right?
You were trying to I did not okay. Yeah Truly it's gonna get worked out. It's not a big deal But do you guys happen to have a handguff key on you? Here's my question.
No is the answer Can you not handcuff someone on a plane like the way he's like anyway, unfortunately I cannot handcuff you right? Maybe if he was an actual FBI yeah, right exactly Yeah, the other thing Gallo said is he's like I had written a couple cop movies at that time Cop movies were really big at the time No one really was writing stuff about bounty hunters and bounty hunters were fastment because they act like cops but technically everything They're doing is kind of illegal right? It's like they're using any kind of force or coercion and it's kind of root Yeah, and it'll just intrude on your home Well, it's also just a bizarre like element of our legal system like you can pay someone to go find someone right? They can't do anything illegal, but also like their job is to basically bring them back and you say So nice, yeah, they're really nice.
They're in normal offices that aren't scary If they succeed then it's sort of like all is forgiven whatever it took yep ends justify the means right? But if you fuck up along the way, it's like wait a second What have you done across the last three days? Well, okay? This is me going wildly out of order But it's an important question that I've had off and over the years which is how much trouble is Jack in at the end of the movie?
By letting the Duke go because he's gotten mostly to agree to drop all the charges for all the illegal shit He's done throughout the movie in part because he's going to take the Duke into local court in LA and instead he lets him go Mm-hmm. He's in no trouble right well with Joey pants. Joey pants can be mad at him, but I don't think he's any legal trouble Like financially ruined well, yeah He's wrong Joey pants, but like isn't mostly I mean I know mostly has another case against Serrano, but part of the case is the kidnapping like that's one of the bigger charges and the witness for the kidnapping is no longer there Right, but that's not Jack's job like to get you mean when it seems most like in subpoena him and be like you must appear in court Yeah, I was saying that was put they made a deal and Jack broke the terms of the deal That's true, but it was a deal in verbal deal But it's also the element of this movie that I think is so perfectly thought out where it's like The Duke has undeniably committed crimes. Yes That must be prosecuted because of the way our law is structured, but everyone kind of agrees They like what he did.
Yeah, everyone hates Serrano They have a mutual enemy and they're like contempt for the Duke is like you fucking idiot You thought you could get away with this not we think that what you did is wrong And they all kind of know that apprehending him is gonna lead to his death and is not gonna hurt Serrano at all Like they're sort of working against their own better judgments when any of them are trying to apprehend him But he's also part of like the thing that makes it so effective in the relationship with Jack is he's this guy He you know, not that Groden was a small guy, but he does not seem physically imposing No, he's got this very sort of meek demeanor. He speaks softly. Yes. He is a nerd He's an accountant.
You do not expect him to be any kind of threat whatsoever And he uses that like he just sizes up Jack instantly and realizes oh this guy's not very bright I can just push his buttons on everything and so like he should be the beta male and he's the alpha in every single interaction They have even when Jack like has his gun out and screaming at him I'm watching back at Plustered is the most entertaining thing in the world. It does not get old I also just want what I have always called a midnight run tan Which is just how dirty they are at the end of the movies that they're basically they look like they've been on the beach in a Weird way their hairs must up. They're just like caked in mud is you know, like it's so hot stage of dinner on this movie I think is about as good as any man has ever looked in a movie It is one of the movies that makes me the most envious where I'm like if I could pick that's what I would look like Everything about the fucking jacket and I bought a jacket like that almost entirely out of my love of this movie And I did not look like Jack Wall she just fucking wears the hell out of it. I agree.
He looks fantastic But also you're like this guy's a mess You think he's gonna fucking bail on the big? I met my man before what do you want me to do David? I showed up and I couldn't miss this episode. All right He's a professional David yes, you look like a man who doesn't know that fast-growing trees is America's largest and most trusted online Nursery with thousands of trees and plants and over two million happy customers.
I had no idea Yeah, well David they have all the plants your yard or home needs including fruit trees privacy trees flowering trees shrubs and house plants My home is littered with all of these and they're all grown with care and guaranteed to arrive healthy It's like your local nursery But anywhere you live with more plants than you'll find anywhere else and whatever you're looking for fast-growing trees Obviously find options that actually work for your climate space and lifestyle for me all inclusive I'll take any kind of tree you got Griffin. I know you're you know a green thumb Yeah, and I got ten green fingers Yeah, I think you're gonna agree with me on this then you know You go to a garden center and you just find it so overwhelming and inconvenient you took the personal statement out of my mouth Ben that is how I feel and then here's the other thing you try to hire some landscapers too expensive I'm so tired of spending every day of my life on the phone with landscapers listen with fast-growing trees It's just so reassuring that you know you're gonna order plants They're guaranteed to be healthy and to thrive But let me guess when the trees arrive it takes a really long time for them to grow They have their life and threat guarantee it promises your plants are happy and healthy no green thumb required just quality plants You can count on plus get ongoing support from trained plants experts who can help you plan your landscapes Use the right plants learn how to care for them every step of the way Can you imagine if Wally had a promo code for fast-growing trees that movie would have been salt it never would even Yeah, it existed right now They have great deals on spring planting essentials up to half off and select plants and listeners of our show yet 20% off their first purchase when using the code check at checkout That's an additional 20% off better plants have better growing or past countries calm using code check it check out fast growing trees Dot-com code check now is the perfect time to plant let's go together use check to save today offers value for limited time terms and conditions may apply Lanky's quick question and be honest. When was the last time you actually thought about how much fiber you were eating? Not protein not calories fiber in the US fewer than one in ten adults hit their daily recommended intake and fiber isn't a bonus nutrient It's foundational That's where he'll comes in on those days when I got a rush to the studio to tape an episode and I need a quick and healthy meal I reach for one bottle or one scoop that gives me everything a real meal is supposed to give you The black edition ready to drink has 35 grams of protein seven grams of fiber 27 essential vitamins and minerals no artificial sweeteners It's gluten-free and it's under five bucks or let's say on the days that I want something a little more customizable I use the black edition powder I can add it to whatever and get 40 grams of protein same complete nutrition just a different vibe The RTD and powder duo has become my insurance policy against chaotic days and makes staying consistent so easy limited time offer yet fuel today with our exclusive offer of 15% off online with our code check at fuel calm slash check new customers only Thanks fuel for partnering and supporting our show With the runaway success of Beverly Hills cop the most profitable film of 1984 at the box office domestically for 20 years the most successful Orated comedy ever already movie period right before passion or So breastlines up another project a remake of the Claude CD French cop comedy my new partner Okay, written by WT director the great WT director who wrote you know in buckroose I yes Like the preeminent French farce filmmaker who for a while there Hollywood was remaking every single thing he put out But were they bringing Claude in no no no say well or not and he is he was the original asterisk No, right now He was the original director of the first asterisk right but he did the original three men in a baby my right about that Probably a lot of his movies were remade.
Yeah, so The screenplay this remake is written with Nicholson and In mind but then Danny DeVito wants to do it and then it gets set up at Fox with Dustin Hoffman lies I'm sorry is the one yes, but I'll tell yes Dustin Hoffman is gonna be the experience cop Sean Penn is gonna be the young cop, okay Some new writers come in to see writer Murray shigsaw Larry gross you did 48 hours Apparently I was getting on famously, but then Leonard Goldberg who fired breasts from wargames which we talked about last time Is put in charge of Fox and breasts is like fuck you I quit right? I'm not doing this. I just raised my middle finger. Yes, so then doesn't Hoffman are like well, then what you know What could I do with you?
I want to do a movie with you and so they find it at Michael Oviets at that point a super agent finds them a little movie called Rain man and heard of this I have heard of this and was written that was written supposedly originally was gonna be Dustin Hoffman as Rain man which the role he plays and Jack Nicholson as the brother. Yeah makes more sense age wise. Yeah, of course instead Tom Cruise comes aboard Yeah, a great performance. He's just like he's just oddly young for the movie.
Yeah, but he sells it so hard You don't think about that's the performance in that movie that should have won the office. I agree so hard 100% so But this is the whole thing with us in our movies they all would just he just like insists on rewrites he would take all kinds of creative control He's I'm not speaking out of school when I say a gigantic asshole like one of the most notorious assholes in Hollywood history Yeah, and also just like a incredibly meticulous neurotic Over the pesser right so I mean we've talked about it in our ishara and others but like he only made like four movies in the 80s Hoffman no, I'm saying breast calls Hoffman a doctor of micro surgery because well, you know It was a breast is like this is never gonna happen. I'm quit. I'm quit that too I'm just saying Hoffman the guy who basically began and ended the decade was bookmarking it with Oscars Was like as respected as anyone could be and Hollywood was just like not fucking worth it Like he was so difficult that even though he was a huge star and was at his artistic peak It was just like fucking life's too short to work with us and Hoffman You could see he and breast getting along very very well, right?
They make a lot of senses appearing but also it sounds like breast at a certain point was like You know what? This is never gonna get done as much as the idea of us working We're just gonna keep fighting each other's obsessiveness. Okay, so let's put breasts aside George Gallo Sell his first screenplay at the age of 20 Worked as a truck driver throughout his 20s though because he could never get anything produced 1986 you finally get to screenplay made Brian de Palmas film wise guys a big bomb huge love when it's a palm is least remembered movies in a weird way That's the Kirk Douglas Lancaster one? No, no, no This is the Joe Piscopo Danny DeVito one which my best friend Mike and I there's one line We would quote all the time which is they steal the credit card of a more important mobster named a kavano And so then they're using it to finance their trip down to Atlantic City and everywhere they go They hand a credit card and someone says thank you, mr.
Akavano and they turn to each other go no no no no no no Thank you mr. Akavano and it sounds sort of funny. It's the only funny thing in the movie So I've you that's a thing to the top guys, right? Yeah, okay.
It's a tough guys the name of the other yes, okay? They have very similar and Douglas Lancaster Robert train in that right Kirk Douglas is Brian de Palma movies of course the theory So okay, so yes that bombs but don Simpson and Jerry Brockheimer intrigued He starts writing a screenplay for them called bulletproof hearts that eventually becomes bad boys many years later Yes, and then he starts to conceive of midnight run which is essentially the thing you're saying The bounty hunter who was afraid to fly was his original idea right he started with the idea of wall Being the one who's afraid to fly and building the whole movie around that it was based on I guess a moment where he stopped an airplane He was so scared of it taking off which is one of those things that I might be afraid of flying But I am more afraid of the social embarrassment of being like I have to get off the plane like I know happens I know that that is a thing that could happen But like Jesus but it is a good aha moment to like personally experience getting kicked off of a plane like that And then go this is an interesting starting point for a movie if I'm not allowed on a plane and I need to get to X What now happens along the way right and then you heighten that to yeah I don't know as you say you already mentioned this but basically he was like bounty hunters are interesting They don't have her for anyone they are kind of illegal. Yeah, it's not essentially kidnapping But that's basically what they're doing and they haven't been discussed enough in movies like as cop movies are everywhere He's working on the pyramid lot. He froze this idea.
Marty breast First hasn't written it's just an idea He's been working yeah first for some other idea. No, I've heard him say he had part of it written He ran into breast in the parking lot outside Don Simpson's office. Yeah, and Marty's like what are you working on? He says well, you know I've got this little idea and I don't want to waste your time with it now and breasts Like no, no tell me yeah, he starts telling him and he says if you've written any video I got pages in my trunk.
Yeah, I'm gonna. Oh wow. Okay, but there wasn't a finish draft I don't think it was finished. Okay first thing he mentions will proof hearts breasts like yeah And sort of interesting but no he starts talking apparently some sort of like gold robbery movie They start talking about robbery movies like the hot rock or like friends of any coil or whatever At this point after Beverly Hills cop It's like you have quantified yourself as someone who's at the top level of doing this type of thing right?
It feels like he was being Strategic enough about his career that he's like if I pitch another star-driven action comedy They're gonna give me a lot of freedom. I'll have an easy guy's thing. I'm the most right Let me find the right piece of material to start on Right and so the thing Gallifam Lee says to him is like it's this movie, you know Bani Hunter white collar guy Baba is that like I want it to be in a tight frame right a few days because there's a ticking clock And I sort of wanted to be like the last detail Yeah Like kind of like a quasi road trip movie with like an end in sight right like you know the kind of like we have to get here by here It's one of the best things even beyond that about this film and its construction is that like early on Mardukas calls out you realize if I get sent to jail I'll be dead within 24 hours like everyone knows that kind of part and parcel with delivering him Right, he's then at the mercy of the mob basically right this movie is a finarial march meet some bounty hunters He says some guys are kind of like gentlemen others are like cowboys So he kind of settles somewhere in the middle there for Jack Starts writing and I think John Ashton's character ends up being the real cowboy type. Yeah, why am I forgetting his name now?
Marvin Dorfler Marvin look out Marvin Does he say he's by the end of the movie by the way? He gets some hard hits there's some hard hits in this movie That's true such a classic great punch movie. Yeah, yeah like a single punch and then your lights are out Yeah, and with real kind of like cartoonish like old western bar And Jack never once like you know has to shake out his fist or anything afterwards no no damage to him No, but the arc of the punches they're like full Popeye swing with like the most robust sort of impact sound effects possible So Gallo credits Martin rest for everything says like he really cracked the whip for me He turned me into a good writer rigorous as right exactly He would always say try to twist this one more time try to surprise me one more time right like you know You know don't just settle for essentially a wrote to version of this road trip He kind of movie which is it is the magic of this film that every scene just plays out a little differently than you thought it Whether it's the plot zagging or the character handles a Traditional plot scene in a way you wouldn't expect in terms of performance Didn't know Deneer is first aboard De Niro in his career, which is long and interesting. He has two Academy Awards I don't know if you guys know that at this point.
Yeah, he got two within five years He sure did and it's two for characters very much like Jack Walsh, you know very funny and loose Yeah, he got to also just like undeniable Oscars. Yeah, like it was like of course He's winning for a region of course, but anyway, right after all that You know he does once upon a time in America and the King of comedy both of which are like you know well regarded now But are kind of these like troubled things at the time. I feel like the comedy does okay Huge flop it was a huge flop. It talks about that was a panic.
I know it was free people out Yeah, no critics called the worst film of the year and they were like these laws did rules And once in America was this very long drawn out production It's a cut to pieces. It's coming off of like Jim Now he is in the mission in 1986 which is a tremendously boring and misguided movie in a lot of ways, but it's gorgeous It wins the palm door It's got the most beautiful score, but the most fascinating thing is then he swings into this period in the 80s where he's like cameo guy Yeah, it interspersed with the mission. It's a lot of supporting it's Brazil Angel Hart and untouchable to the ones We're thinking of especially right where he's sort of like the looming figure in question He's the character of the movie keeps talking about but he's not on screen good in all of those He's I would go as far as say he's great and all right, but it is an interesting moment for him and clearly he's decided Yes, I enjoy doing these bigger than life like cameo parts cool. That's fine Like I like doing that, but maybe it would be nice to do a funny movie Like that people aren't completely bummed out watching having been said he's in this position where it's like look He's widely considered perhaps the greatest green actor of his generation Yeah, I mean I wasn't alive in the 80s, but I think his rep is probably pretty strong pretty fucking strong He's two Oscars under his belt that as you said no one can deny right But you're like what more does this guy have to prove right to sort of like hit that big that young that quickly new then It's like so what are you doing now?
Are you chasing around shadow and increasingly? I think there was this reputation of like he's actually not bankable. He's a beloved actor He's widely respected right but he's like not a box office star and some of his movies about complicated I think him swinging into those supporting sort of cameos parts was also him taking all pressure off himself as a leading man in terms of His value as a star and just being like I'm additive to these movies Yeah, I mean it's gonna hold against me. I would guess like Godfather to and untouchables were by far his most successful movies in the box office And he's not the lead in either one.
No, that's a good point. No has to be a taxi driver did pretty well And the other ones didn't really yeah, I mean even I mean obviously we get the box I should be told movies can be hard, but yeah, it was like a good hit for well for especially for movie That's incredibly disturbing and violent correct one of your classic porno theater date movies But but he's already been in this headspace of like maybe I need to do something lighter Maybe I need to shake it up This is a big thesis of mine Alan that we talked about before you're screening where I think this is the first Robert De Niro movie star movie. I'm not just talking about the way at which it is received I think because at this point in time his reputation was also so chameleonic De Niro goes so deep. He'll do anything to transform himself for a role.
He's so malleable This is the first time he's kind of shedding layers and figuring out what his default on-screen persona is now later 15 20 years later when there's the whole sort of like De Niro comedy wave that is not riffing off of this That is like parodying his tough guy dramatic work from earlier That is it's this is funny because it's Robert De Niro doing it Right, but I also think this movie paves the way for like what becomes his default screen persona in things like heat Yeah, right like his heat character has more in common with Jack Walsh than he does like 70s Machino, right where he's so fucking intense. Yes He starts to figure out like what am I like just kind of existing on screen? But I think he knew he needed to like expand he wanted to do big very badly He met with Penny Marshall a bunch There were like a bunch of comedies like that or like lighter fair where he was like can I play a nice guy? Can I be in a movie that isn't about me being dangerous or intense or scary or whatever it is right?
Even King of comedy he shows that he's funny, but it makes everyone upset And he was like I think he knew he had to figure out who like Robert De Niro above the title was in that kind of way, right? Obviously the big question is who do you do it? Brest is like De Niro sure I'm interested. Yeah, great like but then they say he doesn't seem to totally fit the role is written And he's like here's my take if Rob De Niro wants to do the movie.
I'll figure out. You'll read the role right like it's exactly That's exactly it's Charles Gordon obviously We need people to read for it because there's a question of micro chemistry is how breast put it and beyond that They're immediately terrified of a co-star being intimidated by De Niro You're like even if you get the funniest guy in the world is he gonna feel insignificant holding his acting chops against De Niro? And if you try to get another actor to stature they're gonna be funny right right right right um he We just seem from heaven can wait he watches the movie he does but he says no right right sorry Yes, I remember to see him Kevin can wait, but Charles Gordon is very funny and so funny Where he just turned to another character and had a deadpan reaction that just knocked me off my chair Yeah, so Brest is like why is no one like why is this not a guy that everyone's trying to get Grogan had a career that on a smaller scale Was very similar to like Alan Arkin where there was a period where they were a leading man like heartbreak kid for grownup You know Grogan stuff got 22 together right Grogan stuff did not hit as hard as arkins early stuff did and then after a couple years It's like Broden is a super reliable like comedy version of what De Niro was doing in the 80s He will pop up as the best friend or the CIA agent is char whatever it is You know right but it's like that was his zone was this guy had a leading man run the movies are well respected But they weren't successful I guess the audience doesn't like him as a leading man Sure Haven't show up for a couple scenes and be funny next to Steve Martin Right or Warren Beatty or all these guys and also he's just a pain in the ass like it's he's it worth working with this guy Right, he's not gonna make you enough money. He's a curmudgeon Yeah, he's not a pain in the ass in the way that Hoffman is sure right and and also his comedy persona now is curmudgeon He's one of these guys who's more famous for being a talk show guest than he is for anything else and his bid on talk shows being like I don't want to be here.
What are we talking about? Which is pretty like niche so Brest says the best thing about De Niro about Brooke Grogan is that he's not afraid of De Niro Yeah, they would keep doing screen tests with De Niro and every actor was so intimidated by him Um, so Grogan obviously is not Grogan read the script is like it was immediately clear if I was offered this part It would be the best one I'd ever played in the movies like heartbreak kid He considers maybe his best work at that point obviously lead role for him Yeah, but this was more dimensional more unexpected more human than the other part I'd done So he does like an audition where they read all their scenes together It's not just like a scene like the whole movie at least the their parts right which is you know 75% of the movie Yes, two weeks later He's phone to say it's between Robin Williams and you which is kind of an intimidating thing to say to him like good morning Vietnam's the year before right? Yeah, or well, maybe it came out So like Moscow and Hudson were talking about this is the exact point where where Williams is trying to make the opposite transition of De Niro Of can I add a little more weight to my comedy, right? Yeah, so You know he does another version of this three-hour audition similar to the first okay, yeah paramount doesn't like it They're like this isn't sorry enough This isn't funny enough Casey Silver the VP of production is basically like we need someone else like this is a movie star So they do another series of what are what breast called sham auditions?
Judge Reinhold Sharon Stone apparently came in well Sharon was not at the level to do this is the thing So the studio really wanted Robin Williams or share share was coming off a number of hits Yeah, the share thing is not in the dossier. So I wonder how made up that no I was that's a famous It's been discussed so many times right right obviously share was some studio notion of like she was coming up a bunch of hits And they thought like oh does this movie have more juice if there's also sexual chemistry between them, right exactly I the way Martin breast frames it is that like he and De Niro had made a pact that they wanted grip They knew the studios did not want to sign off on Britain Yes They kept making groan do all these green tests where he do the entire movie Yes, and then they were sort of setting other people up as fall guys judge Reinhold is the one who's like that fucker Marty brass Maybe do an audition We're not looking for the script one time right like I could tell it was basically like them being like oh we tried This guy didn't work. Oh, we tried this guy Really hard in his last movie sharing stone is them being like look we're being flexible We're considering every single option and look at you Right is this one Bruce Willis came in I don't know I don't know about that one No, cuz it's I found this Maryland back in a column from September of 1987 Bruce Willis hopes to make a film during his coming moonlighting hiatus But thus far he has nothing set will is his agent Arnold rifkin confirmed discussions for his client to star in Martin breasts midnight run Wow, but riffkin added that quote no offer was ever made and I'm told an offer is now out to Charles groan That's right. I'm right to pump up his client universal wouldn't pull the trigger on groan It was like well first paramount and then universal yeah When does it hard no then it goes from turn around to paramount to universal and they're like we want groan and universal is like Let's open this up to more people so then there was an additional way That's when stone and Ryan Holden all those guys came in So went through two different studios both of them refusing groan but universal was less absolute about it They were like let's keep seeing other people so it's a fucking good script with the director of the highest comedy in years Yes And the most respected screen actor and it says jump ball where every fucking agent must be like maybe I'm the guy who can send his client in there And have him kill him in the night run and cinch the part right because even though it was sort of an open secret across town They want groan, but it's probably not gonna happen There's this famous story I love about groan that he was acting class with gene wilder with Uda Hagen one of like the legends of acting yes I mean the other anti-love from this is that he One day told gene wilder like they were talking about their careers and their ambitions and he's like buddy You got a lorry expectations right and he was like what are you talking about?
It's like you're not gonna be a movie star look at your face right like listen to your vote You're not like the kind a guy Wow with just sort of like I have the right features and you don't that's right Yeah, it's like an asshole is moved But also he's like right like gee wilder kind of sites that is like incentivizing him to prove him wrong But the other thing talking about Charles groan being difficult was in that class He'd like sit back with like the newspaper and read it openly while other people were like tearing their heart out and stuff Right and at some point Uda Hagen pointed to him and she was like look look at what he's doing This is compelling and then she made the entire acting class come around him She's like this is an interesting technique and he was like I wasn't doing anything I was genuinely just bored in the class and then she was like we're all to tell to see what his next move is and he yawned And she was like yes, this is it and it's so much of his acting process there Right is like the thing that it sounds like he kept doing in all these screen tests is other people were trying to like top de Niro Yes, and he would take 30 seconds on a response just funny He just threw everything under hand and he just seemed completely uninterested in trying to impress anybody as much as he very much wanted This part he wasn't like groveling for it. Don't forget We can production in October 1987 it comes out in July 1988 But it was a long 17 week shoot tons of locations Famously the cliff scene is shot in New Zealand. Yes, because the water was warmer. Yes, so they had to fucking fly to New Zealand But obviously I'll show New York LA Chicago Arizona.
Yes, I don't know all these genuinely 10 locations. It's mostly in order crazy run An assistant director much of the camera crew quit five weeks in production I think probably because rest is like a really meticulous pain in the ass like that seems to be the vibe He kind of cops do it. Yeah, also coming off a Beverly Hills cop or like Eddie Murphy through the script down Just did different shit every take and it ended up working right here Every day is like sort of he sort of become the Kubrick of comedy where he's like we're gonna do everything a hundred times Because I'm waiting for you to do something that surprises me and y'all for code spoke very openly about how miserable he was making this movie It really helps his performance where he's constantly miserable and I don't think it was intentional I don't think rest was trying to like he doesn't rest doesn't seem like an asshole He does seem like a like just a pain in the ass right and he was like I'd work so hard to try to get what I thought Bress wanted and breast like okay now try doing the serious version of it I thought you wanted the funny version and then I do it seriously push me further in that direction But then y'all fuck. Oh, when he saw the movie was like I could not believe how good it was right He was right about everything and like these pieces where I was like every day on set This is incompatible How is what I am doing now going to cut together with what I didn't hour ago let alone what I'd shot two weeks ago And he was like he knew that he needed every single option and Bressed one of the reasons this movie went very over budget was he like at a time where it cost money to print film where people would sit there They're script supervisors.
I'm gonna take look good They mark print it and you only print the ones that feel like it's a great take to get to end and he was like print fucking everything Universal's like what are you talking about? He's like I got Robert De Niro in a fucking movie I think I'm not gonna print footage of a Robert De Niro on camera But also he's like sometimes you watch a take that otherwise isn't usable But there was a twitch on a face in response to a line that doesn't happen on the other takes and that thing is like fucking gold And he even keeps the camera running off and like after the take is over and some of that shit is some of the best stuff in the movie Jack like taking the badge out of his pocket and turning around flashing that that's just in your fucking around after the take Mostly saying I'm gonna have heart attack here. That's yuff at kodo. Just losing his mind actually getting mad Yeah, I was straight up sick the entire time of filming to he claims he had a fever every day he was filming Yeah, um the way Bress puts it is the movie was written to death and they would shoot like a master You know of like let's do the script exactly we have it and then right improvise in every direction imaginable The sex with the chicken run in the box car.
Yes, they apparently were just like we have a great way out of the scene Or whatever and grow to like came up with that after a while It's he says you need to do whatever you can to make Bobby laughing because we have to convince people that this is the moment Relationship turns and rest was like that's so funny, but we can't use that and it was like well maybe I can use that And that comes his whole philosophy on the movie is anytime. There's something where I go That's so funny, but obviously can't use it means it has to be in the film Uh-huh make this the movie where all that kind of stuff does make the cut Um the way Dinaire puts it is it's like swimming the English channel when you're in the middle of it You know, you're like what the hell is going on essentially right like at the end you're like no I guess that was that was how you had to do it I mean, I don't know how else to put it Dinaire apparently would call Marty the principal like oh the principal's coming you're in trouble Everyone's like oh, did Dinaire came up with it. Yeah, sure. Yeah, and as you say yeah when he comes up from behind the camera Everyone's like oh god.
I'm gonna fucking get yelled about right exactly Um now apparently they did not have a finished ending while they're in production And bress was constantly hounding gallowed being like what's the fucking ending like you figured this out? Uh and gallows says finally I realized I've been in my room for four days in a hotel in Sedona my room looked like a son of sam paper all over the place I was chain smoking I said I need some air I took my golf clubs you can imagine when this is going I went to get some air just to move my body around I knock on john ashton store That's the guy who plays door floor um, and you know, he's like get your clubs so Uh, we go the bus of the crews leaving fall by Marty the principal in his car Mr. Bress he sees us teeing off on the first hole. I thought he was going to have a heart attack He swung around that car and started screaming at me like I'm a kid George gallows old screen credit You're on the fucking golf course we have joining and you're on the golf course He was going berserk and then he heads off in his car and the whole crew starts cheering and whistling like a football game I'll never forget that soul screen credit.
He knew how to get me and it finished the round laser great story Yes, oh, it's so good. Uh and the ending doesn't really couldn't be bet. It's so perfect and simple It's so very simple. You're kind of like you didn't have this ending like what a great ending like a classic The movie was written backwards from the ending and my wife was like, I mean, he's gonna let him go right and I'm like of course Like what you was watching right like the execution of it Yes, and the details in it like seems so obviously like see the throughout, you know the runner about the watch And he's already given away the dukes watch after they steal the truck the money Another thing that I didn't notice until like five or six viewings into it Maybe not even until we saw it together which is in the bus station when he's like frisking the Duke Yeah, to see like if he has any money to help pay for the bus ticket He's like you have any money in the dukes or something got money.
Yeah, and he's he looks so pleased with himself He keeps seeing throughout the film and it's one of the great lines where he said I know you said money He didn't say you had money And it's just the emphasis he says the same thing two times De Niro says so many lines in this movie twice and it's different the second time Yeah, I mean dinner at this point bit famous for saying the same line multiple times Enthusiasms enthusiasm There's a couple words he mispronounces in this movie. Oh, it's when they do the litmus configuration Configuration yes, he stumbles over configuration and it's such a nice moment because you're like De Niro is impressed That Groten is so good at this when he's been the one bullshitting his way through environments the whole time that he's actually caught a little off-guard And he stumbles I'm just thinking about just Farina How he's always like to fill a bigger hole like so now relax have a glass of milk like he just keeps saying that to all He's a little bit of family. I have a cream soda so fucking thing every some fucking big Every marina line in this movie has one great specific and they're none of them are obscure Yeah, but like if they don't do what I want I'm gonna hit them all with a fucking blowtorch I'm gonna stab you in the neck with a fucking pencil hiding Right have a glass of milk like everything there's one specific that comes in of like there is this man has an attention to the You know, yeah, uh, david do you have your 1987 ballot. Oh, yeah, sure My debate has already always been how many acting nominations do I give this movie?
87's a really hot year my friend that is a tough year to squeeze people in on Right Not 87 sorry I have this nominated for yeah a bunch of awards. I mean in my ballot. Yeah, what do you mean? Well picture uh-huh director actor screenplay which actor so I right here I have DeNiro and lead and groten in supporting which is cheating But not entirely because groten is not in the first chunk of the movie But it's not that long no, but I want to put them both here in my ballot And here's the reason why I would put them both in a lead actor So you can get one of the many great supporting before it's right for arena, but also tempted to put kodos Kodo is the one where I'd be kind of tempted I want to do four nominations in two categories two double-known categories You should I mean I think you should do that right and I'm gonna call it the academy It's a really good five lead.
Who's your five lead your five supporting? DeNiro midnight run Hoskins who frame Roger Rabbit. Yeah Bruce will listen a film called die hard I'm actually a second art film from Bulgaria. You wouldn't have heard of it Far as would occurring bird incredible performance Jeremy irons and dead rangers.
God damn it That's okay really good movies. Okay, and you put grinder supporting along with alnrichman and die hard michael keaton and beetle juice Kevin Klein and a fish called wanda and then dean stock on the mary to the mob which is a true like I just love that performance That's maybe the quote-of-quote weakest although he got like an Oscar not for it, right? Like it's like yeah, it's a good performance So we've covered almost all those movies now which is why maybe it's time to do charles kriton and knock a fish called wanda I'm from a current. Oh, I would want to be on the one episode if you ever do kriton which will obviously happen here he goes He's not retired doesn't need to be in space.
I Was never remember when it was like Hitchcock in March madness one year and I just want to text you like well Hitchcock wins I'll do rear window right and you're like this was your bit for a while You would you would Be here and then it became a bit yeah, I realized okay. I'm punching above my weight But it's my arm. I would do Jurassic Park is the kind of thing you would text you should do um we should do Alfred Hitchcock It's doing right now. Do you want this podcast?
Do you remember how much hand-wringing there was to figure out how to split him up from Or more man briefly had this thought of like could we make like four yeah, Hitchcock movements right like we do kind of like four different decades or Whatever yeah, that was fun. All right. So just not going too much of a tangent because it is related You mentioned Hoskins before I assume you guys have seen the screen test for any valley where it's Joey pants Yes, okay So a I'm trying to imagine what Roger Rabbit would have been like with Joey pants and then be Joey pants allegedly was one of the many People who's trying to get in desperately play the Duke desperately. How do you think he would have been in both of those roles?
He's a really good actor Yeah, and he's got the energy required for both him is for Eddie Valley That's and that's an ordinary movie like he would be loud and ordinary I think his energy is too similar to Roger I think that's the problem like Hoskins is dead pain in that movie like you which is I mean obviously Hoskins is just wonderful I'm not saying you'd be a bad film But it's like there's no way to improve upon that and I think the same thing with me and I run no one could have played the Duke better But also no one could have played Marc Skunk better like it's oh yes No, but rest really wanted him to play one of Serano's goons So he had the in with breast and then he was like I want to play the Duke and it was like I really want to grow Dan But you can read for this one this might imagine the studio reacts to now. Okay, I'll drop I'll drop Gro'd in Japan to be on it Just like what one of the best pants performances it is it's just perfect application. He looks like he belongs in that office Yes, he does. He looks like he lives in that office I mean full time he has the desperation the manic desperation of this guy down so hard anytime He's negotiating the numbers with people and he slips off and he says a little more than he should It's it's funny There's that bit early on when in his first scene when Jack is complaining that he's trying to like reduce the rate and he turns to Jackie Ho Jerry and he's like does when have I does that phone ever?
I'm gonna finish a sentence this every He's doing like Nicholas Fain stuff Thing when De Niro comes in he asked for his money and then he goes like Jack we agreed to a loaner Whatever and he's like Jack pushes on back for a millisecond and he immediately folds. No, you're right 1200 right? Yeah, you're right. You're right was welcome.
I even down to how he's balding but has still kind of like some Perfect I've had many conversations with joy pants over the years about his baldness his hair wigs Yes, like how when he he's playing a part where it's supposed to be a wig versus when he's playing a part where it's supposed to be He's really like he is like a wig master. Well, the Ralphie wig obviously is not revealed to be a wig until Spoiler for the Surrounders Ralphie doesn't make it what? I'll never watch But was he aware from the beginning like this is a hairpiece? I think he was I mean I'm I don't remember if we've discussed that because the last interview I did with him for Surrounders before Ralphie does he also said recently that he based it off of Christopher Nolan that he had just Unmemento and he was a he's a whoopie hair of Ellen's I'm so it's further back on the head of Chris's but yeah, yeah, and he based you know It on Ridley Scott's gliders well the characters He's got the Dan Flashers right like the very last And the combination of like that with the ties and the suspenders but no jackets Part of him that looks like a shitty birthday party magician Yeah, and he's trying to intimidate everyone But he just can't fully commit to it and you started with this guy being in the hole if he's overextended something this movie It's such an efficient setup, right?
But you open just like fucking De Niro turning down a hallway looking like a hundred million dollars Oh, this is gonna be where De Niro has a gun and he's cool right where he's like a cool act Yeah, right he's a badass. He's a fuck with him. He's trying to pick this lock. He drops the fucking paper clip bullet goes right above his head It's a thing I love of this movie setting up basically with like from minute one this guy's on borrowed time Right, it's not really talked about that much He says it once but like I almost died tonight right like this is my breaking point I do only reason I'm still live is because I'm clumsy because I dropped a thing It's also like just Exem m.
Emomatic of like his quote unquote professionalism, which is like he's not unprofessional No, but half the shit that he does right is by mistake. Yes or weird luck or whatever And then even when he makes some gets out of this situation successfully It's like and then you got fucking deal with Marvin like Marvin's always there meeting you Marvin giving you fucking chin music That's the first like two three minutes of this movie that whole dynamic is set up This is what this guy's daily life is like Marvin's always on his tail. He goes to the precinct They all know him they all have in jokes with him this weird sense of like why isn't this guy a cop right? He has an odd relationship with the police because it feels like he should just be one of them Right and especially with our petunero I guess like his biggest police roles are to come but you're like that's a guy you'd buy sure Yeah in this type of role and then he goes over to fucking panelion's office yeah, Panatones office and Yeah, that is where the movie starts to like truly fly and it's just I mean it's such a triumph of casting because it's like every Sing it's like the 27 Yankees of character actors are playing like you see Joey pants you instantly know with this guys You see yafakado you instantly know who that guy is Farina everybody dropping Tracy Walter at the diner The movie for ten seconds really feels like I'm just showing off at that point.
They're just like I don't know we had to right Yep, but yes, it's it's 80s girl director Avengers. Yes, Jackie. Oh so good One of these things were like every guy in this movie is interesting So you're paying attention which pays off when the guys end up working themselves more into the plot than you would imagine Jackie Who keeps one to get donuts to be nice and you're just like well It's just kind of funny that you have this guy with this hang dog energy there And you're like no, but he's the snitch this is important. He is important We need to be tracking you to surprise me FBI fan eventually figure this out Yes, just one thing after another thing of like I you see my stuff you want donuts?
Yeah, you need you need to work yourself up. Do you want some donuts? Just that this yeah, well when he starts doing it I'm like this is just a funny character detail this guy goes to donuts for everything and then you start to learn donuts is code word for He's writing right he's gonna make a collect all right It's the movie so smart about finding ways to through characterization and like charm make every little detail memorable for one reason or another So that you are keeping track of everything David yes intentional air about you today. Well, I'm more intentional about what I wear day to day Oh, I'm leaning to pieces that feel easy comfortable and put together.
I'm sure you get those from anywhere. Oh quince look Really? Oh, he's showing it really wearing quick. Listen.
He's showing tag on me It's been my go to because very clean fits very nice fabrics. Yeah, don't they don't feel like cheap fabrics I hate dirty fits. I hate cheap fabrics. I am it.
We're in you know if the weather's getting warmer I really rely on my quince polo shirts for the kind of like exactly like a formal enough piece of clothing I can go to the office, but it's comfy. Yes, cuz we do have a dress code here head like So they got those hundred percent p me cotton teas with a softness Oh, enjoy and for those who are David is touching the fabric pants at that same balance relax and comfortable I gotta tell you I recently had a birthday and my in-laws sent me a quince gift card because they know I like Gwen so much and I am itching to spend this that's a really strong endorsement. Yes, right? Yes, everything at quince is price 58 percent less than what you find it similar brands because they work with those ethical factories They cut out the middleman getting premium materials without the markup.
Mm-hmm. I've got this cashmere zip. Hey David is showing me. Oh nice Cashmere zip color.
Yeah, I wear it all the time is cup pockets So professor every day with luxury you actually use head to quince.com slash check for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns Now be able in Canada to that's quince.com slash check for free shipping and 365 day returns quince.com slash check The plot of this film is as we have a setup here. Yeah is that he's got to go get the Duke Jonathan Mardukas a mob accountant Mm-hmm. He is a mob account. Yeah, he was working for an accounting firm He didn't realize that their main client was the model right he embezzled $50 million from the Chicago outfit He only realized too late how long he had been spending helping the mob behind their money So then he started funneling it into cherries right and then so he skipped bail.
There's a $450,000 bail He has skipped so while she has to go get him within five days while she's like you got to give me a hundred grand And you know and this this all this kind of thing since he was so Depending on to put up the money because he was like this is gonna be a big payday But he didn't realize until after he had put up the money that it was the Duke how high the stakes are of the situation How many people are gonna be after him and he's basically like I default if this guy if I don't deliver him and my business goes under You need to do this dinner is like I almost died tonight if I'm doing this It's my last job and he's it's a midnight run. It's easy. This guy's a fucking whim right the idea being right like how hard this could This be this guy's not scary isn't it right? Right?
But Walsh is just at his breaking point and his thing has always been I want to go off and like just start a restaurant living normal life Have a coffee shop and everyone tells him like there is no version of you that will ever have a normal life There's no fucking getting out for you. I cannot see you being happy No, but he's like saying this is it's a hundred thousand dollars or I walk away money I don't owe you anything. Can I see the life-changing amount? Yeah, so he has to he's charged in LA Yes, this is the question.
I've always had lives in New York Yeah, and it's around us in Vegas and serranos in Vegas and it's unclear to me like he doesn't like he's charged in LA He's hiding in New York, but his wife lives there. No, no, no, no. He's sort of their their period of terror Hiding out in New York what mostly pulls him off the street and into the car and they have the banter But the sunglasses mostly says I want to take him into federal court I don't want him being brought up on some bullshit local charge. Yeah, what is the local charge in Los Angeles that he is No, I can't explain this.
Very simple right the US federal court system is divided into nine districts Nevada and California are in the same ninth district which is headquartered in California like that's what it is He's being charged for Vegas crimes federally because these are federal crimes are interstate crimes and he's being brought to trial in California Like that's what it has to be right no, but he's implying that he doesn't like it's some like minor charge I've been able to figure out sure what is yeah, but like I assume like that's why he needs to be in California, right? That's right. That is the purpose of this movie getting into California, right? That's where he was arrested and that's where he skipped the feds want to use the Duke to finally take down serranos That's their hope and so I want to do anything kind of make sure that the Duke doesn't live long enough to help them It's not because that's where it's because he committed federal crimes in the ninth district of America Which is he did it in Vegas his crimes are in Vegas.
So our Duke. We're talking about the Duke. Okay. Yeah, so Rano has been arrested in Los Angeles because why else would Eddie Moscone be his bail bondsman, right?
Good question, but yeah, that's fine, right, but you know like or he was brought to he was gonna be charged there He skipped bail, right? I don't know. I don't think it matters It's just the one part that I've never been able to do it together There's a lot of stuff in this movie that if you slowed down you would kind of be like well That doesn't seem practical or that doesn't follow that but it doesn't really matter at all. Yeah, sure I'm not this is a sloppily written movie, but like you know, yeah, but it's fun watching country Uh, Jack Walsh is sort of like all his techniques at the beginning him calling the woman pretending to be mostly getting the record of the tape tracking the address back You know, this is the quasi illegal shit that bounty hunters do right?
You're like that's against the law and that process stuff is fun and for this chunk of the movie You're like this guy is good at his job. How is Charles Broden gonna outwit him, right? That's true. He's a noise him to death.
Yeah Just just said it all out of course you have the Duke, right? Robert De Niro wants him to get Robert De Niro's bail bonds. Yeah, right? Obviously Joe Pantaleon wants him for the same reason right?
Yeah, Fakota wants him because he's he's a fed who wants to bring him, you know, who needs him for this trial Alonzo mostly Correct. Yeah, I forgot his character. Just forina wants him to off the key witness. Yes, you know, I'm officer John Ashton wants And Martin Dorford wants it because he is basically the constantly being pitted against Jack Walsh as a rival He's the deltaco And it's yeah, basically when it takes to near more than a day and piano hasn't heard from him He's like I'm calling up Marvin.
I'm gonna break the bank for you. $25,000 Because pants has real sticks cuz he'll lose everything. He'll lose everything. Yeah.
Yeah, so those are the five sort of elements that want the Duke Right, I have set them all out Yeah, and right this movie is just sort of them constantly bumping into each other as Jack's dragging So like when they're in Chicago it mostly has them arrested and then Serrano's stupid goon start shooting at the FBI and Jack and the Duke are able to get away And Serrano basically isn't leaving his like Penthouse in Vegas where he sits with Sydney Who's a sort of like sad sack fixer man, and who's like the kind of lawyer? He's like no, you know, if Serrano's like I want to kill that guy. He's like I can't hear that I can't hear that That's the vibe, but he's got these two stupid goons his bebop and rock steady Who he sends out who are the ones who are actively going after and wooing Jack Walsh directly and saying like we'll fucking pay you four times as much And in a brilliant choice by of course former Chicago cop dance for you know, you know be fond wack of a person We've talked about him for Michael Mann movies and stuff. He's a he doesn't yell He's always just like listen if you don't do it.
I'll stab you at the pencil, all right, you know, like he's not doing the like Crazy scary guy. It's another day at the office. What makes him terrifying. Just seeing him the limo.
Yes, it's like Yeah, I came here to tell you two things one is you're gonna die tonight, right to is an order your whole thing to go home I'm gonna have a nice meal. Yeah, I'm gonna find your wife I'm gonna kill her too, and it's so matter of fact. Yes, it's terrifying I do think this is I won't say greatest It is my favorite Chicago accent committed to film and he amongst the Dennis Farina cannon is something about the dialogue in this film And the way he's able to hit certain words if I never like need to for the sake of comedy do a shitty Chicago accent The phrase I repeat in my head is stab you neck with a fucking pencil, you know, you know, he says to be through your heart Stan you feel hard with a fucking pencil with a fucking pencil. This is one of number one print But more number two on the phone.
Yeah, we haven't really talked about more number one and more on number two yet. They're they're great. They're great. Okay.
Okay, so all right What happens? Okay, like you say most most most of us I is like don't fuck this up for us And he's just like I don't work for you. I don't like the government I don't know what you're talking about he's making fun of their sunglasses But mostly hates him immediately not only is this guy like obstructing justice in his mind But the guy is like fucking having a laugh at him at the same time, right? And then of course quietly steals his badge and starts using it I I had a weird breakthrough with this movie a few months ago because we'd watched it again You know now it's like the whole family seen it so we watch periodically 4k We released came out the last couple months and not long after we did like our um team three watch of Casablanca And you watch them in that order and like holy shit Jack Walsh is Rick Blaine yup from Casablanca the guy who once believed in something You form idealist right who then got screwed over now for himself.
He is great Knuck whip He's got a line for one step ahead of Jack and then he got to start the restaurant Jack once With guys in an airport together who have been probably the bond has occurred right yes And similarly the heart of this movie is the notion that Jack basically let his wife and daughter get away for their own good Yeah, right that like when you set up the my wife my daughter don't talk to me thing anymore You're like what did this guy do to fuck things up or is he like an absent he fathered did he run away? And instead you get to that scene which we will talk about later Oh my god That is so heartbreaking where you're like this guy basically knew he had to leave them right because he's such a mess Right and because they were in possibly danger right yeah Right you could be better taken care of by the exact type of guys who took who ruined my life right He has in this very like Rick kind of way made the sacrifice in his mind of like the ultimate expression of love is to like Yes, make sure you never see me ever and at the same time as a result of that I will stick my neck out for no one I will not help anybody and then in the end he like Rediscover the sort of jwadavi of being a cop. He's so excited to be getting the wire put on him Right and you watch this movie and you don't think the first time oh there's obviously some tragic backstory for Jack Walsh That's gonna get teased out you're like this is default Robert De Niro kind of tough guys shit Fuck you don't talk to me you buy it just as sort of like a persona they tease it out so fucking well I was talking to I saw monkey man yesterday with my friends right which is incredibly okay I agree and is most frustrating I would say on a plot level like it works as an action movie and the extra 30 plus minutes of like story shit are not that compelling But it also very early sets up like he's on summer Venge mission What's the reason and you get flashes of stuff and you're like okay? I think I basically know the shape of what is driving this guy right and yet an hour in the movie like grinds to a halt And it's like now we're gonna explain everything and you're like none of the details that you are now taking Tens of minutes to spell out to me are surprising I basically could infer all of this versus the deliberateness with which you get information reveals on Jack It takes maybe 30 minutes before the wife comes up then when you go to the house you get more about it He doesn't even make the Serrano connection until the train right right the box car like it's so deliberate And every time because it's just in euro because part of his persona is this guy doesn't like talking You're sort of like mapping it on to de Niro on talk shows He doesn't really want to open up right where you're like yeah I think this guy's told me everything I need to know I have a complete picture of him right and then every 20 minutes I'll be like and there's like slightly more to the story and you just realize how tragic this fucking guy is The watch thing the wall is a way that they kind of Free shorty, right but showing him but that's sort of invisible setup where you're like what part of this guy's deal He looks like he smells bad.
Yeah, he's got one jacket and his watch doesn't work Like it feels like a funny character quirk sure and then you're like this is this guy's entire life is this watch? Yeah, it's all symbolized on this one fucking broken watch he refuses to take off right So gets the Duke he gets the Duke pretty quickly using his like you say bounty hunting skills Terrified of the dog which I love just like this guy is an invincible action hero No, he's gonna hide out in a shower and still try to arrest him They'll be like you got to take the dog away first And it's if you're the Duke and you're a fugitive and your dog is barking at a bathroom door Don't you just leave the house and like head to the airport the woman that De Niro calls who then he tapes the call Yeah, that's already warned him that someone's coming for him Is that the woman they're staying with in New York? No, okay She's the woman who like he called when he was arrested like it has not occurred to anyone in law enforcement other than Jack Walsh Right to actually look at the booking sheet and see who he called and see what her deal is right He was able to get the book and she cuz the cops like him at that one piece This is the reasons why I love relotching this movie is every time they're like another two connections I make yeah, you're obviously like 40 viewings ahead of me. Yes, so you're closer to the complete puzzle Yeah, I'm here for all of your questions except the one about which what the charge was for the someday you'll crack it Yes, and that's when they give you the peel with yes I have a daughter for your own congratulations Alan I know it's probably been a few years since you are a parenting toddler But you might remember that when you want them to do something yeah, they stall right and there's sort of a brilliance to how they stall like It's time to get you know go take a bath and they're like I want to get that one toy and you're like okay forget you to the bath That's what you're thinking and they're like I'm gonna get this toy And then I'm gonna ask you some other bullshit right yeah That is what the Duke is doing for the next hour 45 minutes of the movie But you're almost always kind of believing his bullshit Well, this is the calculation I love is he arrests the Duke and then he basically doesn't really talk a complete sentence straight Until he gets on the plane.
Yes, right like he's just kind of like suddenly like a teenager who's being dragged to some fucking events He's like this sucks If you watch the scene when they're driving to the airport yeah, and he realizes this is not an FBI agent He's lying right you can see the light going on and growed like oh wait a minute I'm not in as much trouble as I thought I was I can get one over on this guy I can move this guy but then he doesn't really make a play until the plane and because he has said so little up until that point that first I'm you're watching this movie you go well Obviously the comedic side of this movie is that Grogna is gonna be the dilemma right? Maybe the problem is he's the most annoying man in the world in genuine neuroses Yes, I watch it the first time I really find that he doesn't want to be a plane to the extent that later when Obviously when he's playing you're kind of scandalized. Yeah, like I thought that really was his one The audience feels as offended as the zero does because even past the flight breakdown right the next couple of moves You start to go like this guy's fucking with him. He's a little stinker.
He's funny. He's deliberately trying to piss him off It's not just that he's accidentally annoying him with his neuroses But you still kind of go like well the plane thing must have been the plane thing has to be a viable real But one because he plays it so well. He did what you did in real life or she does the nail Like kind of builds and then it's right but also it's because he's just sort of like I'm telling you right now And then it's like this is go down man He like yeah, I'm a reason erotic guy like sure this guy's neurotic. That's gonna be the problem Right, it's that this guy's so goddamn neurotic and then you realize he's innocent You say exactly and then even when he's like saying like I really think you want to go to see your kid wife in kid in Chicago, right and there's a part of your brain that's still like that might be like an honest recommendation from this guy Like he really does see in Jack.
Yeah the need to sort of finish that up But of course there's another part of him that's just my daughter going like yeah I'm like I need to see what's going on over there. You know like okay. What a beautiful part of this movie is I think yes It was a completely strategic move on his part the daughter push He's just looking for any way to go off ramp and break Walsh's plan because he thinks that gives him wiggle room The second he witnesses the interactions with the daughter and the wife is the first time he's like fuck now I kind of care for this guy It's like they'll like don't name the animal or also grow attached right in that moment He becomes a little too invested into this guy's deal right where then the next time he asks about what happened with the daughter And the wife he's actually asking as a human being yes He's not trying to trick him their whole relationship Just completely flips on its head after that because it's also the Jack sees that the Duke has witnessed this yeah And not said anything the most intimate thing imaginable basically in Jack's life Like the thing he wouldn't want anyone to see he would rather the trolls grow and look at his butthole Then witness five minutes of him talking to his daughter Of course and then as soon as they're out of the house We still need to talk about that what happens in the house self yeah They're getting to the station wagon and he pauses and he makes sure that the dukes coat is not caught in the door And it is such a tender gesture and it's like okay. This is an actual relationship now everything has changed the moment Singing with the crowd yeah Oh, yeah, I see he's screaming was so like revelatory There's so many things I didn't notice but also just fun to watch the way because this is a movie that like the audience laughs more as it goes on Not because the jokes are getting funnier But because you're getting to know the characters better and because the tension is mounting so exquisitely within the plot that then any release is so like welcome There's the moment that just the audience exploded.
Oh, yeah, which is another one of those like oh quietly a humongous shift in the character This movie when he calls Pantaleon when he says on the phone that he's gonna yeah If you don't give me my mind I'm just gonna shoot the duke and dump him in the river right and then he turns to the duke and he very broadly like pops his eyes No, no, no, no, no he does the no head shake and it's so subtle. Yes, but it's so funny. It's funny to that guy This is so funny the audience went insane Yes, I like that theater was going to collapse Yeah, and it's like such a funny moment But also what's so funny about it is like this guy's decided he gives a shit now Right that he needs to console him like what is that invisible shift that happened there? Which part of it is they've just started spending too much time together.
It's impossible Um and and what you slowly come to realize is like serrano is the person that ruined Walsh's life in theory He should valorize this guy. He should fucking love the duke right as like you fucked with the guy who fucked with me No one's been able to get one up on him. This is a feel good story If I've ever seen one and instead because of his job It's like the only way for me to get out of this whole fucking world forever Maybe is to deliver this man to his death sentence. Yeah Um and that's why I think in the first chunk of this movie, especially he's kind of trying not to get to know him Yeah, you know like that's a defense mechanism, right?
Like so you have the plane fiasco. Okay, so they can't take a plane. Let's take a train So they get on like a cross-country train And uh, they are you know that I feel like is where the duke is really like you're you're trying to hit that home Right, like you're I'm gonna die like you know, I am like you know, I won't last a minute They get the word that jack and the duke weren't on the plane when it landed Correct. So door floor is dispatch right and the first thing he does is cancels Walsh's credit card Yes, yes, which you could even in 1988 you could not do with that little information That's true and also probably happens too quickly, but still whatever.
Yes. Yeah, it has the movie So yeah, it creates so much we'll talk more about the money a little bit Yes, that really helps uh and also tennaro just really plays well the like I pay my bills like run it again Can you run it again? You run it again? Like you get to the moment at the at the train counter where he's like trying to like finesse his way through the situation And he realized that he's set up conflicting narratives of he's using moseley's badge Right, sir jack wall.
She's not the name on that ID. Yeah, um, he's not airtight. No Um, so door floor boards the train in Pittsburgh There is a fight a humorous fight ensues. Yes, I would say that john ashton fighting anyone in this movie or being physical in any way is hilarious Would you agree?
Yes? Like just he's a physically hilarious person Yeah, and it's so funny to cast him in this right after Beverly Hills cop where his bit is to be the ultimate straight man Like just the most buy the book button down cop. He's the one who goes like oh, actually, you know, yes, and then this movie is just like Trash, he's like he is a lumpkin scumbum. He is really he is um talking about this being one of elephant's best scores in my opinion First of all, I think obviously they have a long running connection.
We discovered this in our patreon episode Yes, hot tomorrow when I watch hot tomorrow's I was kind of freaked out to realize when going Go was on it and this is on the earlier end of elfman's career I mean, it's like beetle juice is the same year about that so much look up So he's done he's done back to school, but this is within his first five. Yeah, such an outlier Not only from what done to that point but basically from everything he's done since then this sounds nothing correct like any other It is a musical one-off. It feels a little more indebted to like pop era on go boingo Which I don't love but I think this is the best version of um, but this is also a score that has like 10 good themes in it. It is a movie that like star wars is like this is this character sweet Yeah, this is the music with Darth Vader enters and all the themes are good, but they're unique and Marvin's theme is so fucking good It's so funny every time the Marvin music kicks in the brain brain and I Some would argue it's like bluegrass Seinfeld right that man is two years from now Which I've got his first major, you know kind of sweeping symphonic trick right?
Someone argue that the score of this film is incredibly loud and intrusive to the point of driving you a little crazy not me It's a lot like some people are wrong right. Yeah, I think it's necessary energy It's in concert with the film and it adjusts to the tones of the movie well like the The kind of like acknowledge there's definitely a lot of people who are like I wish the score wasn't so kind of like, you know dominant Like the aggressive sort of like uh the theme that gets repurposed as try to believe a banger song when you tell people do you know the daniel Thun wrote lyrics to the theme and wanted to be a single and the studio rejected it You go like good call in the studio's part that thing probably sounded like dog shit And then you listen to it and you're like it is a fucking banger. It is so goddamn good It is the one oingo boingo song I really like yeah So there's an oingo boingo version, but there is if you can track down the outer print midnight run soundtrack There's the version he did where it's like uh try to believe by moseley and the b-man or something like that And it's the same performance, but it's got a gospel choir. Oh, back him up instead of going go boingo.
Okay. That's so good I will send it to you. Yeah, it's incredible And it's basically the score they play at the end of the movie, but they've lifted lyrics off from it What's wild is because that score is such a like axle f style We need the fucking jam when our hero is doing his cool shit Yes, and hijinks are happening The slowed down emotional version of it hits so hard and it should feel like the thing we now all mock in legis equal movie trailers You do the slow down dramatic aversion of the ghost bus right the most tiresome like yeah You can't just like change the tempo on it's like that's not right But it's like he's somehow designed a piece that worked in both ways right yes Um, I'm trying to think of the next thing after the train no the train the train they get off the train Yes, then you have this running thing where the fbi keeps showing up too late Yes, which has a good one of my biggest movie Of the kodos got his one underling who always says the thing Right Yeah, the koto has just figured out and then he just looks back and silent and the train porter says, you know You know he's looking for jackwars his real name's moseley I'm mostly yes and that again is one of the big laughs on me I think I love about yep, a koto in general, but it really sticks out to me here It feels like his tongue is too big for his mouth like when he's talking yes He is struggling to get words out. I was on in the 90s I was on this hellongos I was on a list serve to talk about homicide life on the street Yeah And we first we called the list serve the box after the interrogation room at a certain point like there was a split between members The group because some of them can stand some of the others so we created a Yes Second list serve we called this one fafamim because there's a line of dialogue that he says on that show that none of us kind of Understand is like did you just say fafamam?
Yeah, because it's just like yeah, of course he plays al girdello Right at the character on homicide, which was not written as a black character Not just silly honest a silly and guy a real sisiling guy, right? Yeah, and they were just like, yeah, but he's so good. He's got the code right? Yeah, did you guys know by the way?
He's not the only film where he plays a lot of mostly What is the other I do know wait that does that something I do know look? I'm sorry Larry the cable guy film called right list protection No, and whoever whoever made it was obviously a big fan of a night run And so yafakado is in this as an fai agent played named Elanzo Mosley. He's dressed like a man in black He's traveling with other men in black types. Yeah, it turns out midway through the movie that he's in fact crooked So they're spitting in the face of the leg like that.
I was into it until that point No, no, no, but here's the best part. This is a Lionsgate movie Nobody thought to get permission to use the character of Elanzo Mosley So when they had to release it on home video, he is now called Ricardo Bodie. Yes, they just dumped over all of the dialogue Good good stuff, right? I mean, that's the kind of hilarious situation that the cable guy might be with on the one hand you have heart eight Which is also an unofficial sequel, you know, but that's the good version Yeah, and then you have this which is the bad version who was it?
I'm sorry for not crediting this properly, but someone on some podcast I think it might have been on do boys a guest was talking about Larry the cable guy health inspector Right and walking by that poster with their girlfriend and they didn't know that Larry the cable guy was a comedian They weren't aware of his persona. Sure. And they were like how complicated is the premise of this movie? The setup on the poster is the guy has two jobs at once They didn't get that it was like The cable guy is well, right and then when you watch that movie you're like, oh, this is iron clap Right this thing makes it's like my right.
Yes. Obviously Worth noting that phil baker hall in hard-aid paltama Senator is sort of playing like a old washed up dower version of the guy he's here Like what a bad guy 20 sitting here He was a title sitting and they made him change the title But he would rewatch me night run obsessively and go like what's that guy's fucking story right and made his first movie about that I didn't realize that Larry the cable guy health inspector fits into this I was thinking about the light It's with no Withless protection is the one where on the poster he has a gun and like a supermodel in his Okay, um Culture was doing great though letterbox list rep rep theater screening series sequence secret sequels secret sequels Sydney Enemy of the state. Yeah, sort of a conversation sequel right now I think you'd have to put split in there. It's like enemy of the state is like instead of the conversation It's like the screaming the yelling right?
So we're having those Okay, what was this? I think that's what split which is a different version, but it's like the more formalized version Clear version but I do like this thing when someone cast an actor and is like we're sort of metacasting them But also hinting that maybe it's literally the same guy But we're not doing like Michael Keaton playing re nickel that in two unrelated movies based on more Leonard novels Almost like that kind of counts like how Michael Keaton pops up and out of sight and they're like he's playing the same guy that he played in Jackie Brown Which is the same character. Yeah, I don't know anyway Midnight run. Okay, so what what happens next?
Okay, so they get kicked off they get off the train because the real door flows caught them they go to the bus station They have trouble getting the bus ticket because it's calling the bad. Yes So they use whatever cash the jack has they take a bus to Chicago. Yeah, get to Chicago Yes, they hit man. You know mostly in the FBI turn up, but at the same time they hit man At them they get away at that point they go to see Jack's ex-wife while they're on the buses when groan The Duke is like trying to be like maybe you should see your wife and daughter like I don't think you should do that when the Duke clocks the watch for the first time That's the first moment Called out the watch yes where he says like I got people in my life who love me defensively brings up the wife and daughter says he hasn't seen them in nine years Let's talk about the scene and not very why why you want to talk to the police department or the scene with the family?
That's part of the setup. Yes, right. Yes I just we hadn't said that phrase before I felt like it needed to be said but no they go to the ex-wife's house The ex-wife son with the second husband the crooked cop Yeah, she's just told us that he hasn't spoken to either of them in nine years The door opens and she is not an ounce surprised. Yes, it's true.
There's like sort of knowing look She later says you guys are all over the news So she like even recognizes the Duke at this point But you can tell that she saw this news story and was like he's gonna fucking show up at my door. Yeah, he's in trouble He's gonna show up at my door. Yeah, it's it's not there was no surprise there was no disbelief No, and they like he's trying desperately and she's frustrated with him But way movies like this are set up in our expectations from watching many movies like this You're waiting for her to chew him out because you assume the thing he hasn't revealed is like he cheated on her He was a workaholic He neglected her that he fucked up in some way in his interpersonal relationship He's such an obvious mess that right you're just like this guy couldn't keep hold of his family for like work But she's looking at him with like great sadness Right. Yes, right and almost like a sense of like apology to him And you're like what is the dynamic because when you find out like what actually happened You don't necessarily know what he told her Yeah, like it may just have literally been you know like like review with force McNeil Randy daily has the divorces why Without explaining it.
It's like I need to leave town. Yes. I'm sorry. I can't say why something bad happened Or but like best case scenario.
It was a fableman style situation Yeah, he was like I'm going to pretend that I'm a dirtbag and leave Yeah, to keep you clean of this and you're like and then what does the daughter think? And then yep When they're shouting they're so upset and then all of a sudden everybody stops Yeah, and you turn and you see his daughter Denise And if you see this movie in a theater, you can hear a goddamn pin drop right? Yeah, any setting anytime because everyone immediately understands Oh, this is what this means. This is how much his life has been ruined Right, this is the huge sacrifice or loss or whatever and well totally cracks You immediately see an entirely different version of him.
Yeah, he cannot figure out hold she is he can't do the math Again, this gets back to me repeating things. Yeah, what grade you when she says eighth Are you in the eighth grade? Like he doesn't know what else to even say to her No, and he like hugs her for a long time Yeah, but in this way where he feels like he cannot figure out what is the normal way to hug someone Yeah, he keeps readjusting. Yeah, he doesn't just comfortable hugging a basically grown person Like you know, he keeps growing up He keeps like changing the position of his hands and his neck Apparently, there's a lot more dialogue in the scene originally like they have a real conversation Why the ex-wife's off getting the keys and the money and I forget whose idea was it might have been De Niro's Like no cut all of that out.
Yeah, like you need to see it and cut it out or did they cut it out on the day when they were running it? I think that they may have shot it and cut it out because they realize no like this is so much more powerful If he's not barely even able to like get three words out to her It feels like that thing. I mean I feel I know she did this earlier in her current I think she still does it but that Selene's Shiyama will do where she'll write very overt dialogue and shoot the full scene and then get into the editing room Be like well, this doesn't need to be said that's conveyed in the character's face But having the actors say it in the scene does help the energy even if you're not going to use those lying readings Um, yeah when she goes to get the money and he's just like This is insignificant. Like this is insufficient.
There is no way to actually catch up with you to the degree I want to in this time. There's only so much I can talk to you There's only so much death we can get to and you can see him trying to game out like do I apologize to her Is she just so happy to see me? There's a certain degree to what she's looking at him like a stranger like she knows it's her father But also hasn't seen him in so long that it must be bizarre for her And he'd like he can't say anything to explain it because how could you possibly explain or justify no and if they haven't even been in touch No, no, so the man who is raising from now Yeah, is like a fucking dirty comp the kind of guy that jack wallstorpedo his life to prevent himself from becoming Yes, like he does not want to burden her with that Like explaining why he's not around explains why she has been raised in this life Turn her against her stepfather. Right.
Like there's this part of him. That's just like it's easier for me to be the bad guy And then yeah, she chases him out with the fucking babysitting money Yeah, it's tough. I mean he rejects it and he does the right thing and all that you know, obviously then we're gonna take the money Yeah, but it's very emotional although I've thought about this if he takes the money, which again, he should not take sure there's no version He can pay her back eventually if he takes the money There's no shoot out in Amarillo because they can drive all the way there. They've got enough gas money.
No lit misconfiguration No chorizo and eggs. Yeah, you know, no being in the way losing some great scenes Is that for them worse for us? He doesn't find out that the Duke is a pilot none of the rest of the movie happens if he has her babysitting money Yeah, right. Well, he's he turns it down.
He does the right thing. No Later conversation. Let's keep going through. Okay.
Okay. Yeah, there's another thing about the daughter that I need to bring up later. Okay, okay Everyone's gonna bring up a daughter later. I can do it now I love how the it's like the duality of how the goons keep having to report back that they've failed and then the FBI have to keep reporting back to They keep kind of like pairing those together.
Yes Fucking They were the ones on the other ones fucking like body bagging Try not the hat and all this like they're just like this is fun. This is a trip for us Right there actually going to feel trip this and then Interspersed with that you constantly have Marvin winding up in police custody Yeah, mostly showing up taking his cigarettes and leaving and then eventually like you get the sense that cops don't like FBI agents It's a lot of it just racks out to Marvin where to go find Mosley next Yeah, Marvin's just a blunt force instrument anytime you cut to Marvin when you cut back to wall if it makes you appreciate wall From more but I was about to say right is Marvin. He's not better than Walsh at the job He's bad. He's kind of bad, but he does have right like a sort of effectiveness in his own way that you do kind of with his his Doesn't ask a lot of questions or think out like the complex sort of dynamics at play Yeah, and eventually and eventually you think discover that he knows who the Duke is and is in fact reached out to Serrano's crew Right because early on.
Yeah, Mark. Mark's going to size it to him And he's like I've no idea who the fuck that is like you think it's kind of telling of the difference of Jack being that's God Even just a former cop. He's like he's got more of like a detective and he has a history of Serrano. So he would have known about this.
Yes Hey, okay, so then they then because of that they they make the phone call, you know, I'm in Anchorage, Alaska Yes, where he's like, I know you guys are listening. Yes, I'm wearing a giant carnation. You know, there's these guys. They're up to street You know, they think of you the constipated.
Okay. Oh, that's great That's great. They go to him that Marvin's also right. Yeah, I mean that he was the one who hired Marvin West Yeah, they go to Amarillo.
They you know, the Duke here's a metries on eggs and for the rest of my life If I'm in a restaurant that serves trees on eggs. I have to order it. I mean, I love treats I'm yeah, more on number one and more number two catch up to them door floor interrupts it Then there's a car chase a helicopter is chasing right right Jack shoots a helicopter out of the sky with a handgun cool. Yes It is cool But of course it is this like insanely heightened yes element in a movie that is largely grounded This is an action-packed movie.
Yeah, we has lots of like brawling and cop business gunplay a little bit But like the helicopter thing is the most 80s thing in this I will not complain about it all no one thing that part of my run a studio requirement for the that's what I mean Yeah, I was like come on right and you put the helicopter chase into the trailer That's the moment that I think every member says you guys are the dumbest bounty hunters I've ever seen right and Danny opens also. I just took the biggest breath in the world I need to play this sax for five minutes, so can there be a long helicopter? I Want I rewatch Jaws not too long ago and the bit where Brody like right after Brody has blown up the shark Yeah, he has a very similar reaction to Jack turning back to Marvin after he has shot a helicopter. Yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah in the river where in New Zealand It's just so funny.
Yes, it's so funny that they flew to New Zealand It's basically drenched fucking Robert De Niro because breast was like I'm gonna do a million takes yeah Because it's like February. This is the prop they had to go to the other side the other hemisphere where it is warm Yes, but it had to match this whatever verdant, you know landscape they have or whatever the hell which by the way Ben obviously He's he's left us now sadly Charles Gordon, but just a word of advice to you They had like interchangeable like dummy handcuffs plastic handcuffs and metal handcuffs Yes, and De Niro was like we should use the metal like in his like better right for some elitude his method intensity That way I can yank on a more and all this sort of stuff So they almost always use the metal cuffs and the film shop for so much longer And they thought and Charles Gordon had permanent scars on his wrist until the day he died Yeah, these things really hurt your wrists. Yeah, they're not like you know like humane items, you know what I mean handcuffs Yeah, they have a real purpose there's a reason when like you people do sexy handcuffs It's not they don't put the little fur on it because they think it looks hot. Yeah, it's because it hurts their wrists Yeah, I mean what does cease and desist really mean, you know, I am with you I Just think the friendlies corporations being very harsh to you, but I don't appreciate it I don't be called harshes if that's how it wants they're not being very friendly to me If they were like, you know, we're harshes like you should see this coming Yeah, there is a spectrum to harassment one man's jokes apparently another family chain restaurants harass Did you write this out of this off the dome?
It looked like you were consulting script. It's off But you can get chorizo and eggs at friendlies. Let's find out. This isn't this isn't friendly's grow up All right, well, what grift is your lawyer strictly deal with entertainment fairs or yes, okay?
Okay, so where were we? Great job keeping the plot on track here. Yes, I'm professional Jack saves the Duke, but then he's gonna drown the Duke saves him makes Jack promise to let him go Jack then puts a handcuffs right back on as soon as he's back out They wind up at the Indian reservation you find out the Duke is a pilot Jack climbs the board, you know The plane knocks the Duke out. This is the kind of fun action sequence around like this really does actually track within the movie Yes, like him like dangling I it's very comical.
It's very silly. Yes They then steal some of the local struck they give them, you know, the Duke's Rolex at that point the coffee tea conversation is at the restaurant before Yes, before the plane. Yes, it's before the helicopter shows up It's there they're waiting for the Western Union office open up and then they get intercepted along the way by more number one Number two. That's another quiet moment of kindness between them is he's asking for the tree zone eggs Yeah, then you were just shuts it down before he even asked it's just like we're not ordering that coffee tea, right?
And then he looks at Groden being really like dejected. Yes, I guess like look like you know I'll get you whatever you want, you know I'll get you one nice meal if we get to the other end of this yes and Groden like a little child is like I just want to reason eggs like it's like he's got the one idea in his head now. What do you want to be so? friendly is not a pretty self-treat Wow sounds about right another mark against them They're driving away from the Union reservation and yes another one of the great conversations in the movie where you know Jack is so upset that the Duke has been lying to him and the Duke's like you lied to me first this conversation makes me laugh so hard Because like the Duke is wrong.
He is absolutely the first person to lie and your response says what and he says it's so big that the mic Pops I did I did I clearly his reaction was bigger on that one take than the sound guys anticipated But the take is so funny to use it I guess like it's like what Jack like pretending to be an FBI agent is that supposed to be the original line No, no the real lie is that Jack at the time he promises to let the Duke go It's all the way that just happened right doesn't know that the Duke has already lied to him about being afraid to fly He said you promised me that if I saved you from the river You would let me go and then you didn't so as far as you knew what you like to me first I can't argue with you. I don't fucking talk about me This is what it's just he's so speaking to the Castle blank I think I forgot like the tagline for this movie was literally this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship Which is obviously wow you direct That's one it's like the FBI wants it well no both posters have the two tech Okay, great That's the tagline I just said is on both and then right Yeah, they also have the long preamble of like Charles Grodin and bezel 50 million dollars that mob wants and dead The FBI wants and dad Robert you just wants him to shut up right and the poster It's a painting of dinner their handcuffs together and he's putting his hand over groten smell And then the one where the Allen has the other one is the Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Which I can't even read it all Monday escape with their lives from New York Tuesday and person FBI agents in Chicago Wednesday steel plane in New Mexico Thursday almost kill each other by accident Friday almost kill each other on purpose This is important this came up when my daughter and I were driving in here to do this She pointed out like Jack doesn't really just exist in the movie on coffee and cigarettes Yeah, and I realize okay It's five days the only thing we see him eat at any point is the fried chicken on the train Yeah, he goes a little bit of milk after the litmus configuration So I'm gonna talk about is that the only is the fried chicken the only thing that Jackie's for five days grove and gives him such a hard time But it does feel like it gets in his head where he's like how can you eat like that? No, but cholesterol why do you do things that are bad for you? It's a weapon though.
No, no, of course he's deploying it and you don't even realize if you were to make this movie today It would be like Ryan Reynolds or Kevin Hart yes as they do and they would just be annoying It wouldn't like they would not like I should take control of the same with all due respect to the late great Robin Williams I think the same thing would have happened with him. Oh right like this guy can be annoying if he's also sort of dead panel Iconic energy if the guys manic it's gonna be unbearable the thing that's interesting about the share idea to me is even though This is obviously the best casting both parts you ever could have had share could have been good as Jack Walsh Sure be that's the more I mean she's kind of deadpan and frustrated I have a very silly The way she reacts to cage and moonstruck is the way that De Niro reacts to grove in this like Sharon Caje I'm talking about Sharon Caje just doing this movie. I mean It's around here that door floor takes the Duke right in Arizona. You've got a ways to go I mean what else is left you want to be trained?
We're still on Wednesday or Thursday? No, so they all right they've now stolen the Indian reservation truck They've had the you lied to me first argument Jack's ulcer is acting up. I'm right at that point. It's you know needs milk Yeah, the Duke's like, you know, they're not be money.
Give me the FBI badge I'm gonna get you some money for that shit you eat and he uncuffs him and trust him. Yes That's the final step is like obviously I'm gonna do this eat on cuff me and they go into reds corner bar and he poses Alonzo mostly and he's looking for counterfeit bills and it's just this improv tour de force by grove. Yes Yes, that is very funny and as you said like, you know, De Niro can barely like say in character Dark hair light hair. Yeah, sounds like our guy But everything is he takes an extra 10 seconds for a spot is his magic trick.
Yes what he'll always Every time why they call you read they take the stolen money they buy food at the convenience store They then jump on the freight train the freight train. Yeah, Jack loses his food So again, he doesn't eat right then they have the exchange that I used to quote all the time at the end of my old podcast Which people thought was a lost quote, but it's from midnight run see the next life Jack Yeah, Jack climbs over the trains like glad to see me. I guess we're in the next life John But this was to John Locke Life Jack that was Okay, that's cool. It's Jack and John the show had a Jack into John.
Yes true I thought it was an exchange between the two of them But yeah in in the box car you get the sex with animals thing They're they're really like thawing at this point you get the watch and he finally explains the watch It's what half an hour ahead is why I gave it to you always late So I'm sorry, no need to watch like this and the do find the Duke finds out that the heroine see that coming come on Do you know the irony of this is I don't have ever said this oh boy growing up every clock in my house was set fast Okay, because my dad was like well your mother has no sense of time So we need to fake what time it is right correct her. Okay, so you would be like it's 11 o'clock We gotta go but actually would be 10 30 or so then over time I'm like oh the time is wrong and I think it has fucked up my relationship with time forever Where I just grew up in a house where I'm like well none of these numbers mean anything This is like key blank check mythology. I'm like this is why you're always like and I are just looking at each other right now Yeah, so for flexed he's got the makeup on him though, baby for now. Does that I'm with a lot of sense as like a fucking Makes as much sense as anything else.
I guess your brain was just programmed to disbelieve time These blocks are all lying to me Um the other thing that happens on the train is that the Duke finds out that the heroine dealer Jack has told him about was Serrano he confronts him like this is even work a more of a betrayal now You're not just sending me to die you're sending me to be killed by your mortal enemy doing his job for him I can't believe you Jack all the other Chicago cops were dirty Jack refused to yes take the money Yes, they ran him out of town. They dirtyed his name. He took the fall Well, yeah, they like planted heroin on his house or whatever I'm gonna like bust him and now his wife is married to one of the one of the guys right? He's now he's made captain.
It's like the class He's on the take he takes the money just like everyone else and thus right he is you know protected quote-unquote and he's rising through the Right, but it's so key to Jack's personal fiction Right this guy sort of has this very like boy scouty notion of like the idea of upholding the law But now distrust all actual government agencies because he's like well, they're all crooked Okay, so they jump off the train off the train they're in flagstaff or somewhere So don't know it's a donut Jack steals a truck then we have the final like chase of the movie the blues brothers chase where there's a million Cop cars coming after him When I watched Beverly Hills cop last night there's a bit towards the end when all the Beverly Hills police cars are crashing into each other Coming in a maintenance house. That's like the sort of the you know the beta test version of what he does here Absolutely, but right this is where door floor gets yes Cuz he happens to just like literally be going down the road right jacks into this yes Yeah, my luckier my good on the fucking a on the best You know you have this additional tension from the fact where you're just like door floor just kind of like 20% to dumb Totally understand the movie he's in but then something like door floor like groaning You know the Duke being like trying to plane thing on him again and I was like fine Why answer that is the punch you in the face right? You're like right Jack's maybe should just thought of that right like too stupid for Jack to actually just be like don't you know Like like that's how you do his asset is he just like lacks humanity like it's impossible to get him to warm up to you Right, so he's too tricks. Yes, right.
He also like can't game shit out It's also good at swinging a car door open but like when my scone calls Marvin You know he's got a prisoner cuffed in the bathroom and he is just completely like not treating this guy like a human being Right and then you compare it to the Duke being able to talk his way out of the bathroom on the train Yes, because Jack's still on some level despite being cynical despite you know not caring about anybody else pretending to yeah He's still a human being no when he ends up with Marvin You almost read on him for a second that he's excited where he's like this guy might be easier This might be my lucky break by the time you get to the hotel room in the motel room. Yeah He's like I miss Jack. He's not saying it But it's all over his face right like I didn't know how good I had it and if I'm gonna die either way I could spend a couple days with someone I kind of respect right versus this guy's just like a battering room Yeah And you get the Tracy Walter scene and one of the things that I love about the movie is there's all of these like service workers throughout with a couple of exceptions like the bus station lady and they're so helpful and so kind like Tracy Walter is exactly what Jack Walsh needs in This moment in his life and the train porter is helpful to everybody and it's just there's a lot of that in the waitress and flow and Amarillo So it's like a love letter to traveling the country and you know it is that there's a warmth to this movie It's not right about how like whatever the middle of America sucks or anything like that like there is yeah There's a lot of charm along the way even though both main characters Basically just want to like go to sleep like the entire time the distrust is at the people in extreme positions of power yes Yes, yes To the point that like yafakoto is basically just a good guy in this movie who's trying to arrest a mobster yeah But the whole time you're like Great turn there's a great turn once Jack is in FBI custody out what's going on What's actually happening yeah door floor is now working with more on number one and more number two And he calls Eddie and they've got like the Joey pants profane meltdown to end all Joey pants profane meltdown on the phone And he's like tell alonzo I want to make a deal and suddenly he and alonzo our partners and it is so delightful feels like the last Jedi when fucking Kylo and Ray start going at the guards they are powerful together I never thought this would happen. I never thought they'd be fighting against the same comment I mean how could the setup happen where they want to work together?
There's a callousness I think where Mosley is kind of like if this fails he is the casualty not me yes Because you know Walsh is the one who has to basically like bump into Serrano and To say anything he's so irritated with Walsh that at least he would get some perverse pleasure from watching Wolf go to jail Yeah, as punishment for Unless they are allies the thing is when you see them on the plane and Jack is running through how it's all gonna work Mostly is getting like happier and happier And this is not a human being you were accustomed to being a great in a good mood at all He's like oh my god like I love this fucking guy right now It's a good fucking plan he's the worst person I've ever met and now he's my favorite human being alive It has to be the first time he smiles in the entire movie yes He's well then and then when he busts Serrano yes the smile I know I like could light up Arizona it's a beautiful But you have the sunglasses has been seated throughout the entire movie the one pair of sunglasses that are changing hands back and forth between The two guys where then you have that simplicity the cleanness of the sunglasses on the diner counter And knowing like great. We don't even dialogue here. We can cut straight to the precinct. Yep Yeah, finale is Karen airport and you're really tense, but also funny again the magic trick of the movie is it's both and just this very Very very weird.
It's the tapes now. Yes. Yeah, we got the tapes if we get them discs I've got the disc it's these fake you know It's like all the Duke has discs that'll put you away You know like you know he says to convince him to essentially want these this fake evidence of Whatever Justice interstate like transport right he says you can put some on this and this and cut is like okay, well But it becomes such a tiny little act of if you can in a public space right get Serrano to personally hand you these discs with the verbal Understanding that they will be destroyed we have him and that's all you got to do is get him physically there to shake your hand And say that and it's right it's door floor who breaks the wire by bumping into Jack Yes, so Jack has to literally just yell like he's got the disc right? That's the fun tense chaos of the final Guys are poached out Marvin doesn't get it But even before that you've got like the conversation between jacket and Serrano where it's like Serrano is riding so high on the hog And so good guy is like broken I've looked at what I have made you into yes Now I'm gonna just enjoy this and Jack's got to stand there and eat it even though He knows ultimately like I've got this plan to get him cuz it still hurts as you said and I agree with you David At this point he's got the midnight run tan He looks so fucking cool with the dust and the dirt the makeup is actually really well done because it right the way it builds It's sort of slow and then by the end you're like well I know why it looks like that Yeah, but if you're Serrano you come in like a fucking silver suit and you look like a trillion dollars And then this guy rolls in and like looking like fucking pig a pen You're less a lot though, but within the world of the movie.
Yes It's just a it's a beautiful like non-action setup to an action movie finale that couldn't be more exciting And it's just like how many game pieces are now Every thread is crashing into other they crash into each other with perfect amount of chaos Correct the thing about the thing we already discussed at the end of the film where Walsh of course realizes I can't bring this guy in Yeah, is it does feel in the symbolic at this point as you've said The nam the Duke is no longer probably in trouble even if he gets brought in right like he's not gonna be Targeted by the mob anymore, right because they have bigger charges against him Yeah, it would be too dangerous right all this right like but it's still just they're like the principle of like even though They've sorted all this out. He still can't put him in jail It's enemy enemy is my friend like you shouldn't go to jail I agree with you and also we've been through so much together and you save my life Yeah, and you witness like the lowest moment of my entire life and you didn't say anything and it's all these things Yeah, you know, it is really like do rock. Yeah, I get the sense in this Rather do a midnight running or therapy sure yeah, yeah, yeah, but also like nine years since he left his wife and his daughter Right. I do not think he has spent this much concentrated time with anyone since then well That's the sense I get he's usually doing like bounty jobs.
He has like a really clean and put together apartment absolutely Jack Walsh. Yeah, I'm like an Eames chair It's important of course that this emotional decision is made before the then like crucial exchange of gifts Yes, watch to more dukas belt with 300 grand in it to Jack He there's the great like sort of look at that we get on the plane They're on the plane dukas just sort of sitting there in silence with this energy of like I'm walking to my death I can't believe he's actually bringing me in but also I kind of get it right There's just no words exchange that get off the plane picks up the phone yells at Pantaleon Oh, he's like you hear him say hello say goodbye because I'm not fucking turning him in right and like I love how the other guys gotten arrested already Yeah, and you're so defeated right yeah And Groden is just like beside himself and then the added element of playing is not getting him the watch Well, and the kindness and also like the healthiness of like okay I'm letting it go right into the rose like into the rose money is like I'm gonna movie This is the perfect ending I walk away I give him the watch how could I get better than that and Groden you almost sense He lets him walk far enough away, right? Yeah, yeah What's not he's hiding behind the fucking phone booth. Yeah, and he's so quite coming over here Over here like he's so subtle about he brings him in so close he takes off the belt where he's had all this money strapped to his person Alan you've thought about this.
Yes. What's he gonna do with all these thousand dollar bills? Which is basically like a monopoly like fake money. This is the beauty of the final line of the movie.
Go ahead Of course, they will you can break a thousand guests. I mean that's George Gallo Yes, I'm Martin Bres we should mention is the airline counter guy who sells more than the tickets smoking your non-smokin Yeah, take a wild guess. Yes. No, I think what I love about is you're like what a beautiful fairytale ending and he walks out It's like this guy can't spend a lot even have a bank account But this is going to the shoebox under his bed.
What the fuck do you do when you go to the banking? I'd like to deposit three hundred thousand dollars in cash like the bank isn't just like Western You can help them out. No and the kinds of people who could help him with the money or the exact people he doesn't want to be in Legal it's the right amount of success for him. He could find a Jimmy McGill.
He might set him up with a restaurant But he doesn't want to work with a Jimmy McGill. He might He's gonna walk down the road for a little bit. If he's a German trout, I think they would get a lot They would they're similar and Mike could hook him up with some money laundering, you know through the Fring organization as long as you don't talk to my grandal Just still in company bank. That's incredibly funny.
It is a perfect ending I don't know like how long it took George Gallo in that hotel room of his to come up with it But he did a great job, but that final conversation I'm sitting there watching it on my fucking like 10 inch childhood bedroom TV and I'm getting choked up And I'm like god I'm like invested yeah, and what these two guys mean to each other yeah, and the two of them play that scene so beautifully The how much money is it and what's the final amount? It's 300,000 and then to know cuz pretty good neighbor He does like full the Nero the way you would parody him But he's so pleased with himself when he gets a joke off that's another thing. I love in this performance right He's not a comedian per se he's right To make the world know yeah that's home yeah, yeah, and yeah, he is like God what a miracle here I go He starts to walk away. He looks back dukes already gone.
Yeah, where's he going? Where's he going? There's the moment because they have the line of like in a different life We probably still would have hated each other you think the movies going for the corny thing and it's like no actually if they've Different circumstances they probably would have turned each other off immediately Yeah, only in these circumstances what they have spent this much time together and grown a begrudging appreciation And you get the sense for me at least my read has always been that when De Niro looks back at him It's almost like he's realizing like we should stay in touch like maybe you should be my friend Maybe we have built something here, and he's gone and he just goes like I guess that was what it was walks out tries to get a cab They won't break his money, and he just fucking zips his jacket up goes roll the credits I'm walking There's the one good moment right before that when he turns to the sky cap and he asks him for the time Yes, I would have made it like to him matters is you know I would have made it professional, but he only clocks that when everything else is settled. Yes, that's I mean right you have to have the emotional Conclusion before you have a practical conclusion.
Yeah, that's fine, and then fucking taking health and wail Is there anything we're not done obviously, you know, we'll do the box I was game. We'll talk about the Far David without discussing the smoking I don't know please go ahead and discuss the smoking of midnight run Well, Ben if I can share confidence, yes, please tell me what happened when you and I were talking off Mike before this began I mean this movie as a former smoker. Yes is really really hard to watch It makes it look like sucking on a butt is real good. It's it's not just that it makes it look damn good It's that he's doing it pretty much at every new setting that he's in it's constant It somehow looks I don't I don't approve of smoking.
I don't think people should do it. Yeah looks like it's what's made him handsome and cool I hate to say I take it. It's like the more he takes in the smoke from the cigarette the hotter and cooler he gets every time I watch this obviously there's plenty of movies where that's the vibe, but none though This is kind of the epitome I watch this movie I consider playing a pack the pack eaters It's it's working for him so hard, but you know Marvin smoking constantly mostly smoking constant Yeah, just that work is any kind of camera. I don't want to be Marvin It's like it's like you buying the jacket over you're not gonna look any cool.
You're not gonna enjoy it or look cool Like it doesn't you know, it's all movie magic like but he looks fucking great. Yes, it's just like it's it's the most smoking Like I had ever seen to that point in the movie. It's just constant It's a very grown-up movie now These are all both kind of juvenile men actually if you sit down and think about it But these like smoker diner eating coffee drink and dudes especially when yeah, you're a teenager Yeah, these are like grown-up guys. It's an orated movie almost exclusively for its use of the word fuck.
Yeah There's no real violence apart from a lot of raslin. No, I mean a lot of guys getting punched in the face But like no one's is not already it's no I think the only people who die are the anonymous hitman on the helicopter. They do done right? I mean, they're also smoking everywhere.
Yes planes. Yeah, you used to be a cigarette. I'm a plane I don't know this I do know this and I find it in same Yeah, it's like you just like I have my baby and I'm smoking right now No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no smoking sections and not smoking sections And of course there is no way that in a tight cylinder No, the air from the cigarette smoke could make its way to the rest of the play my dad on a plane because by the time I was a kid smoking It was banned on planes. It was the most insane shit in the world like the fact that he had to go seven hours So that's like he would like eat like gum by the like snowball.
He was like, you know, I'd be mashing the gum together Sure, yeah, I have a very fun memory of watching Danny DeVito on the Rosio Donald's route. Sure talking about I guess shortly after the transition had happened the rules had changed smoking was Around the mid 90s. I feel like I'm finally is done He was a big cigar aficionado and he took out a cigar and was trying to light it and the flight time comes up Excuse me, I'm sure Vito. This is no longer loud on the plane And he says like I really I really want to smoke this thing or whatever and at some point he pitches to her if I go down the plane And I asked every single passenger individually.
Oh, like can I smoke is it? Okay, right? Everyone says okay if a single person says no, then I won't do it It's like sure and he went down the island was dain DeVito like charm the socks off of them Like used his movie star wattage in his fame took pictures fucking whatever he gets the last row And there's a gruff guy sitting there He's excuse me sir cigar and the guy goes on one condition that you got one for me as well And DeVito and the stranger smoked on the plane big fucking javanas or whatever crazy cuz cigars are so stinky They do be smelling their frickin kidneys of tobacco my memory of DeVito delivering that line that Rosie and I'll show was equivalent to the Hector The whole Story Elbows being tickled this film Elmo's being tickled it was the night I Got a couple more things. Okay.
One of them is I've written about this movie so much over the years I'm reading on it obviously. Yes, I'm rolling stone calm I When I think I wrote about like the 15th anniversary I don't remember now I got an email from someone who was in active development on a sequel and he sent me that draft of the script and this is the one where The Duke Sun is in trouble and Walsh has to come safe right? And they announced it was sort of the like Rhettner I think was attached at one point Yeah, it seemed to be developed as like it was going to be older deniro and a new younger for a joke. Yeah, something like that It was called sounds jog it was called I believe it was going to be called another midnight run even though they use that title for one The Christopher McDonald, but we also have to talk about yes, we'll talk about all of this in another hour.
Yeah, we don't know I Believe the intention was Jay Bearer show. Okay. Yeah, I can see that's gonna play the Duke Sun Yeah, and groten cuz groten has the energy Didn't want to like work outside of kid he lived in Connecticut So he wouldn't work any further than York It took ten years with no on camera appearance and then quietly start stepping back in but would do small stuff and did like Louie did while we're young did that weird movie the X A lot famously turned down like they wrote a thing for him to be in the later Muppet movies Reprising his role from great Muppet caper and they were like he's like I don't want to get on a plane these things go down They're too big But yes, he was gonna play some small part it was mostly gonna be the Duke Sun Apparently was being pushed forward by deniro being like I love midnight run. That's the character I've always wanted to play again I'm probably at the final window of me being a non depressing age to be jack.
Thank God this never happened I assume the script you were handed was that yogurt? I honestly I'm not sure I finished it not necessarily because it was terrible But right you know at a certain point I got distracted and I was not excited enough to go back But the thing I remember is Jack is still running the coffee shop. It's not going well And so he's taking like skip tracing jobs. I don't like to go And Denise is like in LA helping him run the coffee shop, so they have at least some Sure, that's fine.
Yes, that's that's the main detail from it But you know that's a problem with any sequel especially long-running sequels It has to be like how do we get back to the status courts like no? I like imagining all possibilities for a movie like this I don't want to think about what Jack's actually doing well I'm gonna build up to my page in a second But then two years ago they announced that a new version was being developed with Regina Hall Yes with a deniro just producing or something But that was announced 2021 okay three years ago, so my guess is it has not really moved forward I will say Regina Hall in like support the girls specifically I love Regina Hall that energy translating over to Jack Walsh or Jack Walsh. You can't make this movie again But you can make a movie like it Exactly, this is a formula movie you can make a formula movie like give you the one sequel pitch I think would work and I think I've said this to you Alan Okay, please I think the one movie you could make and you probably have a five-year window before you can't make this again Is to do the movie about his daughter and I'm not saying the legacy cool sense I think that scene is so affecting and I think there is something to setting up that character decades later Where it's just like she went into a similar field try to understand the father who abandoned her Right, but even then and you make him to some degree the figure that she needs to hunt down Right. Yeah, right so the status quo like the way you don't make it Oh, you're stripping him back down to the status quo is just like what we were just saying This guy's not gonna know how to fucking set up the restaurant I don't want the movie where he's like I started the restaurant it went under or I do this on the side You know but a movie where this guy was like I left behind bounty hunting But I also wasn't go back to being a cop again I had this money didn't want to do it my fucking self and through some sort of circumstances he and the daughter reunite I'm like that's the only angle to a sequel that I think could work Yeah, and enough time has passed that the daughter be played by if he will move started the right age.
Yes, that's my take Yeah, fine, but also don't touch it now Chris McDonald's depends on things except for of course another midnight run midnight run around and I'm really like the three television film starring the great Christopher McDonald's of course and I have no beef We look who looks really fucking good in the leather jacket does look good. I mean, I've not seen these films I assume you have I saw at least the first one which is the one with Jeffrey Tambor and Kathy Moriarty like sounds like a pretty good time Yes, and then I'm not sure I watch the other ones It's also funny to have Dan and Daya as Eddie because like you know those are two very interchangeable guys in the 80s This is a shoot em again We're speaking of them shoot em again from a film or a loud manly from the iron giant Waspy village from one billion movies he's in hacks these days, but very different energy from De Niro And this is part of the thing that I believe is called the universal action pack the action pack there's that the dark man sequels I'm out of that. I think so there was vanishing son which was martial arts show. Yes, there was bandit Yeah, it's a smoky in the bandit spinoff It's just like a hot young guy driving a transam right who did not have a mustache So I'm not even sure what the point of it was they basically made a bunch of short made for TV action movies And they make several sequels at a time to properties that universal had that would then air into like syndication It was a wheel like the thing where Colombo was airing along with McMillan and wife and all that right So it's like there are three midnight run sequels made by TV people that feel like they're halfway between being actual movies and being a Small amount of episodes of a midnight run TV show that never happened weird.
Yeah, they're called another Bygone era where you would do that like let's make the TV version of this no one's gonna care right You know like it won't hurt the movie because like it's just airs on TV and then everyone forgets about it It's not a network at a time when that matters, you know, you'd see it on like a Saturday afternoon And for all those guys like as you said a lot of those actors are very established at the time It's like easy pitch. I could fucking give this shit Yeah, I'll do midnight run around But yeah, I think it does speak to how quickly this movie much like dark man like did pretty well in theaters And then probably exploded within two years. They were like wow This is outselling most of our bigger films of blockbuster right the ratings for this on cable continue to be really strong I do want to you know, yes This movie only made about 38 domestically like another 43 internationally and that's nothing compared to Beverly Hills Cup Right, but it was a solid hit. Yeah, it was actually a really big deal for De Niro Who is after all his esteem never seen as a box office draw this kind of helps him in that regard And it defines us movies are personally changes the next 20 years of his career and it did get great reviews But like we were saying before everyone's like this is a really great example of like a fun Exactly.
Yes, it was not canonized as deeply upon upon releases it with very quickly like like you guys talk about all the time We didn't know how good we had it. Yeah, no And I think it's it's a fast in case I feel like we've talked about before David the case of like people making the follow up to a Best picture winner that at the time is seen as a bit of a disappointment and then with distance everyone's like that was a good one Right, the sort of like talented mr. Ripley. Yes, right?
No disrespect to English patient But you're like that's his most beloved movie these days it is Yeah, I'm people were like I'm and gala couldn't quite recreate too dark Right and on a sort of action comedy why isn't it about like an English patience of some sort? I really like that element of his prior film But on an action comedy level this movie has that exact relationship to Beverly Hills Cup where they're selling it as like finally From the New York, from the Beverly Hills for years people are like good and it does well Yes, and then now 25 years later everyone's like that's a masterpiece That's a movie that everyone studies it's a definitive 80s Hollywood movie especially I feel like when you're considering that era filmmaking July 22nd 1988 yes, I'm gonna say you just made some noise on the desk. Oh, sorry It's just the chain Of course the chain you do probably love that but it has one yeah I do actually get them off you can like tuck one of them in your pocket and then the other end of the pocket of the card again I like that's when I was when I was in a high school I would I wore both cuffs of a handcuff on one side of my wrist as like a bracelet in that way and and what was the response to that? Did everyone high-five you while the pause homecoming king?
What are you talking about? Everyone just went like what's the thing this week Griffin? It was a lot of that what's the thing you're doing this week? Look look I can't judge I grew out like Jason Priestley sideburned.
Oh, yeah, I did it I did this work a while as did I you can see in my high school your book The film opens number five now this is not an era where it's like absolutely the opening weekend is maker break But we're talking about late 80s. It's a slightly underwhelming opening but it had really good legs It's opening number five to five point five million dollars. Yeah, so it's fifth on this list number one Griffin Maybe the best film in 1988. Maybe the best film of 1998 1998 1988 We covered it on this podcast it was discussed earlier in this episode.
It is the film dire. Nope. That's is number three Which is another argument for the best woman in 1988 as is midnight run was a part of your spreadsheet part of my acting nominees for sure From round around who framed Roger? I mean we fifth week of release we did the die-hard box office thing recently But this is a it's already it really was like fucking eaten was good You couldn't miss step those three movies in theaters at the same time insane.
Yes So good movie that we like great movie. That's a masterpiece Number two at the box office another big hit of the year huge hit of the year starring a guy Martin breast just worked with It's an eddy movie it is it's not Beverly Hills cop, too No, which I think it might have already come out right is that 87? Yeah, I think that's what I look at I'm not sure. I'm not sure.
It's a scold and trout. It is 87. No, it's not going to Yeah, this is like one of these is coming to America coming to America. Sorry, which is great I mean this is once these are like the first coming to America die-hard and midnight run around the top five is coming to America It's the highest level of intelligent commercial.
Wait, what was your question Alan? It's coming to America at least best movie No, I don't think so some people do though. I think I think I think 48 hours and Beverly Hills cop and trading places are all I mean both fingers wonderful, but that's like a I think America I think that's my answer. I like trading places.
I mean to for all its fault Okay, number three is die-hard as we said doing really well She's um and actually this is kind of die-hard's first wide week. Okay, it went open limited the week before number four is a We've done this so many times. It's the fifth in a franchise. It's please academy.
No It's a franchise that often comes up on the box up it's game because there are five of them, okay, but they don't have numbers. Oh It's a dirty Harry and you can never usually remember the names. Yeah, you just don't remember the order Jim carry lip syncs two guns and roses in it He sure does Jim carries a couple of the dead. Okay.
Well, that's the one that's easier for me to get to the fifth But the last one is the devil. Yeah, it's the one that knows it's the last 30 heard It's the one where he's the joke really I can name all of them, but the middle one I goes what it's a dirty Harry Magna force something sudden impact dead tool the middle one is Or go on one of those different comments. It's a different comment is a different good good It's got to be the inform force also pretty good. That always lets me out that there's Magnum force and the enforcer Well, you know what Hollywood was doing just fine.
Okay, number six of the box office is a re-release of Bambi Mm-hmm number seven interestingly enough is new this week big-top. He would be fairly unsuccessful. Yeah, he's equally weird I number eight also knew this week another big failure sequel catty shack to oh Really bad move It's similar to Fletch one. Sorry Fletch to Fletch lives right where it's like amazing how uninterested people were in it correctly It's right Bach, but Chevy was the only one who returns Chevy returns you have acroid basically as the Murray title Lateral and everyone where that's like ackerids replacing Murray Jackie Mason's replacing Rodney Dangerfield Robert stack is replacing Ted Knight Jonathan Silverman replaces Why am I forgetting his name?