June 29, 2025

Joel Schumacher - Falling Down

Joel Schumacher - Falling Down
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
Goodpods podcast player badge
Pandora podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
iHeartRadio podcast player badge
Castbox podcast player badge
Deezer podcast player badge
TuneIn podcast player badge
Podcast Addict podcast player badge
Podchaser podcast player badge
Spreaker podcast player badge
JioSaavn podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconGoodpods podcast player iconPandora podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconiHeartRadio podcast player iconCastbox podcast player iconDeezer podcast player iconTuneIn podcast player iconPodcast Addict podcast player iconPodchaser podcast player iconSpreaker podcast player iconJioSaavn podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon
Season 6A Film By...

Summer temperatures aren't the only thing on the rise this week. Jeff and Brad discuss Michael Douglas boiling over in the film he feels is his best performance, Joel Schumacher's Falling Down!

For exclusive episodes and content, check out A Film By... Podcast on our Patreon with a FREE 7-day trial. You can also sign up as a free member! 

Check out www.afilmbypodcast.com/ for more information.
Email us at afilmbypodcast@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.
Find us on Instagram, X, and Facebook @afilmbypodcast.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.200
Jeff, are you economically viable.

2
00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:07.759
At this stage of my life? I am fortunate enough

3
00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:11.359
to say that I do believe I am economically viable.

4
00:00:12.199 --> 00:00:15.359
Well, I have no idea if I'm economically but I

5
00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:19.280
can tell you that's not economically viable. That is William Foster,

6
00:00:19.320 --> 00:00:22.120
and he is pissed off about it. But he's also

7
00:00:22.120 --> 00:00:24.519
the subject of this episode of a film by featuring

8
00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:31.399
Joel Schumacher's Falling Down, just standing up for my rights

9
00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:54.359
as a consumer. Welcome to the second episode of a

10
00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:55.039
film Buy.

11
00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:59.439
I'm Brad Kozo and I am Jeff Johnson.

12
00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:03.000
And we were talking about the nineteen ninety three film

13
00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:03.719
Falling Down.

14
00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:08.120
Brad, tell me what what do you think Falling Downs about?

15
00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:11.280
I think falling Down and I think later on we

16
00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:14.680
will go back to the title itself is basically about

17
00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:18.480
a man who is just feels like he's been treated

18
00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:22.120
unfairly in life and he finally snaps. You know, he's

19
00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:26.000
going through personal things and this is his attack basically

20
00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:32.000
on an establishment. You know, he becomes a vigilante and

21
00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:36.400
it's you know, you know, his interpretation of how he

22
00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:37.200
sees the world.

23
00:01:39.400 --> 00:01:44.120
That's interesting see and I definitely agree with you. I

24
00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:47.280
kind of feel like it's a great character study about

25
00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:56.640
a broken individual that in some ways evolves into almost

26
00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:01.280
an apex predator. Yeah, but at the same time devolves

27
00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:05.920
as a human. And the decisions he makes, the encounters

28
00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:09.800
that he has as he tries to get home, says

29
00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:12.560
a lot about just how far gone he is.

30
00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:15.240
I think, you know, and you know, when it all

31
00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:16.960
comes down to it, he just wants to be at

32
00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:21.599
his safe place. His safe sanctuary is at home, you know,

33
00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:23.840
and he says it throughout the film. You know, I

34
00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:26.520
just want to go home. He wants to be in

35
00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:29.599
his safe atmosphere where he knows that he's loved and

36
00:02:29.639 --> 00:02:32.680
taken care of, and he just can't get that, and

37
00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:35.039
you know it basically suffers a mental breakdown.

38
00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:40.240
You know. The interesting thing though, is his safe place,

39
00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:43.159
as you as you call it, it's a fantasy. It

40
00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:45.080
doesn't exist, Nope.

41
00:02:45.560 --> 00:02:50.960
You know, when you hear the name Joel Schumacher, what

42
00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:54.680
kind of thoughts come up about his movies? Like you

43
00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:56.159
see a movie and it comes out and then the

44
00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:58.560
first thing it says is a film by Joel Schumacher.

45
00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:01.000
Do you have any kind of ex expectations of what

46
00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:03.479
you might see, you know, because this guy's kind.

47
00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:07.159
Of a flip flopper my expectation. When I hear Joel Schumacher,

48
00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:12.319
I immediately think fun summer movie. Oh yeah, I mean,

49
00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:17.479
I mean Batman and Robin Batman Forever, the Lost Boys

50
00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:21.599
that you know, I think, And you're absolutely right. He

51
00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:25.439
does have some amazing work his his old some of

52
00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:29.719
his earlier films, Santamo's Fire. Yeah, he did the Client,

53
00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:33.400
I think. Is that correct? Yeah, he's He's definitely done

54
00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:40.280
some some really great work. But I immediately think Joel Schumacher, Oh,

55
00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:41.280
we're gonna have a fun time.

56
00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:46.159
Yeah. What I think of his He's great at crazy

57
00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:50.800
what if situations, situations that a lot of people don't

58
00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:53.199
think of. You know, when you think of you know,

59
00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:56.000
you go Lost Boys, vampires Okay, that's one thing, but

60
00:03:56.520 --> 00:04:01.520
vampires by teenagers enjoyed killing. Oh creepy. I mean the

61
00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:06.159
synopsis for Flatliners. What would death be like? You know,

62
00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:08.879
falling down? You know what if a guy takes the thing?

63
00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:12.400
I mean, he does a lot of great what ifs.

64
00:04:12.759 --> 00:04:14.439
And he is a good director.

65
00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:17.199
Yeah, he likes to throw out a like someone says,

66
00:04:17.319 --> 00:04:19.199
what if in a crazy situation? And I feel like

67
00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:21.560
Joe Schaumacher would be like, I'm gonna do a movie

68
00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:24.279
like that. I'm gonna do an entire movie that takes

69
00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:26.120
place in a phone booth and call it phone Booth.

70
00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:31.560
What If? What If? Yeah? Yeah, what if the batsuit

71
00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:34.040
had nipples on it? Yeah? Called Joe Schumacher. Let's get

72
00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:35.000
him in here. Yeah.

73
00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:38.439
I mean he's I think he's a great what if director?

74
00:04:38.600 --> 00:04:43.639
You know, talk a little bit about Michael Douglas. Yes,

75
00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:48.480
at this point, up until ninety three, Douglas was kind

76
00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:56.920
of considered that leading man, very attractive, romantic, sexy. After

77
00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:59.360
this film, he kind of feel like he left all

78
00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:02.240
that behind him. He went into a different phase of

79
00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:06.199
acting starting with this film, and it's continued on till

80
00:05:06.279 --> 00:05:06.800
present day.

81
00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:10.560
I almost I almost wonder if it's if it happens.

82
00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:14.959
But right before this film though, you know, Douglas and

83
00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:18.319
I think this was Ah. This is in several interviews

84
00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:21.439
that I that I got to hear with Michael Douglas,

85
00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:24.759
he he feels that a lot of his earlier work

86
00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:29.120
he is the he's not the leading man. He is

87
00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:31.000
the leading male character, and a lot of his a

88
00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:34.160
lot of his things, but he he claims that as

89
00:05:34.199 --> 00:05:38.079
a producer, you know, that's his that's his trade first

90
00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:42.240
and foremost before actor and yeah, and which obviously he's

91
00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:44.519
done some great stuff as a producer. You know one

92
00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:45.680
flew over the cuckoos Nest.

93
00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:48.639
For example, he really had to act.

94
00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:51.399
He never really did. He chose to act. Yeah, but

95
00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:56.519
he he made a great comment that when he's looking

96
00:05:56.519 --> 00:05:58.680
at movies, he doesn't look at him as an actor.

97
00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:01.160
He looks at him as a producer and asked himself,

98
00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:03.879
will this be a good film? Can I make this

99
00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:06.839
a good film? So he's never really concerned with, oh,

100
00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:10.240
this is a good role for me. So uh, he

101
00:06:10.360 --> 00:06:14.519
you know, when you think about his his role in

102
00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:21.000
Romancing the Stone or possibly Basic Instinct or.

103
00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:27.959
You know, he's he's very cool.

104
00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:32.720
He's cool. But you know what was that with with

105
00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:36.560
Glenn Close attraction Fatal Attraction. Yeah, So when you think

106
00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:39.560
about some of his earlier work that he's well known for,

107
00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:44.639
he's he might be the male lead, but the female

108
00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:48.120
lead is the star of all those movies, you know,

109
00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:52.319
and his character kind of reacts to those people in

110
00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:55.439
those situations. So he's kind of taken like the back

111
00:06:55.480 --> 00:06:58.360
seat in a way. And I don't think it's until

112
00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:02.040
he gets the Academy Award for Wall Street playing Gordon Gecko,

113
00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:07.680
where he truly gets what Douglas calls a showy role,

114
00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:09.800
which is something where you're like, hey, this is something

115
00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:12.680
I can really show off on, and he wanted more

116
00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:16.319
of that. So, you know, I think that's one of

117
00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:18.399
the things that attracted him to Falling Down.

118
00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:24.240
Yeah, and well, he himself considers Falling Down his best

119
00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:25.800
performance out of all of his films.

120
00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:27.000
Really, I did not know that.

121
00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:31.399
Yeah, and his father, Spartacus himself believes that this is

122
00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:33.600
the best performance of all of his films.

123
00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:38.839
You never disagree with Spartacus, No, So I don't know.

124
00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:41.720
I'd have to think about everything that I've seen Douglas in,

125
00:07:42.920 --> 00:07:44.720
you know, right off top of my head, I'm thinking, like,

126
00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:47.720
I love him in The War of the Roses that

127
00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:51.759
I mean, kind of a psychopath in that to some extent,

128
00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:56.160
but but again a broken individual, you.

129
00:07:56.120 --> 00:08:00.439
Know, a taking chance type of role. Yeah, was War

130
00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:04.480
the Roses. It was not a happy type of film.

131
00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:06.519
You know, these are two terrible people, but you know

132
00:08:06.759 --> 00:08:07.839
you pulled it off great.

133
00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:10.839
You're talking about divorce in that movie, which is a

134
00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:15.439
just a terrible thing for any family to have to endure. Yeah,

135
00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:18.480
and War the Roses is hilarious. It's just a fun

136
00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:20.439
it's a it's a fun, dark comedy.

137
00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:24.720
I think now, what I think is it was such

138
00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:27.240
a chance taker for him in this role. Now, I'm

139
00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:29.319
not going to say like all the people that were

140
00:08:29.560 --> 00:08:32.080
considered for the role, but the people they considered for

141
00:08:32.120 --> 00:08:35.799
the role were more like dead on. You know, dead

142
00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:40.559
on would be Jack Nicholson or Ed Harris, Robert de Niro,

143
00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:45.759
Nick Nolty definitely. I mean, you know that's very like, oh, well, yeah,

144
00:08:45.799 --> 00:08:48.159
we can see the angry guy. You know, this was

145
00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:52.960
Jack t Colt. You know, this was Nick the smooth

146
00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:58.320
cut from a basic instinct turning into an angry man.

147
00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:01.879
And I think that is what you know makes him

148
00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:04.279
such an odd but great.

149
00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:07.600
Choice for this Well, you're absolutely right. It's it's all

150
00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:12.720
about his look. Michael Douglas is very unassuming as a threat.

151
00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:18.039
And when you take that idea and then you put

152
00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:20.000
him in a pair of black slacks and a white

153
00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:23.279
button down short sleeve shirt with at the tie and

154
00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:27.080
the glasses and that military crew cut he's got. Yeah,

155
00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:31.000
I wouldn't say he looks very I wouldn't say he

156
00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:34.679
looks any more threatening than like that that asshole science

157
00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:37.320
teacher you had in eighth grade who just wouldn't let

158
00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:39.240
you get away with anything, you know.

159
00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:42.480
I mean, this film came out in nineteen ninety three,

160
00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:45.519
and at that time I was sixteen years old. But

161
00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:48.240
I knew when I saw the trailer to this that

162
00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:52.200
Michael Douglas is trying to do something different than he

163
00:09:52.279 --> 00:09:55.559
usually does. Absolutely, you know, it was like, Okay, this

164
00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:58.399
guy's trying to do something a little edgy, and I

165
00:09:58.440 --> 00:09:59.480
respected that even then.

166
00:10:00.440 --> 00:10:02.600
So Brett, can I can we talk about the opening

167
00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:07.399
of this mass? Okay? One one thing that I just

168
00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:15.440
feel Joel Schumacher did expertly was these uh, these tight

169
00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:19.200
shots while he's in the car, while while uh foster

170
00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:23.000
a ka defense he's sitting in his car. It's it's

171
00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:25.480
definitely a ship box of a car. Uh. And then

172
00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:27.120
you get the you get these quick cuts of like,

173
00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:31.600
you know, the the A C doesn't work, the the

174
00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:33.639
the window trying to roll down the window. He can't

175
00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:36.320
get that, there's a menacing you know, fly in the

176
00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:39.360
in the thing. And as he looks around sitting in

177
00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:45.679
this shitty traffic. You just you just feel the claustrophobia,

178
00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:50.799
You feel that that trapped feeling where, yeah, the anxiety

179
00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:52.799
building up, you just want to get out, you know,

180
00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:55.799
and and looking around us, he's again these these are

181
00:10:55.799 --> 00:10:58.960
almost like smash cuts where you're seeing some of these

182
00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:01.480
clichemper stickers on past cars.

183
00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:04.480
Yeah, all negative sayings.

184
00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:08.320
Yeah, very cynical, very negative. It just paints a really

185
00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:13.759
good picture of this is a terrible situation. Life is

186
00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:17.240
not working out the way I want it to. This

187
00:11:17.320 --> 00:11:19.200
is not this is not the American dream, you know.

188
00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:23.559
And I think that, you know, and to know that

189
00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:27.720
he's already you know, he's already broken before this movie starts.

190
00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:30.720
And that idea of him snapping right from the get go,

191
00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:32.879
I think, is it just sets the stage for a

192
00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:33.440
great film.

193
00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:37.120
Well, I think even and you know, as I look

194
00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:40.120
through the film and the stages that he goes through,

195
00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:42.679
even when he gets out of the car, you know,

196
00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:46.120
like he makes the decision like, Okay, having a fly

197
00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:48.480
in your car stuck in traffic is one of the

198
00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:51.960
most annoying fucking things there possibly is, And at first

199
00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:53.639
he tries to swipe it, but then he makes the

200
00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:57.600
decision I'm going to kill this fly. You are dead fly.

201
00:11:58.000 --> 00:11:59.919
And he gets out of the car. But still he's

202
00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:03.120
not at the point of no return yet. You know,

203
00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.399
he's just a guy that's I can't do the traffic anymore.

204
00:12:06.440 --> 00:12:10.159
You know, he's not done anything really bad yet.

205
00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:13.440
So Schumacher, he talks about the opening of the of

206
00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:15.799
the film on the commentary if you pick up the

207
00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:20.720
Blu ray disc and you get the audio commentary, he

208
00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:24.639
kind of talks about that desire to just leave your car,

209
00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:26.759
but he he kind of gets off on a weird

210
00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:30.799
tangent about how your vehicle is kind of your identity

211
00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:36.840
and for someone to just abandon their their vehicle, which

212
00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:39.519
you know they're they're most likely paying for still there.

213
00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:43.080
It's they're still in debt on something that signifies who

214
00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:45.240
they are, you know, kind of like their status, and

215
00:12:45.320 --> 00:12:49.159
for someone to just willingly give that up and walk

216
00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:54.080
away from it. He's basically saying, now you understand, this

217
00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:57.879
guy is on a road that he cannot turn back from.

218
00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:02.039
He's he's he's already he's already snapped, and this is

219
00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:04.960
just the beginning. So, uh, I thought it was I

220
00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:07.240
thought it was kind of a weird thing. That that

221
00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:09.759
Schumacher talked about with the identity of the car. But

222
00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:14.440
you know, when you think about someone doing that, they

223
00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:16.480
are they're they're giving up on on the life that

224
00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:19.080
they actually had. Yeah, there's no there's no going back.

225
00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:22.879
I don't think that decision is very hard for him

226
00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:25.840
because you know, you know, he says later on, you know,

227
00:13:25.879 --> 00:13:28.120
this is a man that makes missiles for a living.

228
00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:34.200
He protects America from you know, enemies, and his reward

229
00:13:34.360 --> 00:13:36.240
is a piece of shit car that doesn't have any

230
00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:37.360
air conditioning.

231
00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:40.600
Well to and and more so, that was his identity.

232
00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:44.600
That's that's who he was. Again. You know, this character

233
00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:51.120
is is is economically viable. At one point, he's he's

234
00:13:51.159 --> 00:13:55.440
a defense contractor. He's this is this is back in

235
00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:59.799
the Cold War era, and what he's doing matters. He's

236
00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:02.399
doing he's doing his part to protect America.

237
00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:04.679
And when he feels he's doing the right.

238
00:14:04.519 --> 00:14:06.360
Thing, he's Yeah, this is a guy that has done

239
00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:07.919
he's played by the rules of his whole life. He's

240
00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:10.799
done the right thing, and all of a sudden, the

241
00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:14.080
Cold War ends and he's not needed anymore. So he

242
00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:18.840
los He loses his job, he loses his family, and

243
00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:20.960
what what he What's what's left? You know? What he

244
00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:23.840
What's what's a man do when he feels that he's

245
00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:27.360
worked hard for the American dream and and to find

246
00:14:27.399 --> 00:14:28.600
that there's nothing there for him.

247
00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:30.440
Yeah, And as you say, and like you know, the

248
00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:33.840
car being an identity, I think leading the car is

249
00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:38.679
his process of he very slowly peels layers of his

250
00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:41.360
old self off of him. By leaving the car, He's

251
00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:42.279
peeled the first layer.

252
00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:47.399
Yeah. I mentioned earlier I used the term apex predator. Uh.

253
00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:50.399
And really, I mean when you think about how he

254
00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:56.759
transitions throughout this film, you know, the the anxious stress Sladen,

255
00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:00.799
you know, guy the guy does. Guy's got a pocket

256
00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:03.840
pocket protector in his UH in the shirt pocket of

257
00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:06.879
his UH of his shirt. And when he tries to

258
00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:09.519
make a call to his ex wife, he doesn't even

259
00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:11.840
have the courage to say anything. He just can't do

260
00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:15.639
it right. Well, you know. And I for those for

261
00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:18.279
the people listening that haven't actually seen this film yet,

262
00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:20.559
I don't want to. I don't want to paint the wrong picture.

263
00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:24.320
We talked about how this guy you know, had a

264
00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:27.759
had a job making you know, he's a defense contractor

265
00:15:27.799 --> 00:15:30.120
for the for the United States and he's trying to

266
00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:33.159
get the American dream and father and husband and all this.

267
00:15:33.399 --> 00:15:35.039
I don't want to paint the picture that this is

268
00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:40.440
a guy that was a likable guy. And I think

269
00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:43.759
right right from the get go, uh in this scene

270
00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:48.039
with the Korean grocer, you kind of understand that he's

271
00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:50.840
he's he's kind of an asshole. I mean, as much

272
00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:53.480
as I'm as much as I love his rampage through

273
00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:59.279
l A, I don't know, I feel like even even

274
00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:00.960
there's even a little bit of racism and how he

275
00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:05.679
treats Michael Paul Chan's you know character with the whole

276
00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:08.440
you know, you come to my country. You know, you

277
00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:13.080
can't speak my language. My country has given your country

278
00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:16.000
how many? How much money? Yeah, which, by the way,

279
00:16:16.039 --> 00:16:17.960
I think that's one of the funniest moments in the

280
00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:21.039
entire movie. This isn't This isn't really a comedy. But

281
00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:25.679
but when that when when mister Kim says how much

282
00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:29.120
that look on his face where he goes I don't know,

283
00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:33.279
but it's probably a lot. You know, that just goes

284
00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:35.399
to show like, you know, you've got those people out

285
00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:38.399
there that that want to weighs those kinds of arguments

286
00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:39.879
like do you know you have any idea how this

287
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:42.759
does this? And when you call them on their bullshit

288
00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:45.879
and they're like, I don't know, actually, you.

289
00:16:45.879 --> 00:16:50.919
Know, And I think once he starts tearing up the store,

290
00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:55.039
you know, he gets satisfaction at it, He enjoys it.

291
00:16:55.399 --> 00:16:57.440
He starts to grow right here. And a fun, fun

292
00:16:57.480 --> 00:17:04.720
little thing about that, Chan, Chan and Douglas rehearsed the

293
00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:09.319
entire scene, uh for for quite some time. They spent

294
00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:13.759
a long long amount of time on that day rehearsing

295
00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:17.599
it before Schumacher would even roll camera, because they had

296
00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:20.799
to do this in one take, according to Michael Paul Chan,

297
00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:24.759
because of the damage he does to this store. The

298
00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:28.400
idea of trying, yeah, the idea of trying to set

299
00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:30.759
everything back up and put everything back in place, it

300
00:17:31.160 --> 00:17:33.920
was it was just me too costly. So they worked

301
00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:35.839
it out. They you know, even like the struggle they

302
00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:39.119
have over the over the ball bat, all all choreographed

303
00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:41.799
ahead of time, and and and Chan painted a really

304
00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:45.960
really good picture of Douglas and how Douglas kind of

305
00:17:46.039 --> 00:17:49.240
led the choreography and said, hey, let's let's let's do

306
00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:51.039
this the right way. Let's do it the safe way,

307
00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:54.039
let's uh and let's have some fun with it. And

308
00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:56.160
you can tell like it's a it's an intense situation.

309
00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:58.279
But I for the two actors doing something like this,

310
00:17:58.319 --> 00:17:59.319
they had to have a good time.

311
00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:03.400
Yeah, And when he leaves the convenience store, he's still

312
00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:07.039
is not at the point of no return. He still

313
00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:09.039
could say, well, you know, the guy did pull a

314
00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:10.519
bat on me and I took it from him, and

315
00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:14.160
I better start so I mean, yeah, a little damage.

316
00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:18.000
He's charged with a crime of like assault, but you

317
00:18:18.039 --> 00:18:21.519
know he's not like fully in yet. Then he goes

318
00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:27.839
to sit down at gang Land, as Robert de baul calls.

319
00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:31.079
It, well, and I think an interesting thing about this

320
00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:38.400
is this is where you can argue about the theme

321
00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:43.440
of territoriality. You could argue that in the grocery store,

322
00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:46.279
that's where you get your first taste of it, because

323
00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:50.880
Michael Douglas is my country, my language. But then you

324
00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:54.559
you segue where he's he's over in Gangland and he's

325
00:18:54.599 --> 00:18:57.480
sitting on the on the stoop where these two uh,

326
00:18:58.119 --> 00:19:01.960
these two guys show up and now they're territorial and

327
00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:05.599
you know, hey, you're trespassing. This is private property, and

328
00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:08.720
you have. You can't in fault them. I mean, yeah,

329
00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:10.759
they're they're pieces of ship. But at the same time,

330
00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:14.480
you can't really fault them because this is this is

331
00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:16.880
someone that is not part of their neighborhood. It's they're

332
00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:20.359
not it's not part of their society. Who is trespassed

333
00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:24.880
and they're they're in you know, Uh, Michael Douglas is

334
00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:27.839
in in their territory. Yeah, and they and they don't

335
00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:30.000
like that just like just as much as like And

336
00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:31.960
he even makes the comment, you know, I get it.

337
00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:33.559
I you know, I wouldn't want you guys in my

338
00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:34.359
neighborhood either.

339
00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:38.720
Yeah. He puts human logic into it and understands where

340
00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:41.200
they're coming from until they want to take the.

341
00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:45.279
Break case he does. And uh. And I think one

342
00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:48.240
of the more recent times I saw the whole, the

343
00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:52.319
whole concept of territoriality that everyone in this film has,

344
00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:56.599
all the characters that he encounters on uh, on his

345
00:19:56.680 --> 00:19:58.240
on his journey, as.

346
00:19:58.039 --> 00:20:03.680
It were, Robert ll prinogas you know, cop question is

347
00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:08.160
worth you know, he's he's sacrificing his career by taking

348
00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:11.720
an early retirement to make his grieving wife, you know,

349
00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:14.160
from their dead child. You know, happy.

350
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.079
Well, you know too, I feel terrible for Duval's character

351
00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:24.720
because his his wife is an absolute emotional disaster. She's

352
00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.079
they are grieving the loss of their child, but she's

353
00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:31.279
also going through menopause, she's losing her she's making some

354
00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:34.559
major changes, and she's not dealing well with it. And

355
00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:38.559
on top of that, Pentagrass is not a He's not

356
00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:43.480
a he's not the hero cop he is. He's definitely ridiculed.

357
00:20:43.559 --> 00:20:46.319
He's not respected by his peers. He's definitely not respected

358
00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:51.000
by his captain. Yeah, I mean, in a lot of ways,

359
00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:54.480
I think that he mirrors Michael Douglas's.

360
00:20:54.039 --> 00:20:55.960
Character, where absolutely we're.

361
00:20:55.799 --> 00:20:59.200
Talking about two guys that just don't get the respect

362
00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:03.000
that they feel they deserve and and and Robert Duval's

363
00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:06.920
characters case, Absolutely he does deserve that that respect. But

364
00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:11.079
I don't know, I almost feel like they're they're they're

365
00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:13.759
mirror mirror image in a way.

366
00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:17.200
Absolutely, you know, he he's done everything right. And you know,

367
00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:19.920
when you know they're talking about the thing with SIDS,

368
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:21.839
you know that happens to infants, you know, and he

369
00:21:21.880 --> 00:21:23.920
even says, you know she was you know, she was

370
00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:28.039
a healthy child at this point, why it's very you know,

371
00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:32.000
what has he done except try to, you know, be

372
00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:33.279
a good police officer?

373
00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:34.160
Yeah?

374
00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:37.759
Again, you know, what does he have if he doesn't

375
00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:40.799
have the police force? You know that that that's it.

376
00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:47.079
And I want to talk about Barbara Hershey's Beth. Okay,

377
00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:48.799
I don't like Beth.

378
00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:50.640
You don't like Beth.

379
00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:51.680
I don't like Beth.

380
00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:57.839
Hold on, hold on, hold on, Yeah, Barbara Hershey's ex

381
00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:03.079
wife character, Beth. She he's uh, she was a victim.

382
00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:06.559
You know, they don't they don't. Yeah, well, they don't

383
00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:09.839
come out and say in the film, and when she's

384
00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:13.519
talking to the police officers later, it's never it's not

385
00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:18.920
that that Michael Douglas's character beat her, but he was

386
00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:24.160
very I think there's some some intimidation, some emotional neglect,

387
00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:27.880
and you can tell just in the movie she talks

388
00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:31.440
about him having violent tendencies, even though he never did anything.

389
00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:33.480
She saw it. And when even when they talked to

390
00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.720
the to his mother, when they're they're at his mother's

391
00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:39.559
house and you know, investigating, you get the sense that

392
00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:44.160
anyone that knows this guy has been walking on eggshells

393
00:22:44.200 --> 00:22:47.000
their entire existence around him because they're terrified of him.

394
00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:49.240
He is a time bomb waiting to go off.

395
00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:50.640
Yeah, but doesn't.

396
00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:53.559
But why don't what why don't you like Beth's.

397
00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:57.200
Because she, like you said, she can't give an exact

398
00:22:57.400 --> 00:23:00.720
you know, situation where he full on threat her. You know,

399
00:23:00.759 --> 00:23:04.079
she has a restraining order against him because he gets mad.

400
00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:07.079
Sometimes I think that's just maybe a little too far.

401
00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:09.799
How about a Hey, will she need to go to

402
00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:13.079
therapy or you need to take anger management classes? A

403
00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:15.680
restraining order? It's a little harsh. I think.

404
00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:18.400
I think you need everything you need to know about

405
00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:22.720
their Their marriage sums up in the ten seconds you

406
00:23:22.759 --> 00:23:24.759
see of that video he's watching towards the end of

407
00:23:24.759 --> 00:23:27.960
the movie where it's like the little girl's birthday party

408
00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:31.960
party and he's videotaping and the girl's crying because she

409
00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:34.640
doesn't want to get on the little horse, uh horse

410
00:23:34.920 --> 00:23:38.240
ride or whatever it was. Yeah, and his again, his

411
00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:41.559
fantasy of the perfect life is getting up ended just

412
00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:44.039
in that moment, and he's snapped. He's like, put her

413
00:23:44.039 --> 00:23:47.039
on the goddamn horse. And that that that that tight

414
00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:50.880
shot of Barbara Hershey's face in the video, you could

415
00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:54.559
see she's terrified, she's upset, she's terrified. I can't believe

416
00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:55.279
you don't like her.

417
00:23:55.519 --> 00:24:01.160
I just didn't see enough evidence to constitute a restraining order. Well,

418
00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:05.400
you know, he he does lose it eventually, but at

419
00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:08.039
that point I don't know if he deserved her restrain anymore.

420
00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:15.319
I would say there was probably, you know, again thinking

421
00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:17.759
beyond the scope of the movie, there was probably some

422
00:24:17.799 --> 00:24:23.359
stuff going on in the relationship that warranted him being away,

423
00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:26.920
you know, from them. And you know, for to her credit, Beth,

424
00:24:27.880 --> 00:24:30.200
you know, she even she defiantly even tells him when

425
00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:32.319
he does start talking on the phone, you know, hey,

426
00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:34.400
you can't come here. You know, I pay the rent

427
00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:36.799
on this house. Now I'm doing I'm taking care of things.

428
00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:39.319
Does actually say she's paying the rent?

429
00:24:39.559 --> 00:24:41.160
She does, She absolutely does.

430
00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:44.880
Okay, Then that changes my opinion about something, because they

431
00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:49.039
live in one of the prime real estates of Los Angeles.

432
00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:50.400
This is Santa Monica, right.

433
00:24:50.519 --> 00:24:55.559
Venice in walking distance to the to the beach and

434
00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:59.279
the pier. I mean, if she's paying the rent, she

435
00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:04.319
must you extremely well for herself, or he's his alimony

436
00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:06.839
checks are gigantic. I have no idea.

437
00:25:07.240 --> 00:25:09.400
Well he's there are there are no alimony checks because

438
00:25:09.400 --> 00:25:12.599
he doesn't have a job. Remember he's been laid off,

439
00:25:12.599 --> 00:25:15.400
he's he has he has no employment. Yeah, when he's

440
00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:19.359
sitting in Gangland, you can see he uses the classifieds

441
00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:21.680
that he's he circled jobs. He's you get the you

442
00:25:21.720 --> 00:25:23.519
get the idea, he's been on the job hunt for

443
00:25:23.559 --> 00:25:24.000
some time.

444
00:25:24.119 --> 00:25:25.279
I didn't see that.

445
00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:30.799
I didn't the the newspaper he uses to stuff his shoe.

446
00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:33.920
That hole in his shoe, and by the way, can

447
00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:36.039
we can we talk about that for a split second.

448
00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:39.440
It's a great shot, Don't get me wrong. I like

449
00:25:39.480 --> 00:25:44.200
shol Schoemacher's that that close shot where you the close

450
00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:45.640
up of the shoe with the hole and you see

451
00:25:45.640 --> 00:25:49.240
Michael Douglas's eye What the fuck happened to his shoe?

452
00:25:49.559 --> 00:25:53.359
To cause? I mean, I mean, I would assume that

453
00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:56.880
a fifty caliber machine gun put around through that thing,

454
00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:59.160
because it's like you could you could easily drop a

455
00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:02.079
golf ball through at I don't know what he stepped

456
00:26:02.119 --> 00:26:04.759
on or stepped in or what happened, but that's one

457
00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:07.400
hell of a hole in that shoe. But anyway, regardless,

458
00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:10.119
he stuffs it with the newspaper, and the newspaper that

459
00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:13.799
he uses is the classified ads where he circled job

460
00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:14.759
at applications.

461
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:18.880
Yeah, and then you have Rachel and I hope I'm

462
00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:25.440
saying this right, Tiktin, I could from total recall, Total recall,

463
00:26:26.119 --> 00:26:28.200
you know a couple other things. You know, first, when

464
00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:29.960
I first saw this movie, you know, back when it

465
00:26:29.960 --> 00:26:31.599
came out, I kind of thought that her character was

466
00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:34.200
a little bit of a throwaway. But I realize now

467
00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:36.440
she's she's parentagraphs is conscious.

468
00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:40.119
You know, I think her performance in this movie a

469
00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:43.319
very underrated performance in a in a slightly underrated film.

470
00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:46.319
But I think she tells you a lot about the

471
00:26:46.440 --> 00:26:53.119
relationship just in just in her her physicality around around

472
00:26:53.160 --> 00:26:55.880
Robert Duval. You can see that they have definitely had

473
00:26:55.920 --> 00:26:59.160
a long, a long partnership. You know, I kind of

474
00:26:59.160 --> 00:27:01.799
get the idea that she as a rookie that was

475
00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:04.200
sidled up with him, she learned a lot from him.

476
00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:07.680
And you know, they've got whether whether it's a father

477
00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:11.160
daughter bond or just a friend a friendship type bond,

478
00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:14.000
brother sister whatever you want to call it. Yeah, they're

479
00:27:14.039 --> 00:27:16.720
they're definitely this is like his work wife. You know,

480
00:27:16.839 --> 00:27:20.799
she he's he's the work husband, and uh, she's definitely

481
00:27:20.839 --> 00:27:24.160
not happy to be losing him especially, Uh, do you

482
00:27:24.200 --> 00:27:27.799
remember the guy that they kind of infer that he

483
00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:30.720
is being is gonna become her new partner? That I mean,

484
00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:31.839
the guy's a total douchebag.

485
00:27:31.880 --> 00:27:34.480
He's and they never can tell, like, is that going

486
00:27:34.519 --> 00:27:36.319
to be your partner? Is that her boyfriend?

487
00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:39.400
No, well, I don't think it's I don't think it's

488
00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:41.319
a boyfriend. I think it's I think it's going to

489
00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:45.839
be her new partner. Or and the guy, I almost

490
00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:48.440
feel like Joel Schumacher told this guy, I know, no,

491
00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:50.440
no offense to the guy that played the role, because

492
00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:52.559
you don't want to like him. You're not supposed to

493
00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:56.480
like this guy. But I don't know. It's almost like

494
00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:58.960
Joel Schumacher pulled him aside and said, hey, listen, I

495
00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:02.799
want you to channel every dickhead role that Bill Paxton

496
00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:06.039
did in the eighties and kind of to try to

497
00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:08.599
try to emulate that, because that's every time I watch

498
00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:10.359
the movie, I'm like, this is the poor man's Bill

499
00:28:10.440 --> 00:28:14.720
Paxton trying to be extra douchey. Because we talked about,

500
00:28:14.839 --> 00:28:18.240
you know how how printed gast And and Foster kind

501
00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:21.720
of mirror each other. Okay, so we talked about there's

502
00:28:21.720 --> 00:28:25.480
a hint of racism in their encounter, but you can

503
00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:28.680
almost argue that there's a hint of it in h

504
00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:33.240
printed Gast's first encounter with with him, because he when

505
00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:38.599
he sits down, uh, you know, chance character is very excited,

506
00:28:38.680 --> 00:28:43.079
he's very anxious, and he's speaking, you know, he speaks

507
00:28:43.079 --> 00:28:48.000
at Korean and printer I guess looks at at his

508
00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:51.319
his fellow detective, who's who's Asian? He says, what's he saying?

509
00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:55.720
And the guy point like, point blank says, well, I

510
00:28:55.759 --> 00:29:00.799
don't know because I'm not Korean, I'm Japanese. And and

511
00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:03.519
and I think I feel like And there's like that

512
00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:08.319
quick shot of Deval's reaction to that, kind of kind

513
00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:12.799
of dismissive in a way like almost like well, yeah, okay, fine, yeah,

514
00:29:13.640 --> 00:29:15.319
but that's not right, that's not cool, you know.

515
00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:18.559
I mean, but that confirms your point of them being

516
00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:21.319
basically mirror opposites of each other, you know, yeah, yeah,

517
00:29:21.519 --> 00:29:23.079
they're they're almost the same.

518
00:29:23.559 --> 00:29:28.759
Yeah. And where we're where Douglas's character is more aggressive

519
00:29:28.759 --> 00:29:32.119
about it, more in your face about it. I'm not

520
00:29:32.279 --> 00:29:34.960
I don't I don't feel like Robert Duval's character is

521
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:40.200
inherently racist or or discriminatory, and I think it's just ignorance.

522
00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:43.559
Yeah, but that's where we were in nineteen ninety two, that's.

523
00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:46.799
Where we're we're you could argue, we're still there.

524
00:29:47.079 --> 00:29:50.359
Yeah, and so yeah, go to the drive line.

525
00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:53.480
So love this moment.

526
00:29:53.720 --> 00:29:58.839
I'm guessing that some by some pulp fiction divine intervention,

527
00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:03.880
he is missed by all the bullets from the gang members.

528
00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:07.319
So they are it's either some kind of divine intervention

529
00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:11.599
or they took the Imperial Stormtrooper class of how to

530
00:30:11.640 --> 00:30:18.000
shoot because they fucking miss They hit everything else except him.

531
00:30:18.440 --> 00:30:23.599
Well, to their credit, these are these are just these

532
00:30:23.640 --> 00:30:28.079
are street guys. They they obviously have never been into

533
00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:31.279
the range because you're right, Uh, they hit pretty much

534
00:30:31.319 --> 00:30:34.880
everything but him. But this is not like a movie.

535
00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:38.400
This is not like a movie trope where the lead

536
00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:41.960
character just happened to get missed. This happens a lot

537
00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:45.519
in uh in drive by shootings, you know, you see

538
00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:48.400
a lot of collateral damage. And I think it was

539
00:30:48.440 --> 00:30:54.440
even the screenwriter Abbie row Smith who who kind of said, uh,

540
00:30:54.519 --> 00:30:56.400
you know, I wish these guys would just take some

541
00:30:56.559 --> 00:30:59.200
lessons so they could hit the target and not hit

542
00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:01.599
the innocent bices that are that are nearby.

543
00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:04.920
And he does. They do hit into some bystanders, and

544
00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:05.599
that s they do.

545
00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:07.680
I mean, they just they mow down like three or

546
00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:10.079
four people. And I love the fact that he doesn't

547
00:31:10.079 --> 00:31:13.279
even react in the scene. He doesn't even turn as,

548
00:31:13.400 --> 00:31:16.319
he doesn't even turn around. It's he's he's oblivious to it.

549
00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:19.720
And I think in another director's hands, they may not

550
00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:22.880
have done that. I think in Schumacher's hand, he's very

551
00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:26.599
unapologetically like, yeah, there's gonna be some innocent bystanders killed. Yeah,

552
00:31:27.319 --> 00:31:29.200
you know, it's because that because that's what happens in

553
00:31:29.240 --> 00:31:30.519
these types of situations.

554
00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:35.599
Well again, as as Michael Douglas's character devolves into this

555
00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:40.319
this uh tragedy of a figure, Yeah, when you when

556
00:31:40.359 --> 00:31:42.960
you watch the film, I don't know, I don't know

557
00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:46.920
about about uh about you. Well, I would believe that.

558
00:31:47.039 --> 00:31:49.839
I believe it's the same with you and most normal people.

559
00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:54.559
If you were in that situation and you were were

560
00:31:54.599 --> 00:31:59.319
missed and you saw people lying down, screaming and shot,

561
00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:03.160
would think you would react, and you would you would

562
00:32:03.240 --> 00:32:05.440
go to those people and try and help and what's

563
00:32:05.480 --> 00:32:08.119
going on? How can I help? He walks right past

564
00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:11.000
them there, and I think that's a great moment for

565
00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:16.240
his character to show he's no longer concerned about society

566
00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:18.000
and the people up in society.

567
00:32:18.920 --> 00:32:22.480
So at the drive by he gets the guns, but

568
00:32:22.920 --> 00:32:27.960
in a way, he still has not done anything completely

569
00:32:28.680 --> 00:32:31.279
wrong to where he would be arrested and put the

570
00:32:31.319 --> 00:32:34.519
jail forever. Then he goes into the Whami Burger.

571
00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:38.839
Now he picks up, he picks up like a gem

572
00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:40.759
bag full of assault weapons.

573
00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:47.160
Yes, just like pure luck. But he goes to the way.

574
00:32:47.480 --> 00:32:50.440
Now this seems a little bit more lighthearted. You know,

575
00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:51.559
no one's hurt.

576
00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:54.160
Everyone has been in this situation.

577
00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:58.000
Everyone. It is an attack on false marketing, which we

578
00:32:58.039 --> 00:33:00.640
have all fell victim to. You know, it's a fun

579
00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:04.319
scene of more of Hey, I would have loved to

580
00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:06.160
say the exact same thing.

581
00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:09.119
I can't tell you how many times I've been in

582
00:33:09.160 --> 00:33:13.200
a Chick fil A just just craving that little chicken biscuit,

583
00:33:13.240 --> 00:33:16.880
that little breakfast chicken biscuit, and I'm two minutes late

584
00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:21.759
or I'm four minutes late, and I'm like fuck, yeah, man,

585
00:33:22.039 --> 00:33:24.000
I know how he feels when he wants his breakfast

586
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:24.640
at Wimbiburger.

587
00:33:25.480 --> 00:33:29.000
Well, I mean in that scene, he is speaking for

588
00:33:29.160 --> 00:33:30.079
the general public.

589
00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:34.119
He is and and you know, you know you've been

590
00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:38.960
in that situation. We've also you and I, both in retail,

591
00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:41.240
have been in the on the on the other side

592
00:33:41.319 --> 00:33:44.359
and where that where the manager. Rick is like, you know,

593
00:33:45.480 --> 00:33:49.720
that's our policy, and you know, Douglas is like, hey,

594
00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:52.400
haven't you ever heard the customers is always right? He's like, yeah, hey,

595
00:33:52.519 --> 00:33:56.039
I'm sorry. Yeah, you know you you you appreciate it.

596
00:33:56.200 --> 00:33:58.119
If you've never worked in fast food or you've never

597
00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:03.680
worked in retail, you don't see Rick as a as

598
00:34:03.680 --> 00:34:05.400
a hero in this moment. You just see him as

599
00:34:05.400 --> 00:34:08.719
a dick that's keeping your breakfast from you. But for

600
00:34:08.920 --> 00:34:12.639
all those people out there that have had the guy

601
00:34:12.719 --> 00:34:15.679
walk in and say, well I want the goddamn breakfast,

602
00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:19.119
you're just like a fuck off, dude, just get out.

603
00:34:19.559 --> 00:34:19.800
Yeah.

604
00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:23.519
You know. So, I appreciate Rick as the manager of

605
00:34:23.519 --> 00:34:27.239
the Wemy Burger, but maybe his customer service could use

606
00:34:27.239 --> 00:34:27.840
some brushing up.

607
00:34:28.039 --> 00:34:31.159
Definitely could use corporate at Wamy Burger needs to get

608
00:34:31.159 --> 00:34:31.519
on him.

609
00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:36.880
That's that's the thing, you know, Michael. Nine times out

610
00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:40.199
of ten, Michael Douglas's character is just going to ask

611
00:34:40.199 --> 00:34:41.679
for the district manager or they're going to call the

612
00:34:41.719 --> 00:34:43.719
corporate office, and you know they're probably gonna get a

613
00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:48.719
Wamby Burger coupon or a free sandwich. But unfortunately for Rick,

614
00:34:48.840 --> 00:34:53.320
this is the day that Michael Douglas decides to pull

615
00:34:53.320 --> 00:34:56.559
out a bag full of assault weapons. Yeah, wrong day,

616
00:34:57.000 --> 00:34:59.880
And say, can I say something real quick, Brad, because

617
00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:01.880
I I know you, I know you like me. You're

618
00:35:01.880 --> 00:35:05.679
a Hitchcock fan. And I love the fact that the

619
00:35:05.719 --> 00:35:09.880
minute he gets any opposition at the counter, there's that

620
00:35:10.039 --> 00:35:13.719
close shot where he just drops the bag down. They

621
00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:15.480
don't know what they don't know what's in that bag,

622
00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:17.559
but the viewer does know what's in that bag. And

623
00:35:17.599 --> 00:35:20.199
you're like, oh my god, this is about to get

624
00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:22.960
very ugly because you've already at this point. You know,

625
00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:27.039
you saw what happened in the Korean grocery store, You've

626
00:35:27.079 --> 00:35:31.519
seen what happened with the gang bangers, and now this

627
00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:36.480
and you know it's coming. Yeah. When he pulls up, Yeah.

628
00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:42.880
And before he goes into Frederick Forrest's shop, he comes

629
00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:46.239
across actor Vonnie Curtis Hall, who is outside of a

630
00:35:46.280 --> 00:35:50.760
bag protesting with signs saying that he is not economically viable.

631
00:35:51.320 --> 00:35:55.159
And when you look at Bondie Curtis Hall, he is

632
00:35:55.360 --> 00:36:00.880
dressed full on the exact same way that Wills is dressed.

633
00:36:01.159 --> 00:36:04.559
The white tie, even the tie is the same, the.

634
00:36:04.519 --> 00:36:08.679
Shirt, the same white shirt. Yeah, they're the same people again.

635
00:36:08.840 --> 00:36:11.519
And this is this is a very important moment in

636
00:36:11.559 --> 00:36:14.920
the film. It's such a small scene and it's such

637
00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:19.199
a small role, but it's so important because it shows

638
00:36:19.239 --> 00:36:22.280
it proves the point. This is not just a problem

639
00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:26.320
for Michael Douglas's character. This, this is a problem for

640
00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:30.639
America because the middle class, you know, at this point

641
00:36:30.679 --> 00:36:33.039
in time, after the Cold War, as then as we

642
00:36:33.159 --> 00:36:36.639
enter the nineties, the middle class is slowly disappearing. The

643
00:36:36.760 --> 00:36:41.280
rich are getting are becoming super rich, and the people

644
00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:44.599
that are that are that are poor become you know,

645
00:36:44.639 --> 00:36:46.719
the ones that are just barely hanging on the middle.

646
00:36:46.840 --> 00:36:50.360
The middle class starts to erase in the early nineties.

647
00:36:50.440 --> 00:36:53.199
And this guy, this guy you know who again, he

648
00:36:53.239 --> 00:36:56.119
did everything right. He he has a job, he works,

649
00:36:56.760 --> 00:36:58.960
and he's told, you know, by the bank, sorry, we

650
00:36:59.000 --> 00:37:01.679
can't give you a loan, you're not economically viable. And

651
00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:03.920
he doesn't have a bag full of assault weapons he

652
00:37:03.960 --> 00:37:07.039
doesn't have a ball bat. What he does have is

653
00:37:08.119 --> 00:37:11.199
his right to protest, and that's even that's short lived. Yes,

654
00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:13.840
this is the guy that does it the right way

655
00:37:15.960 --> 00:37:18.039
to get his voice heard and to try to make change,

656
00:37:18.719 --> 00:37:20.239
and it doesn't last long.

657
00:37:20.800 --> 00:37:27.039
Yeah. And then Schumacher ups the the the the intensity.

658
00:37:27.039 --> 00:37:30.239
This shot plus store guy. Oh wow, but what what's that?

659
00:37:30.320 --> 00:37:33.559
What's the guy's name? The actor's name, Frederick Forrest, Frederick

660
00:37:33.599 --> 00:37:34.760
for What have we seen him in?

661
00:37:35.079 --> 00:37:39.639
Well, you get a little new little reunion of Apocalypse

662
00:37:39.679 --> 00:37:42.920
Now because he is chef from Apocalypse Now, as is

663
00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:47.719
sorry d Ball is kil so many Apocalypse Now reunion

664
00:37:47.719 --> 00:37:49.159
even though they don't share anything, they don't.

665
00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:50.599
Share the scene. But that's that's a shame. I was

666
00:37:50.599 --> 00:37:53.599
trying to figure out where I knew him from. Oh man,

667
00:37:53.639 --> 00:37:58.679
this guy and you know say what you will? Yeah,

668
00:37:58.920 --> 00:38:02.639
the Korean grocer. Grocer. He he could have been a

669
00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:07.079
little nicer. Yeah, but he's not a bad person and

670
00:38:07.119 --> 00:38:11.760
he suffers the consequences. And I and I do like

671
00:38:11.840 --> 00:38:15.559
the fact that as Michael Douglas continues his trek across

672
00:38:16.320 --> 00:38:19.760
Los Angeles to get to his ex wife's home, some

673
00:38:19.800 --> 00:38:22.599
of the characters are getting it as his As his

674
00:38:22.719 --> 00:38:27.920
behavior escalates, the characters that he comes into contact with escalate.

675
00:38:28.800 --> 00:38:31.119
You know, we're not gonna feel bad about about a

676
00:38:31.119 --> 00:38:35.760
couple of gang bangers getting shot that that we're trying

677
00:38:35.760 --> 00:38:37.519
to rob him and trying to trying to murder him,

678
00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:40.639
to kill him. Yeah, and uh, and we're not gonna

679
00:38:40.639 --> 00:38:44.119
feel We're definitely not gonna feel bad about this army

680
00:38:44.159 --> 00:38:47.000
surplus store guy because he is man. He is a

681
00:38:47.000 --> 00:38:47.559
piece of ship.

682
00:38:48.079 --> 00:38:52.320
And I'd say a very uncomfortable thing to watch with,

683
00:38:52.639 --> 00:38:55.920
not just I mean the situation itself, but you know,

684
00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:59.800
the language being used, the the threats to know that

685
00:38:59.800 --> 00:39:02.719
there is you know, Jesus, you know these this kind

686
00:39:02.760 --> 00:39:04.320
of person could be out there.

687
00:39:05.079 --> 00:39:07.760
This person is out there, this person there's a lot

688
00:39:07.760 --> 00:39:09.480
of this person out and.

689
00:39:10.079 --> 00:39:14.280
You know, once again, the lines of communication are you know,

690
00:39:14.400 --> 00:39:16.760
cross wrongly? You know? You know he did I'm like

691
00:39:16.840 --> 00:39:20.599
you and Michael Dougs, No, you are not like me.

692
00:39:21.719 --> 00:39:24.159
He said, What's He says something in along lines of

693
00:39:24.199 --> 00:39:29.639
and I'm paraphrasing, but I am an American citizen and

694
00:39:29.760 --> 00:39:32.639
you are a sick asshole or sick sick something.

695
00:39:32.440 --> 00:39:35.320
Sick degeneratorazi ASSHOLEI Nazi Yah.

696
00:39:35.360 --> 00:39:38.199
Yeah, well, I mean the guys, you know, you have

697
00:39:38.280 --> 00:39:42.000
the you have the homosexual couple that's just minding their

698
00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:46.119
own business, are looking through the store. He antagonizes them,

699
00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:51.440
he provokes them, causes a situation, and you get the

700
00:39:51.519 --> 00:39:57.000
idea just on his his his fascination with Michael Douglas's character.

701
00:39:57.000 --> 00:39:58.920
When he walks in, you know, he's been listening to

702
00:39:58.960 --> 00:40:03.320
the police, the police scanner radio, so he's been following

703
00:40:03.320 --> 00:40:07.960
Douglas's character all morning. He's been you know, he's he's

704
00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:10.599
putting the pieces together, kind of like how Printagas puts

705
00:40:10.599 --> 00:40:14.840
the pieces together later. But you know, he he just

706
00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:18.119
assumes and he says some really some really shitty things

707
00:40:18.920 --> 00:40:23.440
he assumes, like the the Wammi Burger's full of you know,

708
00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:26.159
full of people he doesn't care for. He thinks Michael

709
00:40:26.159 --> 00:40:29.159
Douglas is like his his hero, and.

710
00:40:29.920 --> 00:40:32.880
He believes that Michael Douglas is the start of some

711
00:40:32.960 --> 00:40:35.440
sort of race war in this man's mind.

712
00:40:35.800 --> 00:40:36.760
Yeah. Absolutely.

713
00:40:37.320 --> 00:40:45.360
When he does kill Frederick Forrest, Yeah, then is when

714
00:40:45.400 --> 00:40:46.880
he becomes the point of no return.

715
00:40:47.159 --> 00:40:49.679
That's when the switch goes off, because I think I

716
00:40:49.719 --> 00:40:54.559
think he takes I think he takes this guy's admiration

717
00:40:55.079 --> 00:40:58.639
and this guy's Hey, me and you were the same,

718
00:40:59.079 --> 00:41:01.760
you know, think about it. Uh, I think he's see

719
00:41:01.840 --> 00:41:05.280
I think he takes offense to that, and and I

720
00:41:05.280 --> 00:41:07.159
think that's what that's where his turning point is where

721
00:41:07.199 --> 00:41:10.199
he you know, he he's hurt people before leading up

722
00:41:10.239 --> 00:41:14.719
to this, he's he's hurt people. He's shot one person, uh,

723
00:41:14.760 --> 00:41:17.599
non fatally, of course, But this is this is where

724
00:41:17.719 --> 00:41:20.320
I think he hits his point of no return because

725
00:41:20.360 --> 00:41:21.679
he he murders the guy.

726
00:41:21.960 --> 00:41:27.440
Yeah, he is no longer will foster. He is defense. Yeah,

727
00:41:27.800 --> 00:41:31.920
defense he and you know, he calls Beth and he

728
00:41:31.960 --> 00:41:35.440
tells her he is not He's out of his body

729
00:41:35.519 --> 00:41:39.960
right now. He is not. He has checked out of reality.

730
00:41:40.119 --> 00:41:42.559
Yeah. And again we talked about how in the beginning

731
00:41:42.599 --> 00:41:45.880
of the movie he's calling her, can't say a word,

732
00:41:46.800 --> 00:41:50.519
and then the next time he calls her, he's like, he's, hey,

733
00:41:50.519 --> 00:41:52.000
I just want to come home and give her her

734
00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:54.639
birthday gift. And she's very she stands her ground. You

735
00:41:54.679 --> 00:41:57.800
can't come here. I'll call the police. But now after

736
00:41:57.960 --> 00:42:01.800
after murdering the guy, he takes on a whole new

737
00:42:02.199 --> 00:42:05.239
creepy persona like this is the point in the movie

738
00:42:05.239 --> 00:42:09.440
where I've been rooting for him, you know, to some extent.

739
00:42:09.639 --> 00:42:13.199
I like what I'm seeing. Even when he murders the

740
00:42:13.400 --> 00:42:15.639
neo Nazi, I'm like, yeah, fuck that guy, because he's

741
00:42:15.679 --> 00:42:19.480
a piece of shit, you know. But it's that next

742
00:42:19.519 --> 00:42:22.679
scene where he makes that menacing phone call to his

743
00:42:22.719 --> 00:42:24.760
ex wife and kind of starts talking about how he's

744
00:42:24.760 --> 00:42:28.159
passed the point in a return like the astronauts on

745
00:42:28.239 --> 00:42:31.840
the other side of the Moon, and he has that

746
00:42:32.039 --> 00:42:38.320
absolutely terrifying moment where you know, she's like, hey, you know,

747
00:42:38.320 --> 00:42:40.079
I've got the cops here now, and he's like, oh,

748
00:42:40.159 --> 00:42:44.559
put him on. And then even he was that veiled

749
00:42:44.559 --> 00:42:47.119
threat where he says, hey, did you know in some

750
00:42:47.239 --> 00:42:50.320
countries in South America it's still legal to kill your

751
00:42:50.320 --> 00:42:53.440
wife if she offends you. He's gone. At that point.

752
00:42:53.480 --> 00:42:55.719
He is now the bad guy. He's a villain.

753
00:42:56.199 --> 00:42:59.719
And Douglas says in that conversation on the Blu Ray

754
00:42:59.800 --> 00:43:03.239
that he feels that the movie has no protagonists. I

755
00:43:03.280 --> 00:43:07.400
think he is the protagonist. But up until this point.

756
00:43:07.719 --> 00:43:14.679
Then the roles switched to Pernagas I mean, and he yeah,

757
00:43:14.719 --> 00:43:17.559
he flips, He's not you know, you know, how you

758
00:43:17.599 --> 00:43:19.239
hear stories of people like, you know, when they were

759
00:43:19.239 --> 00:43:21.599
being attacked or like I just put myself out of

760
00:43:21.639 --> 00:43:26.159
my body. Yeah, you know, and I feel that's exactly

761
00:43:26.239 --> 00:43:29.119
what you know he is doing right now. He's he's

762
00:43:29.159 --> 00:43:32.079
just locking out everything and not like checked into reality.

763
00:43:32.119 --> 00:43:36.920
Good the highway construction. Who hasn't wanted to do this?

764
00:43:37.719 --> 00:43:43.159
Oh again, you're cheering for him because how many times

765
00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:46.079
have you been on the on the highway and you

766
00:43:46.159 --> 00:43:48.559
got it, there's that fifty five mile an hour zone,

767
00:43:49.480 --> 00:43:52.239
it's down the one lane and you're like, there's not

768
00:43:52.639 --> 00:43:56.639
a fucking thing wrong with this road. And yeah, and

769
00:43:56.719 --> 00:44:02.280
he I think the guy, uh, you know, absolutely makes

770
00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:04.199
perfect sense when Michael Douglas is like, I know what

771
00:44:04.280 --> 00:44:06.519
you're doing. If you don't spend enough money this year

772
00:44:06.519 --> 00:44:08.280
in your budget, you won't get the same amount of money.

773
00:44:08.480 --> 00:44:10.320
That's hey, that's how business works.

774
00:44:10.920 --> 00:44:13.559
Do you know how inflation works? Because defense does?

775
00:44:13.800 --> 00:44:17.400
Defense does, and you know if you're gonna if you're

776
00:44:17.400 --> 00:44:19.599
gonna screw it up and then you're actually gonna fix something

777
00:44:19.880 --> 00:44:21.400
for that, he's got.

778
00:44:21.480 --> 00:44:26.239
The baka is. I mean, this is where Schumacher does

779
00:44:26.280 --> 00:44:30.840
play it safe. No one is actually hurt in the

780
00:44:30.880 --> 00:44:35.719
Bazuka explosion, you know there are people right next to

781
00:44:35.800 --> 00:44:39.079
where you know it blows up, innocent, you know, construction workers.

782
00:44:39.079 --> 00:44:43.079
But you know you cannot. I don't think you can

783
00:44:43.880 --> 00:44:46.719
have anybody be hurt in that scene. The rest of

784
00:44:46.719 --> 00:44:48.760
the movie doesn't work if somebody is hurting.

785
00:44:48.519 --> 00:44:51.639
It, it doesn't. And you know, it's funny because there's

786
00:44:51.760 --> 00:44:54.280
there's a larger people out there that that do see

787
00:44:54.280 --> 00:44:56.559
This film almost like a dark comedy in some ways.

788
00:44:57.559 --> 00:45:01.239
And I think this scene definitely the points to that,

789
00:45:01.360 --> 00:45:06.079
because here's a guy who pulls out a rocket launcher

790
00:45:07.199 --> 00:45:10.599
and everyone panics. He has no idea how to use it.

791
00:45:10.639 --> 00:45:12.480
And I love the fact that the kid comes up

792
00:45:12.519 --> 00:45:14.239
on the bicycle and he's like, oh, you got to

793
00:45:14.239 --> 00:45:16.599
pull that back. Oh that's right here, you know. And

794
00:45:16.639 --> 00:45:19.440
this is because it's the video game generation. This kid

795
00:45:19.519 --> 00:45:23.119
knows it. I mean probably so yeah, And I love that.

796
00:45:23.199 --> 00:45:25.559
I love the kid's innocence where he's like, where where

797
00:45:25.559 --> 00:45:27.480
the cameras at? What? What? What kind of movie you're making?

798
00:45:28.079 --> 00:45:29.880
You know? He he the kid just assumes that he's

799
00:45:29.880 --> 00:45:32.280
on a he's on a film set. I think that's hilarious.

800
00:45:32.719 --> 00:45:35.360
I mean, it is l a yeah, and again it's

801
00:45:35.400 --> 00:45:39.079
it is la so it tracks. It does make sense. Yah.

802
00:45:39.519 --> 00:45:41.840
You know, let's let's talk about printagas for for a

803
00:45:41.920 --> 00:45:45.880
quip minute. I like the fact that Pendergrass starts to

804
00:45:45.920 --> 00:45:49.760
come around. You know, he starts connecting the dots between

805
00:45:49.800 --> 00:45:53.480
the incidents and you know, starts to track it down,

806
00:45:53.519 --> 00:45:56.960
and you see like his confidence growing. You see his

807
00:45:58.320 --> 00:46:01.400
I don't want to say his manhood storing, but he's

808
00:46:01.440 --> 00:46:06.000
he's coming, he's he's he's becoming alive. Yeah, and uh.

809
00:46:07.440 --> 00:46:11.880
Yeah, it's very exciting for him to be a cop again,

810
00:46:12.039 --> 00:46:15.519
you know, to do something worthwhile. He's he's finding worth

811
00:46:15.559 --> 00:46:16.400
in his life again.

812
00:46:16.920 --> 00:46:20.599
Absolutely, and you know he's he's taking control again of

813
00:46:20.800 --> 00:46:24.280
his situation where I mean he's even taken abuse from

814
00:46:24.280 --> 00:46:26.400
his wife where she's on the phone in the earlier

815
00:46:26.440 --> 00:46:30.480
scenes where she's bawling him out on the phone, and

816
00:46:30.519 --> 00:46:32.679
then by the end when she tries it, he puts

817
00:46:32.760 --> 00:46:35.079
he kind of he kind of stands his ground and says, hey,

818
00:46:35.280 --> 00:46:37.800
shut up, Yeah, I'll be home. When I'm home, I

819
00:46:37.840 --> 00:46:40.280
want dinner on the table. And you know that that

820
00:46:40.559 --> 00:46:43.360
little that that little grin that that Duvall does after

821
00:46:43.400 --> 00:46:46.159
that phone call I just I love it. It's it's fun.

822
00:46:46.320 --> 00:46:49.519
I love when Duval is giddy. Anytime he's giddy, you know,

823
00:46:49.719 --> 00:46:51.719
scenes in like Days of Thunder where he's just like

824
00:46:51.800 --> 00:46:54.440
giddy and laughing and being goofy. Any anytime Rever balls

825
00:46:54.599 --> 00:46:59.119
like giddy, it's it's hilarious. Oh yeah, but yeah, I

826
00:46:59.159 --> 00:47:01.800
mean he he's getting more excited, you know, by by

827
00:47:01.880 --> 00:47:05.280
screaming defense underneath the you know, at the traffic stop,

828
00:47:05.360 --> 00:47:07.840
and he knows, and he's just getting more and more,

829
00:47:08.039 --> 00:47:10.320
you know, the film is speeding up. It's getting a

830
00:47:10.320 --> 00:47:12.639
little bit more faster pace at this point.

831
00:47:13.360 --> 00:47:15.880
Yeah. Now let me, I gotta I got a question

832
00:47:15.960 --> 00:47:22.760
for you. Let's talk about an alternate timeline. Okay, so

833
00:47:24.599 --> 00:47:29.119
keep keep Michael Douglas the same character, right, Uh, what

834
00:47:29.360 --> 00:47:32.280
happens now? Think about how this movie escalates. It starts

835
00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:35.559
off in the with the fight with the Korean, the

836
00:47:35.599 --> 00:47:39.480
Korean grocer, where he he gets the bat, and then

837
00:47:39.760 --> 00:47:44.000
from from there he fights with the gang guy, the

838
00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:48.840
gang members, where he acquires the knife and then he

839
00:47:48.920 --> 00:47:51.920
gets you know, his second encounter, he gets the guns,

840
00:47:52.440 --> 00:47:54.679
and then he he continues to escalate when he leaves

841
00:47:54.719 --> 00:47:58.559
the army surplus store. He's in full on fatigues. You know,

842
00:47:58.599 --> 00:48:01.480
he's got his combat boots on. And so my question

843
00:48:01.599 --> 00:48:08.719
to you, in an alternate timeline where the grocer gives

844
00:48:08.760 --> 00:48:14.239
him change, Yeah, let's assume he goes home, you know,

845
00:48:14.280 --> 00:48:17.239
because if he does, if that situation doesn't happen, the

846
00:48:17.280 --> 00:48:20.159
rest of the movie doesn't happen. Right, So you got

847
00:48:20.159 --> 00:48:23.239
to wonder what does he do when he gets home? Well,

848
00:48:23.280 --> 00:48:24.639
I'm sorry, what does he do when he gets to

849
00:48:24.639 --> 00:48:25.559
his ex wife's house.

850
00:48:27.960 --> 00:48:32.840
I mean, at that point, he's a ticking time bomb.

851
00:48:33.159 --> 00:48:37.679
I think things would have gone sour even if he

852
00:48:37.719 --> 00:48:39.840
wouldn't have gone to the convenience store and gotten the

853
00:48:39.880 --> 00:48:43.519
bat he. I mean, he's not mentally stable at this point.

854
00:48:43.559 --> 00:48:46.840
He's hurting inside. But you know, he's a ticking time bomb.

855
00:48:46.880 --> 00:48:49.039
He was bound to go off eventually.

856
00:48:49.440 --> 00:48:53.119
So in no reality, does does this guy have redemption? Okay,

857
00:48:53.599 --> 00:48:55.360
all right? Interesting, go ahead?

858
00:48:55.440 --> 00:49:00.159
Yeah, And you know, and you know he goes to

859
00:49:00.199 --> 00:49:03.400
the pier in full on or not to the pier,

860
00:49:03.400 --> 00:49:05.599
but when he goes to the house in venice, you know,

861
00:49:05.679 --> 00:49:08.440
he's he's going after he's going after that.

862
00:49:09.239 --> 00:49:11.400
I think he's made the decision at this point that

863
00:49:12.760 --> 00:49:14.400
maybe maybe in the beginning of the film when he's

864
00:49:14.480 --> 00:49:16.440
when he's stuck in his car, he doesn't know what

865
00:49:16.480 --> 00:49:18.320
he's gonna do. But I think by at this point

866
00:49:18.679 --> 00:49:21.800
he's on a course. He knows he's you can clearly see,

867
00:49:22.199 --> 00:49:25.480
well maybe not clearly, but in my opinion, uh, the

868
00:49:25.559 --> 00:49:28.000
stage is set for a murder suicide. He's gonna kill

869
00:49:28.039 --> 00:49:29.840
he's gonna kill his wife, his ex wife, he's gonna

870
00:49:29.880 --> 00:49:32.159
kill his daughter, and then he's gonna he's gonna kill himself.

871
00:49:32.360 --> 00:49:33.639
I mean that's kind of how I see it.

872
00:49:34.280 --> 00:49:38.039
You know, there's a great uh foreshadowing with the squirt

873
00:49:38.079 --> 00:49:41.400
gun early on, you know, kind of again and again

874
00:49:41.440 --> 00:49:43.920
it's like, look at this, this is this is gonna

875
00:49:43.920 --> 00:49:47.840
come back. This is gonna come back. And you know,

876
00:49:49.000 --> 00:49:55.760
when he's finally at the pier, you know, uh, Pendergast,

877
00:49:56.360 --> 00:49:58.880
you know, says to him, oh, I know what you're

878
00:49:58.920 --> 00:50:01.360
gonna do. You were gonna to kill your wife and

879
00:50:01.400 --> 00:50:04.000
your child, and you were gonna kill yourself and take

880
00:50:04.039 --> 00:50:05.159
the easy way out.

881
00:50:05.679 --> 00:50:10.239
Yeah. And you know at that, even before Pintograss it

882
00:50:10.320 --> 00:50:15.840
reveals himself, you can see he is absolutely gone at

883
00:50:15.840 --> 00:50:18.880
this point because he is in fantasy mode. He walks

884
00:50:18.960 --> 00:50:21.800
up to her with a big smile, throws his arms

885
00:50:21.800 --> 00:50:24.519
around her, gives her a hug, he kisses her, and

886
00:50:24.559 --> 00:50:29.199
she's terrified and he's like, what, I can't see my wife.

887
00:50:29.239 --> 00:50:30.280
I can't see my little.

888
00:50:30.119 --> 00:50:34.039
Girl disappear her favorite place.

889
00:50:34.280 --> 00:50:36.639
Yeah, he's no longer in reality at that point. He's

890
00:50:36.719 --> 00:50:41.840
he's in his fantasy world and with the reveal of Pintograss,

891
00:50:41.920 --> 00:50:44.840
that's that's where it all comes crashing down, and he's

892
00:50:44.840 --> 00:50:46.840
got to make a choice, I think at that point.

893
00:50:47.000 --> 00:50:50.760
And I like how scho Schumacher directs the scene because

894
00:50:51.920 --> 00:50:57.800
you know he doesn't give an Oh, Michael Dougas's character is,

895
00:50:58.519 --> 00:51:02.159
you know, somewhat he kind of deserved to do that,

896
00:51:02.280 --> 00:51:07.559
you know, full on. Rob Jubald tells him because you

897
00:51:07.559 --> 00:51:11.480
were lied to. Hey, they lie every day, you know,

898
00:51:11.719 --> 00:51:14.280
they say, like, hey, life has its ups and downs.

899
00:51:14.320 --> 00:51:16.639
And that brings me to the title of the film,

900
00:51:16.880 --> 00:51:19.519
falling Down. You know they talk about the London bridges

901
00:51:19.559 --> 00:51:20.679
falling down all the time.

902
00:51:20.760 --> 00:51:22.840
Yeah in the movie, Yeahgras does.

903
00:51:23.199 --> 00:51:28.119
Both Prendigrass and Will Foster are in the process of

904
00:51:28.400 --> 00:51:32.440
their down face. They're falling down now, Prendigas does the

905
00:51:32.519 --> 00:51:34.400
right thing and gets back up.

906
00:51:35.079 --> 00:51:36.199
Yeah, finds redemption.

907
00:51:36.760 --> 00:51:39.199
Defense never gets back up. And if he was able

908
00:51:39.239 --> 00:51:42.079
to get back up from falling down, he would see

909
00:51:42.079 --> 00:51:45.719
that there is, you know, some redemption. But he's not

910
00:51:45.800 --> 00:51:47.880
able to do that. He's not able to get back up.

911
00:51:47.880 --> 00:51:50.159
He stays down the entire time.

912
00:51:50.679 --> 00:51:52.679
I think one of the one of the things you

913
00:51:52.679 --> 00:51:55.440
gotta give him credit though, and and what makes him

914
00:51:55.639 --> 00:52:01.039
such a dangerous individual is the fact that he did

915
00:52:01.039 --> 00:52:03.840
have a plan. You know, he was going to go

916
00:52:03.920 --> 00:52:06.119
take care of his family and and live that fantasy

917
00:52:06.159 --> 00:52:09.000
world in his life and in his head, uh, for

918
00:52:09.039 --> 00:52:11.199
as long as he was going to be alive. But

919
00:52:11.320 --> 00:52:15.840
he immediately switches gears and finds the way that he

920
00:52:15.880 --> 00:52:19.519
can do something right for his family with the insurance money. Yeah.

921
00:52:19.519 --> 00:52:21.679
When when he when he he more or less he

922
00:52:21.679 --> 00:52:24.280
he he calls out printed Gas and says, I got

923
00:52:24.320 --> 00:52:28.199
a gun, you know, let's draw. And you know, you know,

924
00:52:28.239 --> 00:52:30.119
Printagas doesn't want to do. I mean, Printagas already has

925
00:52:30.159 --> 00:52:33.320
the gun on him and uh, just that moment when

926
00:52:33.440 --> 00:52:37.119
when he he pulls for it. I love the fact

927
00:52:37.320 --> 00:52:41.199
that they Schumacher thinks to put that that that shot

928
00:52:41.239 --> 00:52:45.840
in where uh printer Gast wipes his face. Yeah, and

929
00:52:46.000 --> 00:52:48.480
because that that moment, that that happy moment that Michael

930
00:52:48.480 --> 00:52:52.360
Douglas's character has where he says, what a gotcha? Yeah,

931
00:52:52.400 --> 00:52:55.199
you know he dies. He I feel like he dies

932
00:52:55.239 --> 00:52:59.599
happy knowing that he he won the showdown and more importantly,

933
00:52:59.800 --> 00:53:02.960
he provided for He finally provided for his family. His

934
00:53:03.000 --> 00:53:05.639
wife and his ex wife and his little girl are

935
00:53:05.679 --> 00:53:08.840
going to be provided for because you know, he's dead

936
00:53:09.280 --> 00:53:11.000
and the insurance money is going to be there for him.

937
00:53:11.360 --> 00:53:14.320
So which brings me to that question of did he

938
00:53:14.400 --> 00:53:15.880
need to die?

939
00:53:16.159 --> 00:53:21.159
Yes? Okay, so and I you know, Robert y Vall's

940
00:53:21.199 --> 00:53:25.679
character does does what any good person what definitely what

941
00:53:25.800 --> 00:53:27.280
any good cops is going to do in this situation,

942
00:53:27.440 --> 00:53:30.960
and say, you know, hey, you got a lot to

943
00:53:30.960 --> 00:53:32.679
live for. You know, you don't want to watch a

944
00:53:32.679 --> 00:53:36.519
little girl grow up. And Douglas immediately is like from

945
00:53:36.559 --> 00:53:40.840
the from prison bars, nah, I don't think so yeah,

946
00:53:40.880 --> 00:53:45.559
so and again he's in prison. Nothing's good. He can't

947
00:53:45.599 --> 00:53:48.559
do anything for the family. Then, so I think he

948
00:53:48.639 --> 00:53:51.119
makes I don't want to say he makes the sacrifice

949
00:53:51.159 --> 00:53:57.159
like a heroic sacrifice. I just think he takes the

950
00:53:57.159 --> 00:54:00.079
the best option he has, it's the only option, and

951
00:54:00.159 --> 00:54:02.519
that it's his only option at that point. It's his

952
00:54:02.679 --> 00:54:07.960
only option to give his family something. Yeah. If he can't,

953
00:54:08.079 --> 00:54:12.519
if he can't have them with him forever, which I

954
00:54:12.519 --> 00:54:16.840
think would have been his murder suicide's plan, then he

955
00:54:16.880 --> 00:54:20.920
can at least provide for them forever if he if

956
00:54:20.960 --> 00:54:22.039
he chooses to die.

957
00:54:22.320 --> 00:54:24.239
You know, I mean, this is a man that makes

958
00:54:24.559 --> 00:54:26.079
missiles for a living.

959
00:54:26.519 --> 00:54:26.760
Yeah.

960
00:54:26.760 --> 00:54:31.039
I mean the psychological, you know, effect that can have

961
00:54:31.159 --> 00:54:34.639
on someone is you know, it can really definitely mess

962
00:54:34.719 --> 00:54:37.000
up somebody's.

963
00:54:36.159 --> 00:54:37.519
He's an all or nothing individual.

964
00:54:38.280 --> 00:54:44.360
Yeah, And I mean, so the basis of the film

965
00:54:44.559 --> 00:54:48.840
is that it's not a I don't believe this film

966
00:54:48.840 --> 00:54:49.800
cannot be made today.

967
00:54:50.519 --> 00:54:51.079
You don't think so?

968
00:54:51.440 --> 00:54:53.239
No, no way.

969
00:54:53.519 --> 00:54:55.119
Tell me why.

970
00:54:55.360 --> 00:54:59.440
Well, with putting aside what is actually going on in

971
00:54:59.480 --> 00:55:04.039
the country right now so pre pandemic, I still don't

972
00:55:04.039 --> 00:55:05.159
think he can make this today.

973
00:55:05.800 --> 00:55:08.480
You know. It's funny you say that, though, because in

974
00:55:08.519 --> 00:55:11.480
the audio commentary they talk about how this was a

975
00:55:11.679 --> 00:55:15.280
very risky play for Warner Brothers. It had been passed

976
00:55:15.320 --> 00:55:20.760
over several times, Schumacher knowing that in his own words,

977
00:55:20.960 --> 00:55:23.639
quote unquote begs for the job because he knows he

978
00:55:23.639 --> 00:55:27.679
can make a great film and because he's friends with

979
00:55:27.679 --> 00:55:30.840
with Michael Douglas. I think he I think Douglas was

980
00:55:31.079 --> 00:55:33.440
his producer on one of one or more films of

981
00:55:33.480 --> 00:55:37.760
his Douglas. He goes, he goes to Douglas's house in

982
00:55:38.079 --> 00:55:41.800
Santa Barbara because Douglas at this point had had made

983
00:55:41.840 --> 00:55:43.559
They had had the idea that he's gonna take a

984
00:55:43.599 --> 00:55:47.280
year or two off from from working. And he sells

985
00:55:47.360 --> 00:55:49.880
him on the idea, and Douglas likes it so much

986
00:55:50.880 --> 00:55:53.320
he foregoes his and he know they know they were

987
00:55:53.360 --> 00:55:56.079
on a shoe string budget and the company, the Warner Brothers,

988
00:55:56.079 --> 00:55:58.440
doesn't really isn't really willing to give them a whole

989
00:55:58.480 --> 00:56:01.719
lot to do this because it's so risk He Michael

990
00:56:01.760 --> 00:56:06.840
Douglas works for Scale on this movie. I didn't know

991
00:56:06.920 --> 00:56:10.440
that for going his normal fee, he works for Scale,

992
00:56:11.480 --> 00:56:15.039
and that that gives them the ability to to do

993
00:56:15.079 --> 00:56:16.920
a lot of the shoot the shots that they do.

994
00:56:17.039 --> 00:56:19.079
And you know, he kind of he kind of bumped

995
00:56:19.079 --> 00:56:22.000
the budget up, so to speak, by by taking less money. Yeah,

996
00:56:22.000 --> 00:56:23.800
because it was because it was a risky thing, Like

997
00:56:23.880 --> 00:56:25.920
you said, it'd be risky to make it now, Well

998
00:56:25.960 --> 00:56:28.559
it was risky in nineteen ninety two ninety ninety three

999
00:56:28.599 --> 00:56:29.760
to do it as well.

1000
00:56:30.079 --> 00:56:34.360
And they had to stop filming because of the first

1001
00:56:34.719 --> 00:56:35.480
La riots.

1002
00:56:35.880 --> 00:56:37.079
The LA riots were going on.

1003
00:56:37.320 --> 00:56:41.000
Yeah, yeah, so, and I remember that as the movie

1004
00:56:41.000 --> 00:56:43.400
came out and being like, you know, it was like, wow,

1005
00:56:43.480 --> 00:56:45.960
did they film this as the riots are going on?

1006
00:56:46.039 --> 00:56:48.039
Because you know, thinking back, you know, it was wow,

1007
00:56:48.079 --> 00:56:50.719
it's around the same time. Yeah, yeah, it was. They

1008
00:56:50.719 --> 00:56:52.840
had to shut down for a few for a little

1009
00:56:52.840 --> 00:56:55.320
while to let that kind of stuff pass by.

1010
00:56:55.800 --> 00:57:02.000
This movie probably a product of its time, probably doesn't

1011
00:57:02.000 --> 00:57:02.760
get made by.

1012
00:57:02.840 --> 00:57:05.440
It's a risky movie. It's a very risky movie. Not

1013
00:57:05.519 --> 00:57:07.760
for just ninety two, but I think just in general.

1014
00:57:08.440 --> 00:57:11.920
And you know, that's the reason that we do we

1015
00:57:12.039 --> 00:57:15.599
do this podcast is to let people know that, yeah,

1016
00:57:15.599 --> 00:57:18.480
they're these great directors, but they've got some movies that

1017
00:57:18.800 --> 00:57:21.559
they kind of put all in are that need just

1018
00:57:21.599 --> 00:57:23.960
as much attention as some of their big, big hits.

1019
00:57:24.199 --> 00:57:26.440
You know, I don't want to glamorize the violence of

1020
00:57:26.480 --> 00:57:30.079
this film, but you're can you make this movie today?

1021
00:57:30.360 --> 00:57:34.760
Probably not? Could this be an absolutely kick ass video game?

1022
00:57:35.639 --> 00:57:38.840
You better believe it. I would buy the Falling Down

1023
00:57:38.880 --> 00:57:41.119
video game in a second, just.

1024
00:57:41.039 --> 00:57:46.000
For the Whamy Burger scene. Basically, yeah, but it's you know,

1025
00:57:46.159 --> 00:57:49.480
it's I guess you would almost say it's a little

1026
00:57:49.519 --> 00:57:54.400
bit of a taboo or touchy subject type of film

1027
00:57:54.440 --> 00:57:56.719
because of, like I said, the violence in it, the

1028
00:57:57.440 --> 00:58:02.880
racial profiling, the stereotype typical profiling. You know, there's a

1029
00:58:02.960 --> 00:58:07.239
lot in there that is picked at to where you say, yeah,

1030
00:58:07.239 --> 00:58:09.800
there are some people like this, but not everybody.

1031
00:58:10.400 --> 00:58:13.559
Well, yeah, you're right. This movie is a checklist of

1032
00:58:13.920 --> 00:58:19.000
hot button topics. Yes, and it and it. It checks

1033
00:58:19.039 --> 00:58:20.599
the whole box. It checks every box.

1034
00:58:20.960 --> 00:58:23.800
You know, is is every person that's on a golf

1035
00:58:23.840 --> 00:58:27.599
course a mean, rich old man who.

1036
00:58:27.719 --> 00:58:33.800
Yes, I'm kidding. No, I'm kidding. I would never say that.

1037
00:58:34.039 --> 00:58:36.559
But yeah, that you know, it's just it's just elements.

1038
00:58:36.599 --> 00:58:39.119
It's like, okay, this is just one element and plain

1039
00:58:39.199 --> 00:58:41.639
and simple. The fact is like, this is not what

1040
00:58:41.800 --> 00:58:46.800
should have been done. This is just one man's uh response.

1041
00:58:47.159 --> 00:58:50.280
It's it may not be the right response, it's definitely not,

1042
00:58:50.400 --> 00:58:53.000
but it's just his response and they're showing that. And

1043
00:58:53.079 --> 00:58:56.280
I think that's what makes the film such a risky take.

1044
00:58:56.320 --> 00:58:59.559
Because it's not a happy film. You know, it's a

1045
00:58:59.559 --> 00:59:01.480
movie with action in it, but it's not an action

1046
00:59:01.559 --> 00:59:05.920
adventure movie with a hero you know, triumphing you know,

1047
00:59:06.000 --> 00:59:09.000
over evil. It's a it's a different type of film.

1048
00:59:09.159 --> 00:59:11.760
Yeah, and you know you mentioned the golf the golfers. Uh,

1049
00:59:12.039 --> 00:59:13.800
I mean the one golfer he's he's a nice guy.

1050
00:59:13.840 --> 00:59:17.000
The other one's he's a total cock. But uh we

1051
00:59:17.199 --> 00:59:20.719
again with the whole territoriality. That guy, why the fuck

1052
00:59:20.760 --> 00:59:23.800
do I pay my dues? He's on my golf course. Uh.

1053
00:59:23.840 --> 00:59:25.599
You know when Michael Douglas is trying to cut across

1054
00:59:25.639 --> 00:59:27.760
the golf course and the guy takes a shot at

1055
00:59:27.800 --> 00:59:34.760
him with a with a titleist. You know, again, everyone

1056
00:59:34.800 --> 00:59:38.599
in this movie that hasn't that has an encounter is

1057
00:59:38.920 --> 00:59:43.199
very territorial of of their area. Whether it's a whether

1058
00:59:43.239 --> 00:59:46.679
it's a street in a you know in Gangland, whether

1059
00:59:46.719 --> 00:59:51.280
it's a grocery store, whether it's a golf course. Everyone,

1060
00:59:51.599 --> 00:59:54.239
everyone's trying to protect what they feel is theirs.

1061
00:59:54.679 --> 00:59:58.880
Yes, absolutely, and you know that's irrelevant just as much

1062
00:59:58.920 --> 01:00:02.119
today as it was in nineteen each other. Yeah, and

1063
01:00:02.320 --> 01:00:06.280
now my question to you is could this be made

1064
01:00:06.360 --> 01:00:07.559
as a Western.

1065
01:00:09.440 --> 01:00:11.599
You're not gonna believe this, And I was kind of

1066
01:00:11.800 --> 01:00:13.320
I was kind of hoping that you were gonna ask

1067
01:00:13.360 --> 01:00:16.000
this question. I know you're a fan of the genre.

1068
01:00:17.159 --> 01:00:19.320
As it turns out, I'm gonna okay. So let me

1069
01:00:19.400 --> 01:00:24.079
first off say yes. And the main reason I'm saying

1070
01:00:24.159 --> 01:00:27.360
yes is because I'm just gonna go ahead and agree

1071
01:00:27.360 --> 01:00:31.719
with Joel Schumacher. So in the audio commentary, Joel Schumacher

1072
01:00:31.760 --> 01:00:34.320
and I'm listening to this, I'm thinking, Oh, Brad's gonna

1073
01:00:34.320 --> 01:00:40.400
love this. Joel Schumacher calls this movie a Western akin

1074
01:00:40.880 --> 01:00:43.559
to something along the lines of High Noon, because you've

1075
01:00:43.599 --> 01:00:47.039
got you've got a villain tearing up the town and

1076
01:00:47.119 --> 01:00:50.119
the old sheriff has to have one last showdown before

1077
01:00:50.199 --> 01:00:54.480
hanging up his guns. And I think that's the perfect

1078
01:00:54.480 --> 01:00:58.559
analogy of what Falling Down is. Between these two guys,

1079
01:01:00.239 --> 01:01:04.119
Foster Uh and printed Gast, they are on a collision

1080
01:01:04.199 --> 01:01:07.639
course with each other, and it's almost like a race

1081
01:01:08.559 --> 01:01:10.920
to to the end to see who's gonna win, Who's

1082
01:01:11.159 --> 01:01:14.320
who's gonna claim their manhood, who's gonna get Uh, Who's

1083
01:01:14.320 --> 01:01:16.960
gonna get that American dream that they feel they're entitled to.

1084
01:01:17.199 --> 01:01:19.679
So yeah, I I absolutely can. I could. I could

1085
01:01:19.679 --> 01:01:21.440
see falling down as a west. Let me ask you

1086
01:01:21.519 --> 01:01:26.000
a question, uh, as we wrap up Michael Douglas one

1087
01:01:26.039 --> 01:01:28.360
of the best lines that he has, and you know,

1088
01:01:28.480 --> 01:01:31.320
it's in every trailer. It's uh, it's on some of

1089
01:01:31.360 --> 01:01:33.079
the you know and back in the back in the

1090
01:01:33.119 --> 01:01:34.920
day when it's playing at the theater. You you'd see

1091
01:01:34.920 --> 01:01:38.519
it on some of the playbills. He asked, He point

1092
01:01:38.559 --> 01:01:41.840
blank asks print a gast Am, I the bad guy?

1093
01:01:42.960 --> 01:01:47.480
And he says it with such confusion and and heartbreak

1094
01:01:47.480 --> 01:01:51.440
in his voice because to this point he's assumed he

1095
01:01:51.639 --> 01:01:55.039
is the good guy for the whole movie. Now, my

1096
01:01:55.199 --> 01:01:57.840
question to you is, given the fact that he does

1097
01:01:57.880 --> 01:02:01.199
a lot of things that we we secretly want to

1098
01:02:01.239 --> 01:02:05.239
do in everyday life, is he the bad guy?

1099
01:02:05.239 --> 01:02:11.000
Brad A little bit of yes and no. I mean,

1100
01:02:11.480 --> 01:02:16.199
his intentions I think are in the right mode, but

1101
01:02:16.480 --> 01:02:21.119
his actions are in the wrong mode. He has a

1102
01:02:21.159 --> 01:02:24.559
good motive of we need to make you know, he

1103
01:02:24.639 --> 01:02:27.440
just basically wants to make the world a safe, better place.

1104
01:02:27.719 --> 01:02:29.760
But his actions that he takes to get those or

1105
01:02:29.800 --> 01:02:32.480
what is wrong and that constitutes of making him the

1106
01:02:32.519 --> 01:02:35.039
bad guy. I still believe he is the protagonist of

1107
01:02:35.079 --> 01:02:38.119
the film because I feel after that, when he learns

1108
01:02:38.159 --> 01:02:42.400
that I am I'm the bad guy. He you know,

1109
01:02:42.440 --> 01:02:45.559
the job of the protagonist is to overcome something or

1110
01:02:45.599 --> 01:02:49.159
to learn something. He and I believe that the character

1111
01:02:49.199 --> 01:02:51.800
of Wolf Foster did learn something and at that point

1112
01:02:51.840 --> 01:02:54.159
he is no longer defense. He's back to Wilf Foster

1113
01:02:54.559 --> 01:02:59.960
when he makes that sacrifice for his family. Okay, okay,

1114
01:02:59.760 --> 01:03:03.519
but I mean it's and I mean I think it's

1115
01:03:03.599 --> 01:03:06.800
just a it's a different film. You know, it's it's

1116
01:03:06.880 --> 01:03:09.599
not your normal everyday film. You know, it's you know,

1117
01:03:09.639 --> 01:03:11.880
and it's got you know, it does have funny You're right,

1118
01:03:11.920 --> 01:03:14.440
it does have funny moments in It's got funny lines.

1119
01:03:14.639 --> 01:03:16.079
It's a serious.

1120
01:03:15.639 --> 01:03:18.119
Movie, closing thoughts, breads, closing thoughts.

1121
01:03:19.719 --> 01:03:22.840
I mean this, even though I don't know how well

1122
01:03:22.920 --> 01:03:27.039
the film did for Joel Schumacher, but it definitely gave

1123
01:03:27.119 --> 01:03:29.320
him his next I mean, his next string of films

1124
01:03:29.360 --> 01:03:33.880
were you know, The Client, Batman, Forever, Time to Kill

1125
01:03:34.199 --> 01:03:39.000
Batman and Robin string of films that were hits. I

1126
01:03:39.119 --> 01:03:42.119
like Joel Schumacher. I like what he is done with movies.

1127
01:03:42.159 --> 01:03:47.159
He goes from lighthearted Santamo's Fire to Horror like Lost Boys.

1128
01:03:47.199 --> 01:03:49.480
You know, he can go back and forth. So and

1129
01:03:50.480 --> 01:03:53.320
I don't know if this film would have been the

1130
01:03:53.360 --> 01:03:55.039
same in anyone else's hands.

1131
01:03:55.559 --> 01:03:59.599
Your thoughts, well, you know, you you kind of talked

1132
01:03:59.599 --> 01:04:02.119
about it a little bit, but you know how well

1133
01:04:02.159 --> 01:04:05.480
this this film did. So you're talking about twenty five

1134
01:04:05.519 --> 01:04:09.719
million dollar budget that's estimated, of course, and it does

1135
01:04:10.079 --> 01:04:16.320
it does just over forty million, that's its gross. So

1136
01:04:18.360 --> 01:04:22.199
is a success for Schumacher? I think no when it

1137
01:04:22.239 --> 01:04:24.199
came out, But this is one of those movies that

1138
01:04:24.199 --> 01:04:29.760
that definitely achieved cult status, definitely definitely got him some respect,

1139
01:04:29.840 --> 01:04:34.159
you know, among his peers and in the in the industry, because,

1140
01:04:34.320 --> 01:04:36.559
as you said, he does move on to get some

1141
01:04:36.719 --> 01:04:39.360
very large jobs. He you know, he takes over the

1142
01:04:39.400 --> 01:04:43.199
Batman franchise from Tim Burton. He's got the client he

1143
01:04:43.280 --> 01:04:46.880
so he does some great things. Yeah.

1144
01:04:46.960 --> 01:04:49.119
Do you think he's done?

1145
01:04:49.320 --> 01:04:54.320
Do I think he's done? Well, you know, we talked

1146
01:04:54.320 --> 01:04:59.119
about this with Ridley Scott. First off, I'll say I

1147
01:04:59.119 --> 01:05:03.079
don't want him to be done. Yeah, But at the

1148
01:05:03.119 --> 01:05:06.480
same time, you know, you gotta you gotta think about it.

1149
01:05:07.840 --> 01:05:10.360
At this point, he's he's eighty one years old.

1150
01:05:10.719 --> 01:05:11.920
Okay, Oh, I didn't know he was that.

1151
01:05:12.559 --> 01:05:18.400
Yeah, Schumacher born in nineteen thirty nine. So, and he

1152
01:05:18.440 --> 01:05:21.639
hasn't done anything. And since twenty thirteen he did a

1153
01:05:22.360 --> 01:05:25.280
I don't know if you're familiar with the House of Cards. Yeah,

1154
01:05:25.280 --> 01:05:25.679
that was.

1155
01:05:25.679 --> 01:05:28.599
The most recent thing. I saw a couple episodes of that.

1156
01:05:29.159 --> 01:05:35.119
Yeah. So do I think he's got something left? He's

1157
01:05:35.159 --> 01:05:38.360
been on a seven year break. I would question probably

1158
01:05:38.400 --> 01:05:41.039
if he's if he's doing anything else. I would like

1159
01:05:41.079 --> 01:05:44.519
to see him do something else. I don't know, if

1160
01:05:44.559 --> 01:05:46.239
you I mean, let's talk, you know, think about it

1161
01:05:46.280 --> 01:05:48.920
real quick. Well, you know, this guy's done the block

1162
01:05:48.960 --> 01:05:53.679
the superhero blockbuster. He's done the the hot top the

1163
01:05:53.719 --> 01:05:56.960
hot the hot topic or hot button topic film like

1164
01:05:57.000 --> 01:06:00.480
Falling Down and A Time to Kill He he's done

1165
01:06:00.480 --> 01:06:02.320
the feel good stuff. He's done the creepy stuff with

1166
01:06:02.320 --> 01:06:05.119
flat Liners and The Lost Boys. So my question to you, Brad,

1167
01:06:06.440 --> 01:06:09.280
he makes one more movie, what genre do you want

1168
01:06:09.280 --> 01:06:10.000
to see him tackle?

1169
01:06:11.440 --> 01:06:14.119
I would like to see him do something to where

1170
01:06:14.320 --> 01:06:17.519
if I another crazy what if type of film?

1171
01:06:18.559 --> 01:06:19.480
What if type film?

1172
01:06:19.599 --> 01:06:23.639
So like like a crazy what if? You know? Flatliners

1173
01:06:23.719 --> 01:06:26.079
is a crazy what if you know the plot to

1174
01:06:26.119 --> 01:06:29.960
the Time to Kill is you know, is murder justified?

1175
01:06:30.320 --> 01:06:34.239
If it's two people that sexually molested your daughter? You

1176
01:06:34.280 --> 01:06:37.199
know these are hot, like you said, hot topics to

1177
01:06:37.199 --> 01:06:38.960
talk about. I would like to see something like that.

1178
01:06:39.840 --> 01:06:44.159
Crazy what if for you? Yeah? What what if? And

1179
01:06:44.199 --> 01:06:47.039
I know this is crazy? What if? He does a

1180
01:06:47.159 --> 01:06:51.360
follow up? He does a sequel to his nineteen eighty

1181
01:06:51.400 --> 01:06:56.800
three feature DC Cab with Mister T. And yeah, let's

1182
01:06:56.840 --> 01:06:59.119
get let's get Beauty and mister T back together for

1183
01:06:59.159 --> 01:06:59.960
a DC Cab.

1184
01:07:00.400 --> 01:07:02.280
To you, you wouldn't need that?

1185
01:07:02.320 --> 01:07:03.840
Crazy enough? Is that crazy enough for you?

1186
01:07:03.960 --> 01:07:06.519
That's crazy enough to where you could say, don't even

1187
01:07:06.719 --> 01:07:09.239
write a script, just let them go, Just let them

1188
01:07:09.280 --> 01:07:10.000
go and do their thing.

1189
01:07:10.320 --> 01:07:12.400
You know what I would I would watch it. I'm

1190
01:07:13.000 --> 01:07:14.079
I'm not ashamed to say that.

1191
01:07:14.239 --> 01:07:17.960
All Right, we're wrapping up a film by podcast with

1192
01:07:18.719 --> 01:07:22.000
Joel Schumacher's nineteen ninety three film Falling Down. We'll be

1193
01:07:22.119 --> 01:07:25.800
back on the next episode, and thanks everybody for listening.

1194
01:07:26.039 --> 01:07:27.960
We'll talk to you guys, See you next time.