Picking Nits
The NSA courting a felon; cuttable scenes; Chucky and Cole Hauser would have beaten up Ponytail Guy before Will spoke; nobody in the MIT class could solve either equation; Chucky's earlier pick-ups when Will was simply out; Chucky enabling Will's fights while wishing he would leave; the Danny Elfman score; Sean as a fake Red Sox fan; Chucky bringing the coffee out of the car
In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:16:19Read transcript
- The NSA soliloquy is a favorite scene, great filmmaking that flashes back into Sean's office and is delivered phenomenally, but why would the NSA bend over backwards to convince a felon arrested 15 times in two years to break codes; it is a vestige of the original script, incredibly illogical, feels like a different movie, and should have been pivoted to a private weapons firm.
- There are three scenes you could cut and have the same movie, even the Chucky job-interview scene as comic relief; the biggest nitpick is that Chucky and Cole Hauser would immediately beat the shit out of Ponytail Guy, Damon has no dialogue in that scene, and in real life the guy ends with a broken jaw and a concussion; nobody in the MIT class could figure out either equation though these are the best people we have, with Lambeau asking Jack, was it you, Ganesh.
- Were there other times Chucky came by for Will and he was not home, thought this was it, and he was just sleeping at somebody's house or getting coffee; this time he looks in and there is no furniture; it is also strange that Chucky enables all of Will's bad behavior while secretly wishing he would leave Boston with his lottery-ticket mind, so why drive around Southie getting into random gang fights with him.
- The Elliot Smith music is good but the Danny Elfman score sucks and happens in a completely different movie. Pee-wee's Big Adventure is the comparison, the Castle Rock movie, all crane shots down on the campus and very 90s; Sean is a fake Red Sox fan who did not care about the team; and when Affleck arrives to collect Damon he brings the coffee to him instead of leaving it in the car, which is not happening.
- Earlier nits during the scene discussion: nobody who loves the Red Sox gives up a Game Six ticket, the Fever Pitch comparison, and Affleck and Cole Hauser throwing down with Ponytail Guy before Will ever gets involved.