The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award
Heat parallel; Little Bill’s rules; alternate perspective; deserved Eastwood Oscar
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:18Read transcript
- The film is compared with Heat through a reluctant criminal drawn back into action and a reckless lawman, with the two men as counterparts.
- Little Bill’s no-firearms and no-assassins policy is defended as coherent, then challenged as authoritarian and incapable of preventing human cruelty.
- A Little Bill-centered version would portray Munny as the mysterious intruder destroying a town, with Forgiven proposed as a title.
- This is argued to be the film for which Eastwood actually deserved his directing Oscar, unlike some career-compensation wins.