Ebert’s rating is two stars; his crossword-puzzle dismissal is quoted and challenged as too harsh.
The panel argues that the craftsmanship deserved more credit, speculates the ending lowered Ebert’s rating and notes that other critics also disliked the film.

Basinger, Ryan, Davis, Barkin, Hemingway, Moore, Thompson, Turner, Berenger, Forman, Fiorentino and Shields

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:27:13Read transcript

Casting reports include Kim Basinger, Meg Ryan, Geena Davis, Ellen Barkin and Mariel Hemingway declining; Demi Moore competing with Stone; and an uncertain Emma Thompson audition claim.
Reported alternatives include an early lesbian detective conceived for Kathleen Turner, Tom Berenger as Nick, Milos Forman directing, Linda Fiorentino as Beth and Brooke Shields as Roxy; confidence in the broad casting lists is qualified.

Jacqueline Bisset as Hazel; Tom Cruise as Nick, with objections

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:30:31Read transcript

Jacqueline Bisset as Hazel is a recasting proposal that receives little audience response.
Tom Cruise as Nick is imagined through running, smoking, awkward chemistry and nightclub dancing; one preference favors Cruise, but two replies retain Douglas.

Filming logistics, contractual nudity limits, script-writing accounts and disputed production anecdotes

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:33:52Read transcript

A reported filming injury says Stone’s stabbing pierced Bill Cable’s blood pack and skin and sent him to hospital.
Research reports no sex-scene body doubles, Douglas’s contractual refusal of full frontal nudity and use of a rehearsal for the Beth encounter; Eszterhas’s claim of sleeping with Stone is received skeptically.
Research reports Eszterhas writing the script in ten days without an outline while listening to the Rolling Stones; Verhoeven’s mild description of Nick’s misconduct is mocked.

Boz’s corpse; short prison terms; Catherine’s writing time; immediate spooning; crash injuries; inheritance; Beth’s devotion

In the discussion (7)

Approx. transcript time · 01:40:01Read transcript

The awkward-walk-in category is applied broadly to several scenes without one final choice.
A nitpick asks why Boz’s corpse has no erection; the panel and audience debate the premise without establishing a medical conclusion.
Nitpicks return to Hazel’s short prison term and ask when Catherine finds time to write a novel in weeks amid sex, drugs, driving and surveillance.
Nick immediately spooning the murder suspect after sex is mocked as an excessive emotional commitment.
Nick’s lack of injury after being struck by Roxy’s car and Roxy’s unmarked appearance after the crash are nitpicks.
A question about Boz leaving Catherine $100 million is corrected by the view that her fortune came from her parents; additional inheritance remains uncertain.
Beth’s devotion to Nick despite his destructive history is questioned and compared with therapist relationships in The Departed and The Sopranos.

Manny’s death; Nick’s survival; whether Catherine should kill Nick at the ending

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:48:02Read transcript

Unanswerable questions ask how prominent Manny’s death in the ring would have been; the police’s racial disguise joke is criticized.
Nick is predicted to die soon after the ending, with jokes about children, Montana’s departure and another cocaine relapse; his failure to inspect Catherine’s new pages is questioned.
Ending alternatives include Catherine killing Nick or visibly grabbing the ice pick; others prefer the existing ambiguity, including a small possibility of Beth’s guilt.

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:51:58Read transcript

Double features are Jagged Edge, Total Recall, Fatal Attraction and Body of Evidence; the last is criticized as a bad film but noted for the proposed masturbation scene.

Elite entertainment

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:52:40Read transcript

The film is praised as elite entertainment: visually impressive, original and built around a major star performance. — Craig Horlbeck
The4K Blu-ray receives additional praise.