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Disclosure poster

Disclosure

year 1994decade 90sdirector Barry Levinsongenre Thriller
Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Michael Douglas Tom Sanders
Demi Moore Meredith Johnson
Donald Sutherland Bob Garvin
Caroline Goodall Susan Hendler
Dylan Baker Philip Blackburn
Roma Maffia Catherine Alvarez
Rosemary Forsyth Stephanie Kaplan
Dennis Miller Mark Lewyn
Allan Rich Ben Heller
Nicholas Sadler Don Cherry
Suzie Plakson Mary Anne Hunter
Jacqueline Kim Cindy Chang
Joe Urla John Conley Jr.
Trevor Einhorn Matt Sanders
Kate Williamson Judge Barbara Murphy
Donal Logue Chance Geer
Farrah Forke Adele Lewyn
David Drew Gallagher Spencer Kaplan
Wayne Duvall Executive
Jesse Dizon Mohammed Jafar (voice)

Disclosure | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Van Lathanhost Wosny Lambreproducer Craig Horlbeck
Explore episodeClose episode

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Moore’s best roles; Douglas’s sexual screen persona

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:57Read transcript
  • An early hottest take favors Moore in St. Elmo's Fire and Disclosure because they use her distinctive sexuality; Striptease is criticized for treating nudity as a stunt without dramatic heat.
  • The earlier hottest take is repeated: St. Elmo's Fire and Disclosure are Moore's two best roles.
  • Two further hot takes interpret Douglas's convincing sexual screen persona as exceptional coolness and speculate about his private life. These are host conjectures, not established biographical facts; they also imagine an erotic-thriller version of The American President.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Novel differences; rights; wine; ILM; marketing; rentals; Moore preparation

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:36:36Read transcript
  • Crichton reportedly sold film rights for a million dollars before the novel was published.
  • In the novel, the merger fails and Tom receives no promotion, while the dismissed antagonists find better jobs; the ending is described as cynical.
  • The hosts report a fifty-million-dollar budget and 214-million-dollar gross, calling the film a major hit.
  • The 1991 Pahlmeyer is said to cost six hundred dollars at the time of recording.
  • Industrial Light & Magic created the VR effects, which the hosts joke are not its proudest work.
  • The marketing reportedly presented the film as a major-star first addressing sexual harassment, reflecting the era’s issue-based campaigns.
  • The film was reportedly the third-most-rented movie of 1995; a Baton Rouge number-one claim is a joke about the earlier viewing story.
  • Research reports a later sexual-harassment suit against Moore by a ranch caretaker and explicitly states that it was dismissed; the allegation is not treated as established wrongdoing.
  • Moore reportedly gave birth a month before casting and rode twenty-eight miles before dawn to prepare physically.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:40:53Read transcript
  • Roger Ebert gave two stars, criticizing cynicism and an incoherent thriller plot while admiring the film's glossy consumer appeal.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Meredith encounter; hotel-room VR

In the discussion (16)
Approx. transcript time · 00:42:36Read transcript
  • Rewatchable scenes: Tom learns he may lose his job, then meets Meredith and angrily tells his staff he was passed over. The workplace banter is praised as absurdly full of statements that would now prompt HR complaints.
  • The staff's impromptu feminism debate is praised, especially the female engineer who can trade jokes with the men while explaining obstacles they dismiss. Dennis Miller supplies the wisecracks.
  • The after-hours drink with Meredith is praised for Moore's intensity and described as exceptionally charged without nudity. The hosts debate how its appeal implicates viewers because she ignores refusal, while the former couple's familiarity complicates the scene.
  • Meredith invokes their sexual history, comments cruelly on Tom's wife and domestic life, and stresses that he has more to lose. The old-flame trope and personal familiarity help explain his initial participation.
  • The encounter is compared with Single White Female's scene of a man outwardly resisting while participating; that film is preferred in the comparison, and its subsequent self-righteous response is mocked.
  • Tom seeing his reflection and recognizing what he is doing is singled out as an exceptional Great Shot Gordo moment.
  • Meredith's furious reaction after Tom stops and her demand that he return are praised for Moore's commitment and the scene's magnetic excess.
  • Dennis Miller exposes Tom's situation at a double date; Tom's wife says she already knows. Her later accounting of his mistakes is praised, along with his defensive speech about power.
  • Tom's deposition is praised for both lawyers and its squirm-inducing questions, with his female attorney opposed by Meredith's traditional male lawyer.
  • Meredith's deposition unravels through the rare 1991 Pahlmeyer Chardonnay: ordering it weeks earlier undermines her account of an impromptu meeting. The hosts enjoy the wine knowledge and legal construction.
  • The recording exposes Meredith's account, after which she doubles down with a speech about sexual aggression and women in power. The hosts compare the shift with Sharon Stone's interrogation and praise its theatrical excess.
  • The hotel-room virtual-reality sequence is a favorite for its cliff, poor effects, Meredith's avatar jump scare, and her angry computer face. Its file retrieval is contrasted with modern VR games used for amusement.
  • Getting into a hotel room by asking staff to clean it is praised as a 1990s movie device while questioned as real-world security, with Pacific Heights as another example.
  • The shareholder showdown firing Meredith is called unrealistic but entertaining. The ending gives Stephanie the job, reveals the anonymous friend, and restores Tom's family and employment.
  • The Donald Sutherland sexual-advance dream is called the funniest scene by one participant and an aged-worst choice by another, with its close-up treated as a jump scare.
  • Final scene choices: Van's sexual encounter choice is acknowledged, while another participant favors the comic hotel-room VR sequence.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Tom’s reflection; escalator; Meredith’s shoes

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:49:02Read transcript
  • Tom seeing his reflection and recognizing what he is doing is singled out as an exceptional Great Shot Gordo moment.
  • The escalator ride as Meredith senses trouble from the recording is a cinematic-shot choice.
  • Meredith’s first reveal, beginning with her shoes and Tom looking down, is another choice.

The most "year the movie came out" thing

Casual workplace sexual harassment

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:59:45Read transcript
  • Most 1994 candidates include reading email aloud, the Jeep Cherokee, Seattle's cultural moment, and Dennis Miller as a programmer. Casual workplace harassment, especially the assistant's backside slap, is the strongest choice.

What’s Aged the Best?

Corporate culture; consent; white-male anxiety; Dennis Miller; entrances and suspense

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:57Read transcript
  • Aged best begins with casting Dennis Miller and allowing a comedian to perform his own style, alongside affection for his HBO show and The Net role.
  • Dennis Miller's brief appearances and familiar comic voice are an aged-best choice.
  • Tom's small chair, mocked tie, and steadily diminishing confidence effectively undercut his expected promotion over the course of the day; weekday title cards reinforce the progression.
  • The dehumanizing corporate culture, embodied by Dylan Baker’s automaton-like executive, is an aged-best choice.
  • The discussion of consent that can begin or end at any moment is an aged-best choice, recalling later Me Too debates and the long history of this conversation.
  • The film's clumsy but substantive treatment of social issues is compared with Philadelphia; its anxious straight-white-male rhetoric is seen as anticipating later public discourse.
  • Meredith’s going-down elevator entrance is praised.
  • Sneaking into a hotel room while its occupant approaches remains an effective suspense device.
  • Tom's sudden shower after the encounter is both suspicious and compelling filmmaking as he hides scratches and his wife mentions Meredith's call. A DeRay Davis routine about habitual showers is used to explain the attempted cover.

The most GIFable moment

Evil VR avatar; bye-bye; balcony demand

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:07:18Read transcript
  • Meredith’s evil VR avatar is a GIF choice.
  • Tom silently mouthing bye-bye at the final meeting is another choice.
  • Meredith leaning over the balcony demanding his return is another choice.

Elisabeth Shue Inventing Cold Fusion Award

Meredith

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:51Read transcript
  • Meredith receives both the Elisabeth Shue Oxford electrochemist award and the Vincent Chase job-competence award. Her pageant background seems a stretch for a senior technology role, though unspecified later education is offered as a possibility.

The Vincent Chase Award: Are We Sure This Character Is Actually Good at Their Job?

Meredith

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:51Read transcript
  • Meredith receives both the Elisabeth Shue Oxford electrochemist award and the Vincent Chase job-competence award. Her pageant background seems a stretch for a senior technology role, though unspecified later education is offered as a possibility.
  • Meredith is seen as an operator who surpasses more qualified colleagues, but her cost-cutting product failure and elaborate, recorded attempt to frame Tom make the case that she is bad at the job.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

Unnecessary harassment scheme; wife disputed

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:44Read transcript
  • Weak link: the harassment scheme is unnecessary to framing Tom for the failed CD-ROMs, although it is necessary to the movie's premise and marketing.
  • One participant names the wife as weak link, arguing that she adds little and inconsistently supports Tom; another participant had her under aged worst. The suggestion that Tom should instead partner with Meredith begins here.
  • The wife is criticized for insufficient anger and inconsistent characterization, unlike Jeanne Tripplehorn's Basic Instinct character, who continually exposes the protagonist's nature.
  • A defense reads the wife's doubt as showing how harassment victims are questioned even by loved ones. Dennis Miller's response is compared with victim-blaming arguments heard in the 1990s; the hosts explicitly reject those arguments as excuses.
  • The wife is still judged too forgiving, with a proposed scene of renewed anger over mundane requests such as coffee.

What’s Aged the Worst?

CD-ROMs; nightmare; final slap; family email; anonymous friend

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:29Read transcript
  • CD-ROMs as a crucial plot device have aged poorly.
  • The Donald Sutherland sexual-advance nightmare is an aged-worst choice.
  • The assistant’s closing backside slap is criticized as a terrible full-circle payoff.
  • The sentimental family email is considered corny, making the film end like a Disney movie.
  • The anonymous-friend device is called tacky.
  • The SuperSonics are named as aged worst, though affection for the team makes aged best an alternative.

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Douglas; Sutherland; Baker

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:26Read transcript
  • Overacting: Michael Douglas is one choice, especially the angry power speech; a response argues that rage is appropriate to the character.
  • Donald Sutherland is another overacting choice for cartoonish corporate menace and grabbing a subordinate during the crushing-Tom conversation.
  • Dylan Baker is a third overacting choice for signaling his character's untrustworthiness immediately and insistently.

Casting What-Ifs

Forman; Bening; Davis; Pfeiffer; Miller

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:12Read transcript
  • Miloš Forman was originally attached to direct but reportedly left over creative differences.
  • Annette Bening was originally set to play Meredith but reportedly withdrew during pregnancy; the hosts think her style would not fit the role.
  • Moore reportedly won the role over Geena Davis and Michelle Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer is considered plausible, especially her Scarface or Fabulous Baker Boys era, though her career direction at the time is questioned.
  • Crichton reportedly imagined Dennis Miller as Mark while writing the novel, anticipating a film adaptation.

Recasting Couch

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:10Read transcript
  • Recasting the director: late-1990s David Fincher could have made the film one of the decade's best, with The Game as a reference point.
  • Brian De Palma is another director choice, imagined bringing more sexuality and a Seattle following sequence. Levinson's brighter, lighter style and prior commercial success are considered an awkward fit.
  • Levinson's light touch may have broadened the audience, while a Fincher version might have earned less. Gone Girl is proposed as his later version of related material.

Apex Mountain

Sexual-harassment movies; actor Dennis Miller; 1991 Pahlmeyer; Miss Teenage New Mexico; Seattle setting

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:27:59Read transcript
  • Michael Douglas is rejected for Apex.
  • Moore's Apex is disputed among Disclosure, Indecent Proposal, and Ghost. The argument for this film centers on the record Striptease salary secured afterward, while opponents emphasize the films most associated with her.
  • Sexual-harassment movies are affirmed as an Apex choice.
  • Older Donald Sutherland is considered around Disclosure and Six Degrees of Separation, with Outbreak and Invasion of the Body Snatchers as alternatives.
  • Virtual reality is rejected for Apex.
  • Dennis Miller’s acting career is affirmed, with this film and The Net as the relevant stretch.
  • The 1991 Pahlmeyer is an affirmative Apex choice.
  • The Miss Teenage New Mexico pageant is an affirmative Apex choice because the hosts had not otherwise heard it mentioned.
  • Seattle as a setting is affirmed in the context of its sports and technology rise, with a correction from Singles to Sleepless in Seattle during the discussion.

Cruise or Hanks?

Cruise

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:30:30Read transcript
  • Cruise wins over Hanks for Tom's aggrieved, incredulous speeches, though his exceptional looks may weaken the ordinary-man quality. Eyes Wide Shut is identified as his closest erotic-thriller role.

Picking Nits

Open phone; convenient tape; fast legal process; shared workplace; small settlement

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:31:40Read transcript
  • Nitpick: Meredith fails to ensure the phone is disconnected, though unfamiliar early mobile technology is offered as a possible excuse.
  • The conveniently preserved recording and the holder's delay in delivering it are major nitpicks; the hosts also mock Meredith openly stating her scheme on exercise equipment. Jokes about the recording holder's private behavior remain speculation.
  • The entire legal process unfolding within a week is implausibly fast, and the parties continuing to work together and share an elevator during the dispute is questioned.
  • Tom's enthusiasm for reinstatement and a hundred-thousand-dollar settlement is questioned; the hosts would demand millions or additional merger stock.

Just One Oscar

Demi Moore (two choices); Michael Douglas (one)

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:35:05Read transcript
  • Two Oscar choices go to Demi Moore.
  • The other Oscar choice is Michael Douglas, praised for steadfast self-belief even when caught in compromising behavior.
  • Tom's realization that he mistreated his assistant and subsequent apology are praised, along with the assistant's performance.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

CD-ROM manufacturing; technology wealth; Meredith’s comeback

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:36:28Read transcript
  • Unanswerable questions ask whether Malaysian CD-ROM manufacturing improved and whether the older executive's son became a technology billionaire or benefited from Apple stock.
  • Meredith is imagined recovering quickly, becoming a vice-presidential nominee or billionaire, or buying the company; a sequel centered on her is compared with Sex and the City.

Best Double Feature

Disclosure poster
Disclosure
Poster unavailable
The Net
Poster unavailable
Enemy of the State
Poster unavailable
The Game
Poster unavailable
Basic Instinct
In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:37:34Read transcript
  • The Net is selected for its vision of the early internet.
  • Enemy of the State is selected for technology paranoia and powerful institutions threatening an ordinary man.
  • The Game replaces an initial Basic Instinct double-feature choice, with Basic Instinct dismissed as too obvious.

The Andy and Red – Zihuatanejo Award for What Happens the Next Day?

Meredith rebounds; Tom’s marriage and career disputed

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:39:35Read transcript
  • Next-day scenarios include Meredith becoming a New Mexico senator, Tom divorcing or leaving technology work under his wife's ultimatum, moving to Ohio, a Napa wine binge, and a retaliatory trip for his wife. The marriage outcome is disputed.

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

Sonics item; basketball; wine; torn underwear

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:40:18Read transcript
  • The Sonics item in Tom’s office is a memorabilia choice.
  • Tom’s noiseless basketball is another choice.
  • An unopened Pahlmeyer bottle is another choice.
  • Meredith’s torn underwear is another choice, followed by a remembered Larry Sanders Show joke about similar movie memorabilia.

The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson

Don’t predict the internet; aging; avoid boss’s shoulder rub and wine

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:41:18Read transcript
  • Do not assume what the internet will become.
  • Dennis Miller’s joke about aging and erections becomes a comic life lesson.
  • Do not give the boss a shoulder rub or accept the after-hours wine invitation.

Producer review

10/10 entertainment; many plot notes; great offices

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:43:39Read transcript
  • Gives ten out of ten for entertainment with many notes, calling the film a cultural case study worthy of sociology discussion. — Craig Horlbeck
  • Notes Sam Levinson's age when his father made the film, prompting speculation that seeing it as a child influenced him; the viewing and influence are conjectural. — Craig Horlbeck
  • Enjoyed with Liz it but paused repeatedly over the plot. The recording and incriminating files arrive through convenient phone calls after substantial buildup, found dramatically weak. — Craig Horlbeck
  • Praises the office aesthetic, including bulky computers and clutter, as especially appealing amid 1990s nostalgia. — Craig Horlbeck

More from the conversation

Three male hosts acknowledge the premise of discussing Disclosure. Wos recommended it after discovering it during pandemic movie watching and finding its shift from erotic thriller to another kind of story fascinating.
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:40Read transcript
Van remembers recording the sexual encounter on a VHS compilation. The film disappointed some viewers expecting a third sustained erotic Michael Douglas thriller after Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct; its one intense encounter gives way to corporate espionage.
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:03Read transcript
The film is interpreted as expressing male fear of women taking jobs while combining sexual harassment, corporate power, sexuality, and emerging technology. Its virtual-reality finale now looks comic, prompting discussion of Van's Vision Pro experience.
Approx. transcript time · 00:06:47Read transcript
The promise of an internet without race or gender is contrasted with online obsession with those subjects. The hosts argue that connection across distance sometimes replaced connection with people nearby.
Approx. transcript time · 00:08:27Read transcript
Disclosure and The Net imagined online assistants and unfamiliar digital worlds. Email, video calls, an assistant like Siri, and virtual reality resemble later technology; the hosts distinguish accurate devices from mistaken expectations about how people would use them.
Approx. transcript time · 00:09:48Read transcript
A prediction of pocket devices for banking and travel is contrasted with entertainment and pornography use. Niche forums are remembered fondly, with the argument that ubiquity made online interaction worse.
Approx. transcript time · 00:11:14Read transcript
Michael Douglas's run of commercially appealing scripts and chemistry with different female costars is praised, spanning adventure, corporate drama, erotic thrillers, and The American President.
Approx. transcript time · 00:12:34Read transcript
Tom's wholesome family introduction clashes with his sexual reputation at work and the pat on his assistant's backside. The closing reversal, when she slaps him, is criticized as a misguided comic payoff; Mad Men's office behavior is used as a comparison.
Approx. transcript time · 00:13:39Read transcript
Demi Moore's Ghost-to-Disclosure run is called a comeback and commercial peak, though the comeback label is disputed. Her appearance and ferocious, calculating performance are praised.
Approx. transcript time · 00:15:41Read transcript
Moore's appearance here is preferred to Striptease; later attempts to prove herself or win awards are contrasted with her contemporary return through The Substance, Landman, and a charismatic Hot Ones appearance.
Approx. transcript time · 00:17:18Read transcript
G.I. Jane is defended for using Moore's physicality and charisma, and About Last Night is praised. Hypothetical better roles include both Terminators, Romancing the Stone, and The War of the Roses; her A Few Good Men part is called a weak performance in a great movie.
Approx. transcript time · 00:19:57Read transcript
Moore's tabloid prominence and celebrity relationships are discussed alongside Douglas's recurring chemistry with strong female costars. The conversation questions whether Disclosure is fundamentally about harassment or corporate intrigue.
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:52Read transcript
One interpretation sees the film exposing lofty technology-company rhetoric as ordinary profit seeking, comparing its corporate leaders with earlier robber barons and modern technology firms. Another participant explicitly disagrees.
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:16Read transcript
The disagreement distinguishes transformative personal computers and smartphones from ordinary commercial convenience. A response argues that Disclosure lacks the courage to focus directly on workplace harassment and consent, introducing the Michael Crichton source novel.
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:09Read transcript
The hosts argue that consent and harassment debates long predate the present. The film surrounds them with sex and corporate espionage, then signals Tom's acceptance of female authority through the final promotion and reversed backside slap.
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:36Read transcript
Early-1990s optimism about young leadership and technology is contrasted with the CEO's desire to profit from the merger. Engineers are seen as sincere creators while corporate operators capture the rewards.
Approx. transcript time · 00:26:34Read transcript
Bill is jokingly cast as the Ringer's Donald Sutherland, moving corporate chess pieces during a merger.
Approx. transcript time · 00:28:55Read transcript
The plot is reconstructed as Meredith framing Tom to hide her own product-line failure. The hosts question why she needs the sexual-harassment scheme instead of directly blaming him for that failure, and note the abrupt shift into espionage and courtroom drama.
Approx. transcript time · 00:29:27Read transcript
The forceful female attorney who would use Hard Copy is compared with Leslie Abramson as a distinctly 1990s figure.
Approx. transcript time · 00:31:10Read transcript
Technology comedy includes the child announcing email, ominous email scoring, CD-ROM importance, and elaborate virtual-reality gloves for retrieving files. The hosts recall the wonder of CDs and compare 1990s VR expectations with flying-car fantasies.
Approx. transcript time · 00:32:33Read transcript
Pandemic remote life makes some predictions seem plausible, especially video calls and leaving physical spaces for digital ones. The film is interpreted as skeptical about the social consequences of new technology.
Approx. transcript time · 00:34:09Read transcript
The art-versus-commerce reading asks who profits from technical innovation. Van enjoys NBA viewing and statistics in Vision Pro but prefers sharing games with someone nearby, illustrating a gap between technological possibility and ordinary use.
Approx. transcript time · 00:35:09Read transcript
The gender-reversed harassment premise was widely controversial. Moore's combination of sexual magnetism and strength is considered essential to its credibility; Crichton's stated purpose was to make readers reconsider harassment by reversing familiar roles.
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:52Read transcript
The novel is described secondhand as less ambiguous, while the film eventually humanizes Meredith as a woman being ground down by a male institution. A response stresses her sustained lying and aggression before that late qualification.
Approx. transcript time · 00:39:13Read transcript
Tom loudly declaring his power while a maid is nearby is singled out as a very funny moment.
Approx. transcript time · 00:40:37Read transcript
The film is argued to be largely unsexy after its single encounter, lacking the additional scenes typical of an erotic thriller, including any corresponding scene with Tom's wife.
Approx. transcript time · 00:41:05Read transcript
A Levinson television-production tangent leads to praise for Ray Liotta and Tyrese, Bill's airplane viewing of 1992, and discussion of Baby Boy and John Singleton's theatrical appeal; a future Baby Boy episode is proposed.
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:58Read transcript
Enemy of the State's surveillance prompts disagreement about current camera reach, then a tangent about Van watching real police interrogation videos and learning how cameras and phones reveal movements.
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:00Read transcript
The hosts defend watching dated films as evidence of what people thought at the time, using Philadelphia's portrayal of prejudice as an example and debating whether its central conflict would survive contemporary sensitivity concerns.
Approx. transcript time · 01:44:30Read transcript