Casting What-Ifs
Muhammad Ali boxing version
In the discussion (1)
- The original play and 1941 Here Comes Mr. Jordan precede this adaptation; a Muhammad Ali boxing version was allegedly planned and declined, with a reported early Coppola screenplay.
101 minutes
Selected cast credits · Film reference
Producer credits not yet identified.
Muhammad Ali boxing version
Last ten minutes; convincing Max; training montage and football practice
Ordinary athlete lifestyles; low franchise prices
Leo Farnsworth’s house
Leo Farnsworth’s house
Dyan Cannon; Grodin–Cannon comedy; Vincent Gardenia; Dave Grusin’s score; overtime Super Bowl; Rams–Steelers matchup; backup-quarterback popularity; California wellness; environmental concerns; Farnsworth’s rich-man pretense
Max Corkle; Joe Pendleton
Liver and whey shake
Heaven’s clouds and terminal; tunnel-to-light transition
Grodin and Cannon sex scene
Flex pick · Chris Ryan
Two Rams quarterback deaths; Julie Christie’s hair and styling
Rich-quarterback novelty; generic Beatty character names; quarterback statistics and safety; displacement; Betty’s absence; saxophone continuity; final-play catch
Jack Warden’s murder-confession scene
Horror interpretation; Mr. Jordan inventing take culture; Julie Christie as the most attractive British woman
Black teammates in the mansion; Black Max or Tom Jarrett
Cary Grant; Diane Keaton; Arthur Penn; Mike Nichols; Peter Bogdanovich
Dolph Sweet; John Randolph; performer transcribed “William Bogart”
Original cast and Los Angeles; New Orleans alternative
Co-director Oscar history; Christie’s reported on-set criticism
First iteration of the Los Angeles Rams
Hanks
Spielberg
Older Hoffman as Max
Trainer authority; unfamiliar borrowed bodies; Farnsworth’s appearance; rushed Rams purchase; ownership and playing; conspicuous murder; Max’s travel
Prestige television
Jon Gruden; Ryan Ruocco
Art direction
Preferred movie heavens; work in heaven; afterlife uncertainty
Jarrett’s celebrity and eventual decline; Max’s breakdown
Farnsworth’s hats; Rams jackets; wind instrument; preseason ticket; Jarrett’s jersey
A reason and a plan for everything — disputed
Mixed: well cast and written; slow, dated and sloppily directed