Ebert is said to be on a hot streak after three and a half stars for Pump Up the Volume.
Ebert gave this film three and a half stars, writing that he was surprised by how funny, how sweet and how wise it is, and that the more you think about it, the better it gets.
Nobody is thinking about Good Night and Good Luck or Munich the same way.

Casting What-Ifs

Jason Segal as another of the friends

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 00:54:38Read transcript

The only casting what-if found: Apatow wanted Jason Segal as one more of the buddies alongside Rudd and Rogen, but Universal refused.
The speaker recalls Segal being bummed about missing the movie when they talked on a podcast.

Recasting Couch

Cast left unchanged

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 00:58:41Read transcript

A case for 2004 Courtney Cox in the Keener part, while saying the cast should not change: a comic, neurotic, sexy, Monica-like role she never found in movies; she is called underrated.
Keener's legacy as the unconventional leading lady of indie films such as Living in Oblivion fits; Cox would bring too much famous-and-beautiful baggage.
The speaker just watched her in Your Friends and Neighbors, calling it insane.
A second voice also would not change it: being used to her as an indie actress makes her appearance striking, and anniversary pieces said she made it feel like a more real, weightier movie.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Shandling's ending idea; champagne for a million feet of film; withheld American Humane credit; Leslie Mann's drunk footage; repurposed Staples set; influence on The Office

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 01:00:29Read transcript

The host reports Gary Shandling came up with the ending, per Apatow, noting it was important to show Andy having better sex because he was in love, which led to the musical number.
The host reports the film company does send champagne whenever someone shoots a million feet of film.
The host reports the American Humane Association withheld its no-animals-harmed line because several tropical fish were accidentally killed; the hosts joke that the credit has no effect on release, making it an animal snuff film.
The host reports Leslie Mann got drunk at a club with Seth Rogen and her friend Denise, who filmed her, and she used that footage for the scene; outtakes show Apatow feeding her lines.
The host reports the electronics store was not a set but a Staples that had just shut down.
The host reports the movie changed The Office: after a first season where Carell's character felt too nasty and menacing, seeing him as a buffoon here led them to incorporate more of that.

Picking Nits

No nitpick selection

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:08:33Read transcript

The speaker had no nitpicks; the movie ties up everything.
You could ask why he is a virgin, but the host says the filmmakers' research found people who had bad experiences, gave up and built solo lives, so it was conceivable.
Hard to have a nitpick because it fully creates a reality, so the category is skipped.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

What the movie looks like in the 2020 incel era; why Andy lacks more Star Wars stuff; whether Andy's electronics store succeeded

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 01:09:48Read transcript

What does this movie look like in the 2020 incel era, with social media and a lonely guy online all day without seeing other humans?
Response: the '40' matters; he cocooned himself in nostalgia, is weirdly happy and just looking for connection, which would be hard to replicate now but does not seem foreign.
He would probably look more like Mine Hunter now.
Why doesn't he have more Star Wars stuff? Born in 1965, he was 12 when Star Wars came out; maybe it was a rights or licensing issue.
Rogen's shirts are all Universal Music Group artists such as Public Enemy, so they were cleared easily.
Was Andy's electronics store a success? No: he gets wiped out by the 08 housing crisis, they break up when her eBay store goes under, and they end up working in a diner.