The first 17 minutes, introducing the characters through the roundup, lineup, interrogation and holding pen, are called an absolute masterclass.
On the lineup day the cast reportedly kept laughing because Benicio del Toro was farting, and Stephen Baldwin turns to the camera with his profane line about the keys, signalling that all bets are off.
Each actor seems to be in a different register: del Toro doing a voice, Pollak doing one-liners, Gabriel Byrne in a Eugene O'Neill play and Baldwin in a spaghetti western; Baldwin is joked to be chasing a future overacting award.
The interrogation-room scene is included, with Pollak's jail-shower line and the Queens exchange; Pollak is joked to be done setting picks for Tom Cruise.
The police heist is praised along with a proposed rule: more than one ambush makes a good movie, more than two heists a great movie, and more than three an immortal one.
Pouring accelerant on the car is the Reservoir Dogs moment, and the New York's Finest taxi service picking up the jeweler at LaGuardia makes the world feel real.
Redfoot's first scene is praised, with the hosts noting the actor arrived fresh off his Pulp Fiction role and joking about the conspicuous seaside meeting spot.
Kobayashi's first scene laying out Soze's demands is praised as an expository-character trope; his accent is hard to place, and although Verbal made up the name, the character exists because he picks Verbal up at the end.
The three-minute Keyser Soze origin story, in which he shoots his own family and lets one man go to tell the story, is one host's second-favorite scene.
In retrospect Soze's self-image resembles Glenn Danzig, a metalhead.
The boat shootout, with the no-coke line, and the man in the cell insisting Soze is there are called incredible.
One host picks the last Palminteri-Spacey scene leading into the ending, from the detective's condescension to the limp slowly disappearing; once the boat scene is on cable, he is in until the end.
The other host agrees it has to be the reveal, adding only the aborted Kobayashi hit at the office building as a runner-up.

What’s Aged the Best?

Accidental cigarette flick; poster; trailer marketing; Palminteri-Spacey scenes; reactions to Soze; the slow fax; Redfoot's crew

In the discussion (8)

Approx. transcript time · 00:44:23Read transcript

Redfoot flicking a cigarette into Baldwin's face was reportedly an accident, which explains Baldwin's reaction.
The poster is still great 25 years later.
The trailer, built on Spacey telling the Soze story without giving too much away, was masterful marketing that may not be replicable.
The roughly 35 minutes of Palminteri-Spacey scenes were shot first, in about a week, and play like a courtroom-drama play; Palminteri was the hottest name after A Bronx Tale, and his signing reportedly brought extra funding.
The reactions when Soze is first brought up, including "He's here" and Esposito's "no shit," hold up.
The fax slowly printing the suspect's face is a 90s trope, also in No Way Out, that texting has ended.
Soze's huge urine stream in the opening is left undecided between best and worst; it was reportedly thickened to tip off Verbal's gelatinous-urine line.
Redfoot's crew, with tucked-in t-shirts, fur-lined jean jackets and perms, is a best-or-worst item that lands on best.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Spacey and Singer; Baldwin's Confederate-flag outfit; first-viewing Soze guesses; Palminteri's hairpiece; Suzy Amis's French lunch scene

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 00:49:07Read transcript

Spacey and Singer are named as not aging well, referring back to the opening discussion.
Baldwin wears a motorcycle jacket and a Confederate-flag soldier hat, called the worst outfit of the 90s.
One host's first-viewing guess was Kobayashi, then Gabriel Byrne; a modern remake would make it Edie.
Palminteri's hair is a wig or rug that now looks like Reynolds in Stroker Ace in close-ups.
After Keaton is arrested at lunch, the camera stays on Suzy Amis speaking French without subtitles for about 20 seconds, called a bad scene.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Police-heist driver

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 00:55:30Read transcript

Dan Hedaya is judged not a That Guy.
The driver in the police heist who says "you know who you're fucking with?", recognized from The Sopranos, is called an unbelievable That Guy; the hosts tentatively offer two actor names as a mid-90s pair.

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Stephen Baldwin as McManus

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 00:55:56Read transcript

The award goes to McManus for the lineup "give me the fucking keys" line, called an animal in that scene.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Peter Greene as Redfoot

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 00:56:54Read transcript

Giancarlo Esposito is floated and another cast member, garbled in the transcript as "peep pasta weight," is called eligible, but the award goes to Peter Greene as Redfoot, with his lines quoted.
Any movie like this from 1992 to 2010 needed Peter Greene; the hosts say personal problems, reportedly drugs according to the internet, kept him out of more movies.
Greene first impressed in Nick Gomez's Laws of Gravity with Edie Falco in 1992, and the hosts are surprised he was not in Heat.

Apex Mountain

Turkish piss streams; Kevin Pollak; Stephen Baldwin; Chazz Palminteri; Peter Greene; Turkish crime lords; the limp; Baldwin brothers as a troika

In the discussion (10)

Approx. transcript time · 01:02:20Read transcript

Turkish piss streams: definitely at Apex.
Gabriel Byrne: no, his Apex is Miller's Crossing, plus marrying Ellen Barkin; one host has never been a fan and says he plays the same guy in every movie.
Kevin Pollak: yes, with A Few Good Men behind him, a hit, and talk-show popularity.
Stephen Baldwin: definitely, with Threesome recalled.
Del Toro: no. Palminteri: yes, because his juice got the movie funded. Spacey: no, despite an unbelievable 1995.
Peter Greene: yes, after Pulp Fiction in 1994 and this film in 1995, though his career then went the other way.
Turkish crime lords: none bigger; the Taken 2 villain is in the mix but does not top Kaiser.
The limp is proposed as the greatest limp ever filmed, and agreed.
Best twist in movie history is called impossible to say, with Chinatown still ahead.
The Baldwin brothers as a troika: Alec a near-top star after his Tom Clancy movie, Billy given every shot after Sliver, Flatliners and Backdraft, and Stephen's piece arriving with this film; both hosts agree.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Yes and no: everyone would know the twist, but on paper a six-episode limited series

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:12:32Read transcript

Yes and no: everyone would know the twist, but on paper it is a perfect six-episode BBC style limited series.
A twist in the finale, like The Night Of or Big Little Lies, would be amazing.

Who Won the Movie?

Christopher McQuarrie

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 01:15:30Read transcript

McQuarrie is picked because the film is now watched with different eyes, the script is a favorite, and he has gone on to great work.
Asked who it would have been in 2000 or 2015, the answer is probably Spacey.
For 20 years it was Spacey, whose 1995 with Seven and the Oscar was a Tommy Lee Jones moment, but now it is McQuarrie.
The other host agrees ("I think you're right") that it is McQuarrie; "Stephen Baldwin, in my heart" is added.
Baldwin is compared to the Starship Troopers lead who played it completely straight, carrying himself like the star though not one of the five biggest.

Podcast choices

Speaker not identified: Christopher McQuarrie
Speaker not identified: Christopher McQuarrie