There are few casting what-ifs because Nancy Meyers insisted she wrote it with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz in mind and cast Jack Black very early; her quoted reasoning is that he is not Clark Gable but adorable and lovable, what most guys look like if they are lucky, and deserves a great girl, so she fixed him up with Kate Winslet.
The reply is that all of that is true except why make him sing weird movie scores like Driving Miss Daisy in a Blockbuster with goofy faces, which is a turn-off and lowering standards rather than everyman; if he were not coming off Tenacious D and School of Rock, when his persona was a guy who sings in movies, it might have been different.
The character is annoying, with a little overacting, a friend rather than someone to kiss; one host rooted for Kate Winslet to end up with Arthur, since Miles believes he is in a relationship with a dumb actress (played by 'Shannon Sossman' as transcribed, of 40 Days and 40 Nights) until five minutes before the end.
Counterpoint: the Cameron Diaz movie is better than the Kate Winslet movie, but a pretty, smart, funny girl liking a guy who seems to have no business dating her makes one host like them more; the objection is restated as the character and the lack of chemistry, not Jack Black's looks, and Kate Winslet, who is very good and makes acting look easy, is made to settle for the friend.
Interviews all insist Meyers had the two women in mind and wanted a character for someone like Jack Black; for Jude Law some things were changed, and the way Cameron Diaz and Nancy Meyers talk about him taking the role carries the subtext of whether Jude Law can play a good, appealing, endearing guy.
Writing a script for Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Jack Black and simply getting them says a lot about Meyers's power, rare for any director let alone a woman director; or she is very good at controlling the narrative and would not let other names into the conversation.
The newspaper; Blockbuster and the DVD collection; the BlackBerrys and international calling; the Coffee Bean frappuccino; the decor of the Los Angeles house; Jack Black as a romantic interest
The newspaper, Blockbuster, the DVD collection and the BlackBerrys have aged the worst, though one host misses her BlackBerry Curve from 2009, great for texting and email and not the internet; BlackBerry peaked in 2008 so 2006 was slightly early.
The phones raise questions about international dialing rates, especially when Kate Winslet is going between Cameron Diaz and Jude Law on the phone, though these are unbelievably wealthy people in perfect mansions who fly off on a whim; the international plan is seamless now but was not 13 years ago.
Jack Black handing Kate Winslet a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf frappuccino as the best drink in town, remembered from Mary Kate and Ashley tabloid coverage around 2003 and 2004, is funny now that Coffee Bean has pulled out of many places and people are more health conscious; his two dollops of whipped cream show she does not care either.
The director's commentary says the Cotswold house was dressed with lots of candy to make Iris warm and less concerned with being a size two, which the frumpy L.A. outfits confirm.
The decor of Amanda's home has aged the worst: bowls of spray-painted dried artichokes, not pine cones, around the exterior and real artichokes inside, couches like office hotel chic, Pier 1 dressing, built-ins but nothing rich or luxurious, unlike the lived-in house in It's Complicated.
The commentary confirms the interior was a built set, including a bathroom for the bed-jumping scene (Kate Winslet's idea to jump on the bed) that was never used; the budget was $85 million against about $200 million worldwide, pretty well for a rom-com in 2006.
The England house is far more memorable: the little staircase, the mini fireplace, the coziness three L.A. residents long for; Cameron Diaz wearing her hat and mittens inside is a very L.A. thing since nowhere is well heated. In general the movie aged well.
A bomb is thrown in: Jack Black as a romantic interest does not stand in 2019, even if he was having a School of Rock moment and offers something for everybody next to Jude Law.
The video store scene is the obvious nominee but nobody on the panel loves it: it is Jack Black's signature scene, at a Blockbuster that looks like the west side, explaining movies to Kate Winslet through their scores while Dustin Hoffman stands annoyed in the same row; the 'Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio' clip is played, in which the dialogue says it was written for the movie as a score.
The key objection is that he is singing the scores rather than playing them, with vowels no other human has made; on a date it would be an absolute pass, yet it is still an iconic scene in the movie.
Graham and Amanda's first morning after is nominated with a clip: Cameron Diaz absolutely shines, a little awkward, doing the screwball thing she is good at, although the cadence of the banter is a bit odd, and her trying not to seem too into him is a relatable position.
Diaz's power is the very physical, goofy comedy, so the together control freak is not funny Cameron Diaz and it feels more natural once she is allowed to be weird; the scene is also uncomfortable because Jude Law is so hot, in the greatest glasses ever, early to the plastic-glasses trend before Warby Parker, a hot dad who is a distraction in every scene.
The scene where Cameron Diaz goes to Jude Law's house and learns Sophie and Olivia are his daughters, not other women, is another nominee: the two British girls are the cutest kids and call both adults out, though they seem too well adjusted a year after their mother died; it is summed up as 'Jude Law as a dad', doing the napkin face, crafted in a lab to appeal to a certain type of person, with a nice house too.
On the Kate Winslet side, Iris picking up Arthur to go to the WGA, helping him walk in the pool, the Hanukkah dinner with his old friends, and the last scene where he gives her a corsage (clip played) are liked, with the Arthur plot line preferred to Winslet's other plot lines as a real L.A. story of befriending a neighbor; still, nothing contends with Jude Law and Cameron Diaz.
Cameron Diaz driving to the town, terrified of hitting cars, just missing Jude Law on his bike and pulling up at the little grocery store, then alone in the cottage swigging wine in a beanie hat and reading, is called a favorite and solo funny Cameron Diaz.
Lindsay Lohan nearly cast as Jade but judged too young by Phillips; Jack Black turned down Alan; Paul Rudd turned down Phil; Jeremy Piven turned down Stu; Mike Tyson refused until he learned Phillips made Old School; Alan was written as a Jonah Hill-type younger brother and Thomas Hayden Church (as transcribed) was considered
Lindsay Lohan was almost cast as Jade; Phillips decided she was too young and is adamant about it, while Lohan's version is that she turned it down and it was the biggest regret of her career.
Lohan in the movie would have felt very 2009 and not a good version of her; Heather Graham is perfect, and being a little older makes the part work better.
One host is not as much of a believer in the theory that Lohan was a great Goldie Hawn-esque movie star whose talent was frittered away. — Sean Fennessey
The reaction is 'Oh, how dare you?' and 'This is your worst take you've ever had', with Parent Trap offered as proof: she plays two people, one with an English accent, like a 17-year-old Meryl Streep in training; Freaky Friday is weaker.
The Heather Graham conversation runs License to Drive, Twins, Drugstore Cowboy, Six Degrees of Separation and Swingers, by which point one host was in love, then Austin Powers; she may have been his number one 90s crush, Ed Burns dated her, and Boogie Nights, Even Cowgirls Got the Blues, Diggstown, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Scream 2, Two Girls and a Guy and Bowfinger show she was always in good stuff and good at sending up her persona; another gets her confused with Terry Polo.
Her ABC show Emily's Reasons Why Not never worked; Grey's Anatomy is raised as a show she might have led, but she is a comic actress who thrives in comedy; she is good here and way better than Lohan would have been, her 35 making more sense than weird 25-year-old energy.
Jack Black turned down Alan, thank God, since he would have overpowered the other three; Paul Rudd turned down Phil and would have been doing Brian Fantana and Sex Panther while making fun of it, whereas you believe Cooper as a shit bag even greeting his wife at the wedding; Rudd has not played a guy like that outside Neil LeBute (as transcribed) plays.
Jeremy Piven turned down Stu, thank God, probably because he was at the height of Ari Gold; Stu is the third lead.
Mike Tyson refused to appear and changed his mind on learning Phillips directed Old School; the Galifianakis character was written as a younger brother-in-law of the Jonah Hill type until Phillips realized an older brother was funnier, and Thomas Hayden Church (as transcribed) was the other option, a different movie.
Tarantino wanted Joan Cusack for Alabama in the late-eighties script, which one host calls genius from the man who put John Travolta in Pulp Fiction; another doubts she has the sex appeal for the character, though she is sexy in The Addams Family, reviving a sixty-episode argument over whether she could pull off a sexy role.
Tony Scott, misnamed Ridley at first, wanted Drew Barrymore; a year before Mad Love she could have pulled off Alabama, had career baggage from drug and alcohol trouble, and might have become a star of the A list from it, whereas the film, which only made twelve million (as transcribed: '$12 billion'), did not propel Arquette, who is iconic in it and had a host's high school girlfriend curling her hair the same way.
Alabama is totally fake, a creation like the manic pixie dream girls discussed a few episodes ago; on the commentary Tarantino is unembarrassed about not having a girlfriend until 25 and inventing his dream girl, one who watches kung fu movies, eats chicken, drinks beer, smokes and is funny; Arquette was the perfect actress to embody it.
Jack Black (as transcribed: 'Jack Plack') was cut as an usher in the kung fu theater; Val Kilmer desperately wanted Clarence, but Tarantino originally saw the role as a David Carradine type, an older loser, so a Kilmer version would have been a man approaching middle age rather than a cool guy at a Detroit comic book store.
Tom Sizemore was initially cast in Gandolfini's role, was not comfortable with the scene beating up Arquette, asked to play the cop instead and recommended Gandolfini because they had been in a play together, giving him his big break.
A riff on Sizemore's heat check against De Niro in Heat, 'for me, the action is the juice', with the long dramatic pause, an ISO Michael Mann keeps giving him, Sizemore as Michael Mann's Joe Akeem Noah (as transcribed); what does not add up is that a year later he played the disgusting warden in Natural Born Killers, so perhaps domestic violence in his past, dating Heidi Fleiss and substance abuse made the scene hit too close.
