Lucy's early bedside speech to the comatose Peter, about loneliness, is called extremely moving and the center of a movie about loneliness, grief and family; Saul looking over her adds to it.
Jack and Lucy slipping on the ice as he walks her home after delivering the love seat is a favorite, recalling Cameron Diaz's physical comedy in The Holiday and showing their palpable chemistry. — Juliet Litman
The ice scene is the moment the romance becomes clear, though visible non-iced sidewalks sit on either side; the hosts say Chicago had an unseasonably warm fall during the shoot, so the cold was faked. — Amanda Dobbins
The one-testicle scene, where Lucy volunteers that Peter lost a testicle in a freak basketball accident with a pencil and the family jokes about who will check, is praised as good writing. — Amanda Dobbins
The hosts say the writers wrote 20 scripts together and this was the only one ever made. — Juliet Litman
The wedding that isn't, where Lucy objects at her own wedding, is a favorite rom-com wedding scene; one host calls the ill-fitting sailor-collar dress one of the worst movie wedding dresses, while the other likes it. — Juliet Litman
The confession to the whole family pairs with the coma speech and is compared to Tom Hanks's final scene in You've Got Mail: a character confessing unforgivable things done for love, which only great actors can sell. — Amanda Dobbins
The family ensemble is underrated; having everyone in the room makes it the best-scripted scene, and the real fiancee storming in makes it the most rewatchable too. — Juliet Litman
Saul, played by Jack Warden, telling Peter in the hospital not to be an asshole is another sweet option. — Juliet Litman
The wedding scene ultimately takes the cake; a host adds that Peter Gallagher is just lying there in a coma through it. — Juliet Litman
It is Apex Mountain for volleyballs, given the 2000 Olympics, a jump in volleyball purchases and Wilson becoming iconic. — Bill Simmons
It is peak Chris Noth time, between Sex and the City and a film said to have made $459 million.
It is Fiji's apex as the best movie ever filmed there.
Not Zemeckis's or Hanks's apex; it is certainly Nick Searcy's; Helen Hunt's apex is probably her Oscar win with Nicholson; the Tennessee Titans getting a name drop for 20 years is only a maybe. — Bill Simmons
Hanks is quoted saying the idea came from reading about FedEx 747s full of packages crossing the Pacific and wondering what happens if one goes down; the film is said to have made over $450 million. — Bill Simmons
The film is said to have been shot on a small island in Fiji (names admittedly mispronounced) that became a tourist attraction; a joke Rewatchables vacation would pair it with the Shawshank location. — Bill Simmons
Alan Silvestri's minimal score is said to have won a Grammy in 2002, with no original score until Chuck escapes.
FedEx is said to have provided facilities in Memphis, Los Angeles and Moscow plus planes, trucks and uniforms, with marketers overseeing more than two years of filming after being initially horrified by the plot. — Bill Simmons
The screenwriter is said to have stranded himself for a week on a beach near Mexico's Sea of Cortez, where a washed-up volleyball inspired Wilson; spearing stingrays, opening coconuts and making fire went into the film. — Bill Simmons
Hanks is said to have gotten a staph infection from a cut during filming and been hospitalized for three days.
Lost is described as a Cast Away rip-off: ABC chief Lloyd Braun is said to have loved the film and had writer Jeffrey Lieber write a pilot that J.J. Abrams took over; Braun is also said to have hired Jimmy Kimmel.
Other Wilsons in Hanks's life are listed: wife Rita Wilson, his Bosom Buddies character Kip Wilson, and Charlie Wilson's War. — Bill Simmons
As stated on air, on Inside the Actors Studio Hanks told James Lipton that Chuck turned around, went back and made babies with Bettina; that reading is endorsed. — Bill Simmons
The deleted scene of Chuck hanging a log dummy from a branch that snaps is said to have really been in the movie.
The actress who played Bettina is said to have died in January 2018 at age 52. — Bill Simmons
Julianne Moore as Bettina is floated but rejected because the actual actress had no prior associations. — Bill Simmons
Nick Searcy's role is recast for more firepower opposite Hanks in the keep-breathing monologue scene; Billy Bob Thornton, hot after Sling Blade, is the pick, with respect to Searcy. — Bill Simmons
Hanks getting furious at the volleyball, about taking his chances on the ocean rather than dying on the island talking to a volleyball, is dialed up about 3%, maybe 13%, too much. — Bill Simmons
The plane crash is an incredible six minutes and one of the best action scenes of the past 25 years, with the view of the water through the plane's front window and the 'brace for impact' moment. — Bill Simmons
The crash has one nitpick saved for later; the co-pilot's bloody head injury might have been toned down, and it is doubtful Chuck survives. — Bill Simmons
The escape from the wreck, the propeller nearly chewing him up and the overhead shot pulling away from him in the ocean make the scene hard to skip when flipping channels.
The second pick is Chuck's failed raft escape after seeing a boat, when a huge wave throws him to the bottom and cuts him; the boredom of island life is also well represented, compared to the current moment.
The third pick is Chuck making fire, called Apex Hanks; it is doubted Brad Pitt or Leo could pull it off, and Damon in The Martian has no scene as good.
The next pick is Chuck getting off the island: building the raft, raising the sail and clearing the killer wave, after which the score plays for the first time in about an hour. — Bill Simmons
A mini pick is the rescue and Helen Hunt's character fainting on the phone call; losing Wilson is rewatchable but stressful, a 'most makes me uncomfortable' pick. — Bill Simmons
The reunion at Helen Hunt's character's house is walked through: she skips the airport party, he arrives by cab, they talk about the Titans, she shows him the maps, then runs after his car in the rain before they accept it cannot work. — Bill Simmons
The last pick is the ending, confusing at first but brilliant after rewatches; Hanks is quoted describing rejected scenarios, including Chuck as a media celebrity, before they chose to downplay it; the last six minutes are among the strongest.
The Helen Hunt scene is the choice because it is a great six or seven minutes that moves several ways and allows getting annoyed at the husband; others might pick the plane crash or the escape from the island. — Bill Simmons
Not Terry Garr, both agree; Michael Keaton won the movie, which is not a controversial take: he is very likable and skates through a premise that could go wrong with total charm.
The hosts miss having a 2019 version of this era's Keaton, a funny, likable, approachable and unpredictable guy in his late twenties; Chris Evans tried to be that person but is not funny, is too obviously hot and is a bit of a jerk.
Keaton is handsome in an approachable, attainable way, confident without being a jerk or edgy; famous people now need a thing, while Keaton and Tom Hanks were in the running for so long because both were everymen, and nobody fills that role now despite many trying.
Tom Hanks was offered Andy but could not accept because of Forrest Gump; the panel prefers Tim Robbins because the role became inseparable from him.
Kevin Costner was offered Andy and is considered a credible alternate, although the panel thinks Robbins better preserves doubt about Andy.
Tom Cruise attended table readings but declined over the director's inexperience; the panel thinks his intensity would distort Andy.
Brad Pitt was intended for Tommy before Thelma & Louise created other opportunities; the panel thinks his presence would make Tommy disproportionately prominent.
Costner is named at once, with Iowa floated as an alternative; only Costner could have done this, not Tom Hanks, since the wet eyes and the way he looks over a twilight cornfield are not replicable and you believe he is from there.
The key Ray scene is his interaction with the old farmers, which makes the premise believable and shows him absorbed into that community; great hair, and he knows how to wear the Berkeley t-shirt.
The internet claims Tom Hanks was offered Ray Kinsella and turned it down, though nobody knows if it happened and a host will ask him if he's ever on a podcast; Costner wasn't considered because they thought he wouldn't follow Bull Durham, then got interested thinking it would be this generation's It's a Wonderful Life, which it probably is.
There are strands of Jimmy Stewart, especially Harvey; late-80s Hollywood, often Castle Rock, made throwbacks to Capra like City Slickers and Big, and Robin Williams tried to make that movie four times, What Dreams May Come being the worst version of this one.
Jimmy Stewart was ironically the original choice for Moonlight Graham and turned it down; Burt Lancaster turned it down too, then a baseball-fan friend told him he had to do it.
Earlier, during the scene nominees: Lancaster's last movie, and the part was supposed to be or offered to Jimmy Stewart. — Chris Ryan
Called a pantheon casting what-if: Paramount obtained the script and lined up Harrison Ford as Jack Walsh and Chevy Chase as the Duke around 1986-87, post-Fletch, which would have been a pretty good backup movie, although Ford, basically in his Blade Runner outfit, might be too handsome and has rarely been heard cursing that much; Chase had a conflict with Funny Farm and another film, and Ford dropped out.
De Niro opted in only after being turned down for Big; Albert Brooks was then offered the Duke and turned it down, which would also have been incredible, since Brooks and Grodin could have swapped parts for fifteen years and Brooks probably wins head to head.
Paramount then decided Cher should play the Duke, which is unimaginable, during a brief three-year peak of Cher as a top-tier actress; the research came from a piece written five years earlier, with a shout-out to Alan Seppinwall (as transcribed) as one of the few listeners.
Paramount pushed for Robin Williams, who wanted to audition, the same year as Good Morning Vietnam; Brest refused and wanted Charles Grodin, so Paramount sold the rights to Universal with Grodin and De Niro attached, and Universal had a major success.
Better or worse with 1988 Robin Williams: a sliding-doors note that doing it before or after Good Morning Vietnam might have affected Dead Poets Society; one view is that Williams would have done bits throughout and turned it into a comedy, while Grodin's measured, deadpan complaining plays perfectly off De Niro; the counter is a mellow Garp or Dead Poets Williams could have done it, and the endless takes might have driven him to become Robin Williams anyway.
Williams is judged the better actor but Grodin played it better; Williams only grew into his body by Good Will Hunting and was still slight in the eighties, so nobody but Grodin can be pictured in the part, with Grodin the safer pick though Williams playing it correctly would have been great; a crude aside recalls an anatomical revelation from the HBO Williams documentary.
Earlier aside: De Niro wanted the lead in Big to show a lighter side, the studio said no and went to Tom Hanks, who was nominated, while De Niro settled for Midnight Run and was not; which was the better career choice is left open, but De Niro as Josh Baskin, a thirteen-year-old at the piano with Robert Loggia, would have been creepy, so the studio made the right move.
