Development history; Ford ligament injury; Dillsboro wreck site; crash and dam costs; unscripted parade chase; Richard Jordan replaced; improvised donut line; Pantoliano and Ward lobbying; love-interest rewrites
The script took five years, with nine screenwriters and more than 25 drafts, and Tommy Lee Jones ad-libbed his lines anyway. — Bill Simmons
Ford damaged leg ligaments filming the woods scenes and delayed surgery so his character would limp, prompting a riff that Ford is unbreakable.
The wrecked train and bus remain a tourist attraction in Dillsboro, North Carolina, leading to jokes that it is the home of Tate Frasier (as transcribed). — Bill Simmons
The crash cost $1 million to film and the dam scene cost twice as much, $2 million. — Bill Simmons
The St. Patrick's Day parade chase was not scripted; Andrew Davis, a Chicago director, followed Ford and Jones with a Steadicam without permits, and parade-goers were genuinely reacting to Ford. — Bill Simmons
Richard Jordan, originally cast as Dr. Nichols, fell ill with a brain tumor and died three weeks after release; Ford refilmed his first scene with the replacement, whose beard looked slightly different. — Bill Simmons
Tommy Lee Jones improvised 'think me up a cup of coffee and a chocolate donut with some of those little sprinkles on top.' — Bill Simmons
Joey Pants lobbied for Cosmo Renfro to survive in case of a sequel, and was in the sequel; Sela Ward reportedly lobbied for her character to be in a coma instead of dying. — Bill Simmons
Sela Ward is thought to have deserved a bigger career.
Julianne Moore's part was reportedly meant to be a love interest, and Jane Lynch's researcher possibly too; deleted scenes may exist on a later release.
Two Cosmos in 1993: Cosmo Renfro and Cosmo Kramer. — Bill Simmons
One participant goes with TLJ, a second says TLJ too, and the third agrees, while noting the set pieces are worth considering.
The performance is timeless like Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs and Lillard in Scream; a Sam Gerard U.S. Marshal TV show would be watched every week.
The physical train set piece now looks almost quaint, whereas the character-based dam scene is timeless. — Andy Greenwald
No one of that generation could have played Gerard as well; William Holden is floated from the 70s, John Cusack is a cautionary example, and Hackman is the only other option though less fit for chasing through a sewer. — Andy Greenwald
Tommy Lee Jones improvised or tweaked much of his dialogue, including 'hinky' and the chocolate donut with sprinkles; every great line is his, called his Mona Lisa.
The category opens by naming the aborted bus escape and train crash as about as fun a five minutes as an action movie gets, followed by a clip of Tommy Lee Jones taking over the investigation. — Bill Simmons
Tommy Lee Jones's entrance is rated about as good as any, compared with Hopkins's Hannibal Lecter; he owns the movie from the moment he shows up. — Bill Simmons
The nominees are the aborted bus escape and train crash, Tommy Lee Jones taking over the investigation, the dam waterfall jump, and the ending, called the big four. — Bill Simmons
One participant goes with the dam: it is played realistically, with Ford visibly weighing a no-win jump, and it is called the best part of his performance, including the moment he puts down the gun. — Chris Ryan
The dam scene contains 'I don't care', called maybe the best line in the movie and said to be ad-libbed by Tommy Lee Jones. — Andy Greenwald
The early face-to-face meeting is praised as smart construction, followed by Gerard's orders to turn the dam off and a joke about the U.S. Marshals budget. — Andy Greenwald
A second participant says they are with Chris and like the dam scene. — Andy Greenwald
The third participant picks the bus escape and train crash, joking about the prisoners' silent plan, the bus flipping without deaths, the guards near retirement, and the guard who survives a toothbrush stabbing.
Gene Hackman co-owned the rights and planned to direct and possibly play Jack Crawford before backing out; Sean Connery and Jeremy Irons turned down Lecter; Ed Harris turned down Crawford because he wanted Lecter; Michelle Pfeiffer, the first choice for Clarice, and Meg Ryan turned it down; Redford, Hoffman and Robert Duvall are mentioned as Lecter possibilities
The book rights were originally bought 50-50 by Mike Medavoy at Orion and Gene Hackman, who was going to direct and maybe star or just play Jack Crawford; one host says Hackman still should have played Crawford, though Scott Glenn is amazing.
Ted Talley (as transcribed) was hired to write what is called one of the great screenplays of the last 30 or 40 years; after the controversial Mississippi Burning, Hackman's daughter told him the film was too violent, he backed out, Orion paid him back his half and brought on Jonathan Demme, who began looking for a Lecter.
Sean Connery reportedly refused outright, calling the role grotesque, and Jeremy Irons would not do it either, possibly because he did not want to play two villains in a row after Reversal of Fortune; the hosts try Connery's voice on the fava beans line and conclude it would not work.
Ed Harris turned down Jack Crawford because he wanted Lecter, which is jokingly called a heat check and a little Dion Waiters of him.
Michelle Pfeiffer, first choice for Clarice, turned it down as too violent after working with Demme on Married to the Mob, and one host thinks that would have been really cool; Meg Ryan also passed at a time she was offered everything, which led to her casting in The Doors.
With Gene Hackman as Lecter the film could have gone badly wrong, the hosts say, and it would now be stuck on a minor cable channel at two in the morning.
Later, during research, the hosts are happy with Scott Glenn as Crawford over Tommy Lee Jones, cannot see Jones as Lecter, are glad Lecter was not Redford, Hoffman or Robert Duvall, and wonder whether Daniel Day Lewis was too early for it.
