The hosts say Reiner saw nearly every young actor, was moved by Phoenix reading for Chris, and wondered about him as Gordy or Chris. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say Corey Haim auditioned for Gordy, the studio wanted him as Chris, and he turned it down to make Lucas; Haim would have been okay, but Wil Wheaton remains the first choice. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say David Dukes, Ted Bessell and Michael McKean preceded Dreyfuss for the adult Gordy; the hosts say a Dukes scene was shot and his far-away shot remains. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say the film was long called The Body until Columbia refused the title; calling it The Body would have been a mistake. — Chris Ryan
The hosts say Verhoeven went for Demi Moore, Amanda Donohoe was considered, and Douglas was talked into Sharon Stone, who made $500,000. — Bill Simmons
The Nick Curran role was said to be originally a lesbian cop written with Kathleen Turner in mind. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say Verhoeven was slated to direct Black Rain but left for Total Recall, and that he wanted Tom Berenger for RoboCop and for Nick and was turned down. — Bill Simmons
Per the hosts, Milos Forman was the first choice to direct and many leading men were allegedly considered, including Swayze, Costner, De Niro, Willis, Gibson and Harrison Ford, but the role is iconic Douglas. — Bill Simmons
What did Roy do in his 15 or 16 years away? Does he stay away from Iris out of shame? Is Kim Basinger a good actress? Why did Iris never marry? Was the barn the first time they had sex, and did she time it? Would the final game be the best sports-movie game to attend? What headlines did we not see? What did Iris's note say? What if the Whammer had made contact? What happens in the World Series? What were Roy Hobbs' stats?
What did Roy do for 15 or 16 years away from baseball, and how many women did he sleep with, since he cannot keep Wonderboy in his pants; whether he calls his penis Wonderboy is a joke question.
Does Roy stay away from Iris out of shame at being seduced by the first person he met after falling for her? He confesses with grace later, so it feels like a contradiction, and he seems to consciously choose her to reveal himself to; wouldn't she have read about the shooting in Iowa in 1923?
A mailbag answer from 15 years ago pictured Roy playing semi-pro ball in the middle of nowhere, running a general store and walking around wistfully with his hands in his pockets, not dating much after the lady in black.
Is Kim Basinger a good actress, since this performance is really over the top? Why did the lady in white never marry: the stigma of unmarried motherhood in the 1920s, or being in love with Roy the whole time, with a Wonderboy joke about working wood.
Was the barn the first time Roy and Iris had sex, and the only time in her life? Did she set a trap, timing it as a last chance before he left, since she believed he would be the best ever; the counterpoints are whether she knew about ovulation cycles in 1923 and why she does not tell him about the kid immediately when reunited.
Would the final game be the greatest sports-movie game to attend? One host still goes with the end of Victory with Sly Stallone and the escape from the Nazi guards; the walk-off is the reason to be there and the reason not to, since every light explodes and glass shards rain down.
What headlines did we not see after the walk-off? Joke headlines about an exploding-stomach injury, 23 dead in a stadium light detonation, and police failing to respond to the gunshot call.
What did Iris's note say and how did she phrase the reveal? A joke version has her saying the 16-year-old does not know how to play baseball and must be taught in the wheat field.
If the Whammer had made contact, Harriet would have killed him instead, since she was chasing the best ever; the Knights would then lose the World Series to the Yankees in the Lou Gehrig year, with neither Hobbs nor Gehrig playing again.
What were Roy Hobbs' stats: a 2001 Page 2 mailbag estimate became an important early writer moment for one host because it spread across the internet, and Roy now has a baseball reference page based on it.
Freeze-framing the digital copy redates the career: first at bat July 5, a slump in August, 11 homers by the August 14 Life Magazine cover, the lady in white game on September 3 and a four-homer barrage in Chicago the next day; the revised guess is 70 to 75 games, about 290 at bats, 28 to 33 homers and 70 to 80 RBI with a .350 to .370 average, .447 to .450 on base and .750 slugging, modeled on a Bonds season.
Barry Bonds' 2004 season was better than Roy Hobbs' half season, though Roy swung at an intentional walk and Bonds had no silver bullet in his stomach; Zach Cram (as transcribed) may have to figure it out, since everyone online cites the flawed original research, and a near-.400 average would have made a headline.
If Roy hit the open market now, critics would tear down his one-dimensional game: a throwing arm, but a possible clubhouse cancer, not a great defender, slow on the bases, a little me-first.
Madsen is one host's first instinct: over the top, with no clear character, and kind of a dumbass.
A case can be made for literally everyone in the movie, but especially Kim Basinger as Memo, deliberately over the top since the character went to Hollywood to be a starlet and performs for whoever she is with, raising whether Gus, Roy or anyone sees her true self; Prosky as the judge, with the lamp going on, is also loved.
Basinger is agreed as a good one, with bad acting in the scene where she tries to shoot Roy, and both hosts land on her.
Redford, Glenn Close and Duval (as transcribed) are all no, and it might be no one; Darren McGavin might have been at his apex here if he had been credited.
A small case for Kim Basinger is rejected since LA Confidential, where she was nominated and the hosts are unsure whether she won, came at the tail end of her career, although this film moved her career to the next level.
A case is made for Brimley, which would stab Chris Ryan through the heart given The Firm; the hosts settle jokingly on his chest hair being an Apex Mountain.
Screenwriter Roger Towne is floated and met with 'didn't do much else', drawing only a 'sure, that was the best I could do'; Batboy Bobby is floated as a joke; Levinson's apex is Rain Man or Diner, and Redford's was judged All the President's Men in that earlier episode, though he won a directing Oscar for Ordinary People.
Basinger is in the final eight of a most-beautiful-woman-in-a-movie bracket, and her constant lip licking raises whether it is deliberate or just her essence; Diane Lane in Unfaithful is a similar case.
Brimley and Farnsworth as Pop and Red are perfect and some of the best stuff in the movie; it is sobering that Brimley was the same age as one host is now yet seems 78, and only about two years older than Redford in real life.
Hobbs played semi-pro ball for the Hebrew Oilers, prompting a hunt for t-shirts on Cafe Press or Redbubble; the Randy Newman score was Oscar-nominated, is instantly associated with the film, and gets yanked for NBA and World Series montages.
Basinger is named again, with a nod to Alec Baldwin and their handsome couple; Max Mercy, who never played sports but makes it more fun to watch, is a model for sports media, and the hosts imagine him resisting digital media at the New York Daily News, still drawing cartoons, before being wooed by Sirius for Mad Dog Radio or a podcast.
John Rhodes, the Pittsburgh lefty who is a Roy Hobbs spitting image with a good throwing motion, is great casting, and the slow-motion shot of the guys flying out of the dugout after the homer is an all-time favorite.
Roy Hobbs is a three-true-outcomes player for the modern era, homering, striking out or walking, like 2003 Bonds or a nine-WAR player with a 184 wRC+, though his defensive value would be poor since he is slow and unwieldy and his side hurts every time he reaches for a ball.
The old-school baseball fashion and aesthetics, especially the Cubs uniforms, have aged wonderfully, even though the heavy fire-retardant uniforms look as warm as wildling furs.
Iris as an independent spirit and trailblazing feminist: Roy gets her pregnant in the barn, proposes romantic bullshit and never returns, and she raises the boy alone in Chicago with a nice apartment, a job and a drugstore where they know her name, can get an usher to deliver a note, and still gets the guy at the end.
The final pick is Red and Pop, with a wish for 30 minutes of deleted dugout ad-libs or a mic'd-up game, or else the iconic score.
