The deleted Keating leukemia story, chronological filming, the cast living together, Williams’s regard for the film and Peter Weir, Cameron refusing the final desk stand, Hawke’s tense relationship with Williams, Delaware locations, a failed first production, and several cast connections
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
Warner Brothers wanted a box office star and Arnold Schwarzenegger was batted around at one point, which is weird for a variety of reasons, though a host jokes he could have pulled off the Laura Linney cheating scenes; both Warren Beatty and Kevin Costner were considered, and Beatty took it seriously enough that after deciding not to do it he brought Dave to Ivan Reitman, which is how Reitman got the movie.
Costner is interesting but one voice doesn't think it works; he had the most power of his career right around then and basically plays Bob Alexander in 13 Days (as transcribed), so he has some interest in the executive branch; Kevin Kline almost turned it down because he thought the character was too close to his Fish Called Wanda character, which none of the hosts can see.
Casting what-ifs are blown early: this was almost a Robin Williams movie, which is 90% likely a disaster and 10% likely a reined-in Dead Poets Society performance; Kevin Kline being such a good and subtle actor keeps the ridiculous premise from becoming a circus show of clown ideas, whereas Williams's big expressive face riding that pig would make you ask what ridiculous movie this is, and how could two people look like Robin Williams.
Six nominees are offered, starting with the scene when Dave becomes Mitchell's stand-in, is taught the part, runs into the guy and then goes out and does God Bless America; it has the right dramatic tone and is really fun.
Second is the montage when President Mitchell is feeling better, with the 'I once caught a fish this big' moment, the early-nineties shows like the McGoughlin group (as transcribed) and real senators weighing in, nicely edited and finishing with the first pitch at the Orioles game at Camden Yards, probably shot right before a real game started; third is Dave fixing the budget in four minutes, one of a host's favorite scenes in movie history.
Fourth is Dave firing Bob and giving the speech about his new jobs initiative, which is called a little flimsy and, for the record, a pitch for socialism; fifth is his last speech and the stroke, with the party where everybody leaves, an amazing five minutes.
The 'I would have taken a bullet for you' farewell is made its own scene and is one host's most rewatchable, getting this host every time: two guys reaching that Shawshank beach-hug place, with Ving Ramsey (as transcribed) going from not even eating the sandwich Dave made him to saying he would have taken a bullet; a second voice notes once again listening to the guys talk about men not expressing their emotions.
Another nominee is when Dave and Sigourney Weaver are pulled over by the cops, Dave does the club med routine and they sing Tomorrow; her voice is bad on purpose, the cop flashing the flashlight in Kevin Kline's eyes and the 'I'm okay' keep-singing beat have perfect comedic timing, and a host who basically hates live singing picks it as a favorite scene and sticks with it over the montage despite the arms-up moment on the mound.
The children's homeless shelter visit, Dave sitting down to talk to the little kid and telling the press 'guys, not now', is a nominee but not a pick; it is hokey yet works, you have to be a great actor to keep it from seeming schmaltzy, and Robin Williams would have botched it with handkerchiefs everywhere; a host goes with 'I would have taken a bullet for you', or the four-minute budget fix if the farewell is not considered a scene.
The budget scene is walked through: delinquent defense contracts saving 23 million a month, the need to reach 650 million to save the homeless, the 47 million car marketing campaign to make people feel better about a car they already bought, and the carry-over-the-two 656 finish; the clip of 'I don't want to tell some eight-year-old kid that he's got to sleep in the street' is played, and the cabinet ends up shaking his hand saying 'Mr. President, well done, sir'.
Asked whether balancing the budget could really be this easy if the pork were stripped out of every bill in Congress, the answer is yes but that it sounds like every person on talk radio and you only pick your own causes; cutting money to help the homeless is agreed to be a good thing, there is doubt whether a real campaign to make people feel better about their cars ever existed, and a host whose husband recently got a new car has been performing that service for free, at 47 million emotional dollars.
During the research block, the scene where Dave and the First Lady pose as presidential impersonators, added late in the shoot, is named by a host as their most rewatchable scene.
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.
Tom Hanks, with no other answer. From a piece one host wrote about Hanks seven years ago: he is in almost every scene and has to play a dimwit in a blatantly manipulative movie without crossing into the Robin Williams zone; Robin Williams as Gump in a Terry Gilliam movie would probably be too funny, and it is interesting he was not considered.
Hanks has to pull off a crazy accent that should not have worked and is so annoying neither host attempted it; one take is that he does not pull it off and it does not matter. According to the internet research he did not want to go too southern and was pushed to go further, and normal Tom Hanks voice slips out when he finishes assembling his rifle in boot camp and shouts for the drill sergeant.
He has to pull off the terrible cross-country sequence without making you turn on the movie, make you believe Jenny would want to sleep with him, and believably be a football player, soldier, Vietnam vet, shrimp boat owner and jogger with a heart and soul who is slightly smarter than he lets on, all while you buy the 70 IQ.
