The soundtrack remains central, including the Clash, Bob Dylan music from Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and Vince Goraldi's Peanuts music. — Andy Greenwald
The soundtrack creates nostalgia for an Upper West Side New York that the participant did not literally experience. — Andy Greenwald
Luke and Owen Wilson's separate performances are praised as unusually strong and precisely suited to their different energies. — Andy Greenwald
The Eli Cash New York Times Magazine cover is singled out as a visual detail that has aged well. — Chris Ryan
Henry and Etheline's relationship remains sweet, recognizable, and naturally evolving. — Andy Greenwald
Touchstone and producer Barry Mendel's choice to fund and trust Anderson is praised because the resulting film retained its detailed vision. — Andy Greenwald
The recreated book covers and the way they fill the frame exemplify production choices that became iconic. — Andy Greenwald
The physical comedy still works alongside the film's more cerebral humor. — Andy Greenwald
Henry's sudden fall at the archaeological site is chosen as the film's purest physical laugh. — Andy Greenwald
One concluding answer is the soundtrack. — Chris Ryan
The other concluding answer is Barry Mendel and the broader decision to invest in Wes Anderson. — Chris Ryan
The Jolie pitch uses her age and rising Gia-era profile but is rejected because her forceful energy would make Harry’s protectiveness and her ground-bound role less credible.
Who is the 2019 Craig Kilbourne (as transcribed), the stunt-cast non-actor who would play the two-scene boyfriend Mark: a YouTube guy like Logan Paul is too young, so a sports broadcaster is sought, with Joe Buck, Gus Johnson, Jim Nance (as transcribed), Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy and Trevor Noah floated before Jalen Rose is settled on, though he would never do it.
Could they have improved the Luke Wilson spot: definitely not Harrison Ford; Owen Wilson as the star is offered, and one host thinks Luke was born on third base here and others would have been wanted more, while another thinks the role requires only being smart and a little spaced out.
A favorite thing about the film is that in some scenes a character looks brutally hungover because the actor is, such as Vince Vaughn paying for breakfast in the diner looking like his night just ended and Luke Wilson's circles under his eyes; the 'Godfather' greetings in front of a nonplussed Ellen Pompeo are a good Fight Club joke.
Luke Wilson could be improved upon but would not be changed by one host, who loves 'Denver, the sunshine state, gorgeous'; the Harrison Ford take is called one of the worst ever heard on a podcast, and the hosts promise not to raise it on every episode.
Earlier, the fuller Luke Wilson conversation was deferred to this category.
The daytime wedding, boat ride and football game all on the same day; the family inviting two strangers to an intimate gathering with no vetting or Secret Service; the best man showing up late to the wedding; Rachel McAdams's character dating the obviously awful Sack
Timeline: the first rich-family wedding is during the day, then they take a boat to the house and play football the same day, which has always bothered one host because the crashers' rules are built for accelerating at night; listeners are asked to email the mailbag with the time continuity.
Randomly inviting two dudes to a pretty intimate family gathering without more questions is weird; a government official, the Secretary of the Treasury, would run their names and have a Secret Service person, and the hosts picture Steve Mnuchin in the Walken role.
One host hates nitpicking dumb comedies but has problems with the best man showing up late to the wedding, Owen Wilson being Vince Vaughn's only best man; the biggest movie bullshit is why Rachel McAdams' character is dating Sack, so obviously a prick that it is not credible, though it is tough to nitpick a comedy.
Owen Wilson is first met with a no and the question of what his apex is; a self-described controversial opinion offers Marley and Me, and Life Aquatic is floated and called ludicrous.
The case for yes: Wilson has never been more famous or had more movie options than after this, probably his biggest movie even against Zoolander, in the middle of the rated-R comedy boom and setting up Cars in 2006; the doubter concedes it is his apex.
Vince Vaughn's apex is not this film: Swingers is one answer, The Breakup another, a big hit while he was dating Aniston and in Us Weekly every week, playing basically himself, with the tweak that filming The Breakup was the apex.
Rachel McAdams is a yes after Mean Girls, The Notebook and this, never more famous; Red Eye with Killian Murphy (as transcribed) and The Family Stone followed an amazing first five movies, though she wound up on True Detective, where movie stars are now.
Nobody else is worthy, not Walken, unless David Dobkin, who has had a successful career but for whom this is the biggest hit.
Later, closing Who Won the Movie, this performance is called Vaughn's Apex Mountain slash best movie, at odds with the earlier placement of his apex at The Breakup.
David Dobkin directed two Tupac videos; Owen Wilson found the script corny and he, Vaughn and the writers rewrote most of it; John McCain and James Carville cameo in the first Cleary wedding and McCain gave his $700 to charity; the website sold fake Purple Hearts until the military intervened; The Real Wedding Crashers ran four episodes on NBC in 2007; Will Ferrell shot for one day; Dobkin, Vaughn and Wilson once came up with an idea for a sequel with Daniel Craig as a superior crasher; Isla Fisher announced a sequel in 2017, used a body double and talked producers down from five nude scenes to one; Vince Vaughn did not keep the painting
Burned early: David Dobkin directed two Tupac videos, I Get Around and Keep Your Head Up, two of his first jobs and two classics.
Per a 2005 Owen Wilson quote, the script was not comfortable on first read, a funny concept but partly corny, so Wilson, Vaughn and the writers changed most of the movie, including the arc of Jeremy's romance, and dropped a Graduate-like wedding scene; that prompts the Wayne's World 2 parody and a wish for a Mike Myers episode, with So I Married an Axe Murderer called his best.
John McCain and James Carville appear briefly in the first Cleary wedding; McCain donated his $700 salary to charity and got shit for the fake Purple Hearts the crashers use for free drinks; the movie website sold fake Purple Hearts until the military intervened, which the hosts mock as a 2005 way to spend 11 minutes online.
The creators made a reality show, The Real Wedding Crashers, which ran four episodes on NBC in 2007; a host wonders whether it would seem reprehensible now, and Kevin Clark's Ringer story on Jerry Rice as a real-life wedding crasher is recalled.
Will Ferrell's two scenes were shot in one day; according to David Dobkin, he, Vaughn and Wilson came up with a sequel in which John and Jeremy compete with a superior wedding crasher played by Daniel Craig; Isla Fisher announced on Andy Cohen's show in November 2017 that the sequel was a go, but nothing has been heard since the Me Too era.
Isla Fisher used a body double for her nude scene and told Entertainment Weekly she talked the producers down from five nude scenes to one; she watched Fatal Attraction and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle before her audition, and De Mornay is in the movie; it is not true that Vince Vaughn kept the painting Todd gave Jeremy.
Ferrell is really in two scenes, including the funeral, despite revisionist history calling it one; he is in the movie seven minutes and scores 22 points, so Bradley Cooper deserves special recognition but Ferrell is the technical winner, one of the all-time Waiters performances where every Chaz line is funny, catching him on a string of hits.
Dobkin lets scenes play out in real time, as when Owen Wilson shows up with nunchucks around his neck and Chaz lords over him for a second, like he just got a hit of smelling salts; the hang gliding imitation is one of the funniest things, and the hosts could almost rename the award the Chaz Award but love Deion Waiters too much.
Belatedly, Rebecca DeMornay and Dwight Yocum (as transcribed) are put in contention, with their scene among the most rewatchable; the hosts do not understand why DeMornay did not have an insane comedy career after this and wonder if it was a Kathleen Turner situation, noting John from Cincinnati went nowhere.
Keir O'Donnell won Todd, but Vince Vaughn really pushed for Justin Long, whose interpretation of the character was Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs and who thought he had the job; the hosts call it a phenomenal what-if that would have made the character more acceptable by being so ridiculous, instead of a gay art school kid who is also a psycho and is mocked homophobically by his grandmother.
The black sheep character can be awesome, with Spalding in Caddyshack (as transcribed) the greatest example, and Christopher Walken himself played one as the brother in the Minnesota scene of Annie Hall.
Asked whether he would rather have had Raquel Welch, the answer is that it is hard to see anybody but Jane Seymour in the role now, and he loves her. — Chris Ryan
Seymour was great stunt casting after Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman; Nicolas Cage was the next call after Ferrell's no, which the hosts would like to see, though Cage reportedly gets called for parts like this and it never quite comes off, as in a Seth Rogen story, because he still thinks it is 1999 and must be the star, with tax liens against his Scottish castles.
Luke and Owen Wilson were originally slated to play the Malloy brothers, eventually played by Scott Kahn (as transcribed) and Casey Affleck; they could not do the movie because they had to shoot Tenenbaums, and two of the hosts spent ten minutes on this the day before.
The Wilsons would have been an infusion of Bottle Rocket, but more twee, with more emphasis on the pitter patter of their speech; they also had bigger profiles in 2001 than Kahn and Affleck and might have taken shine from the top three, like needing an Iguodala and a David West on the roster.
Owen can play dumb better than Luke; the Mormon twins' gags are supposed to be stupid so you laugh at and with them, and the Wilsons might have made it too pretentious or arch; this is the only what-if one host would have been okay with, since the brothers are comic relief, and the hosts are glad Tenenbaums got made.
Joel and Ethan Coen were reportedly also up for the Malloy brothers; one host wants documentation because the Coens in front of the camera seems implausible, while another likes it given the stories of them living with Holly Hunter and Frances McDormand after college, but agrees it is too inside-joke.
Ralph Fiennes, whom one host presumed was up for Basher on the strength of In Bruges, was actually one of three possible Terry Benedicts; he has done villains, including he who shall not be named; as Benedict it would scramble the allegiances because it is too close to English Patient and you might want Julia to be with Ray Files (as transcribed), when you need to be on Danny's side.
Alan Arkin was originally going to play Saul, the role played by Carl Reiner, which would have been fine; Mike Myers was attached to the cast; one of the earliest articles about Brad Pitt circling the film, a 2000 Hollywood Reporter Variety piece, has Johnny Depp playing Linus.
One host is against Depp, enjoying him only in What's Eating Over Grape (as transcribed) and finding the rest overacting; another was a fan in 2000, before Willy Wonka and Pirates of the Caribbean, but not at the right frequency for this movie: a darkness, the same handsome vibe as Pitt, and impossible to picture in glasses, a baseball hat and a parka in Chicago getting dunked on, since he never wants to blend in and would want to be bald with a snaggle tooth.
Mark Wahlberg was also attached to play Linus and had a weird reaction after the fact; a question to Amanda about the Julia Roberts role turns up no other what-ifs.
Bruce Willis was reportedly, on specious evidence, in contention for Danny Ocean, which would be an entirely different movie because Clooney anchors the whole thing; his absence set up a favorite Ocean's 12 cameo, where he arrives mid-heist while Julia Roberts' Tess is pretending to be Julia Roberts, with a SpongeBob pillow, as commentary on 2000s celebrity; the hosts are glad he turned the role down, and Ocean's 12 made one like Julia Roberts even more.
Earlier, in the intro: Mark Wahlberg, initially slated to play Linus, was salty after release, saying he went off and made Planet of the Apes and The Truth About Charlie, which both sucked, rather than sit around patting George on the back.
The casting names are called almost more fun than Titanic's, which the same three hosts covered two weeks earlier, because people did not want to own up to passing on Titanic; Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Michelle Gellar were both up for Cher, the Gellar name recalled through Cruel Intentions.
A tangent: Cruel Intentions came a couple of years later, Clueless is a G rated movie by comparison, and one host cannot believe their parents let them watch Cruel Intentions all the time.
Paul Rudd, who played Josh, apparently wanted to be Christian or Murray; the hosts could see him as Christian but are glad he did not do it, and one was deep in Paul Rudd fandom in the nineties through the show Sisters, where he was Swoozie Kurtz's son-in-law married to Ashley Judd's character (names as transcribed).
Clueless and Paris in Romeo and Juliet are called the peak Paul Rudd run for one host, who says he never gets enough credit for sustained relevance but will never matter more than he did then.
The best what-if is Jeremy Renner being up for Christian, which the host thinks he turned down; the hosts can see it and wonder whether his career would have looked different, joking about his status in the Marvel movies.
More names in the mix: Terrence Howard for Murray, Lauryn Hill for Dion (she was acting then, as in Sister Act), Owen Wilson trying out for Travis, Leah Remini auditioning for Ty, and Zooey Deschanel up for both Amber and Cher; a Deschanel Cher is agreed to be a very different and worse movie.
