James Gandolfini, reportedly once locked in as Hanratty, is preferred to Hanks; production delays and Sopranos scheduling lost the casting window. — Chris Ryan
Fincher reportedly departed the project for Panic Room. — Bill Simmons
Verbinski reportedly left after Gangs of New York ran long.
Cameron Crowe reportedly considered directing; the panel imagines a different but potentially workable film.
Gandolfini's menace, fractured vulnerability and believable exhaustion would improve Carl; regret over this lost role and The Night Of accompanies praise for Killing Them Softly, The Mexican and Crimson Tide. — Chris Ryan
Spielberg reportedly considered Depp as Frank, with uncertainty about the report; the panel imagines a dashing performance unlike much of Depp's stranger work. — Bill Simmons
Hoffman's brief involvement in early development is doubted as casting, though fast-talking con artistry could fit; the real Frank's reportedly older appearance is discussed with a caveat about disputed history.
Cage, Schumacher, Phoenix, Gandolfini, and Bauer are rejected: Cage’s earlier action run, peak Sopranos, and Bauer’s Wire role are invoked instead. — Bill Simmons
The panel supports the cinematic porn shops, Hollywood snuff-film treatment, and fictionalized seedy Los Angeles as affirmative peaks. — Bill Simmons
The pre-gentrification Meatpacking District is considered but Fatal Attraction is preferred, with Unfaithful also mentioned. — Bill Simmons
Phoenix is excluded for appearing too much; Dino Velvet, Machine, and Mrs. Christian remain candidates. — Bill Simmons
Gandolfini is repeatedly selected because a lesser actor would not give Eddie the same impact; Mrs. Christian remains an intriguing alternative. — Bill Simmons
The second visit to the missing girl’s mother is praised for its sad social tension and for grounding the investigation in her need to know. — Bill Simmons
Max’s bookstore introduction is praised for instantly energizing the film and establishing chemistry with the investigator. — Bill Simmons
The panel digresses into the implausible length and audience of the adult novel used as a book cover.
The parking-lot negotiation and underground search are favorites; discovering that the same performer appears in two supposedly fatal films supplies dark comic relief. — Bill Simmons
The threatening phone call to Eddie is admired for Gandolfini’s reaction and sleazy characterization. — Bill Simmons
The meatpacking confrontation is praised for its location, revelation of the motive, and escape using the single bullet. — Bill Simmons
The subsequent call confirming the film’s reality is singled out. — Bill Simmons
Eddie’s death scene is praised for Gandolfini’s taunting excess and Cage’s emotional escalation. Stopping to telephone the mother for permission is also mocked as bizarre overthinking.
The final fight with Machine is praised, particularly the ordinary-looking face behind the mask and his lack of an explanatory traumatic history. — Bill Simmons
One preference is for the second and third Phoenix-and-Cage scenes as they enter the underground world. — Bill Simmons
Another contribution praises hiring Dino to make a custom film before choosing the meatpacking showdown; the next choice agrees, emphasizing that the villains anticipated the investigator. — Bill Simmons
The award name now sounds like it is about the best ass in the cast, so a new name tied to 'coffee with McCauley a half hour ago' is floated for future use.
Gandolfini dialed it up the most, including his 'Fuck the XO' line.
Gandolfini is 'a gorgeous porchetta' hamming it up; his pre-Sopranos parts are fun, and it was clear from True Romance that something would happen for him. — Bill Simmons
Schroder is joked to be about to yell 'Wake up, Chip!' — Bill Simmons
It was an awesome big-screen movie that is not the same on any TV; a planned anniversary theater re-release was lost when the pandemic hit, and Jurassic Park is similar. — Bill Simmons
A Tarantino-hosted Tony Scott marathon at the New Beverly is proposed for when theaters reopen. — Bill Simmons
The man fixing the radio to save the world is the Bronx Tale actor Lillo Brancato, whose real life did not work out as well. — Bill Simmons
Hackman pulling a gun on Viggo, then switching targets once he remembers only Viggo knows the code, never sat right and should have come up in the report with Robards; the others seem fine with it. — Bill Simmons
Hackman going overtly racist at the tail end is questioned as a choice, especially with Black sailors aboard. — Bill Simmons
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.
A new category that might stick around: recast any key role in the movie with an actor you like, as long as it makes sense for 1992.
He sprang the recasting category on the others without warning. — Bill Simmons
Caruso could have been Mr. Orange because of that hair; Gandolfini as Nice Guy Eddie instead of Chris Penn, or as Joe Cabot given his physical bearing, is called a great pick; Schwarzenegger as Mr. Pink is a joke.
Dennis Farina as Joe would be awesome, a little older but realistic as Eddie's father, and his reaction to Buscemi getting mad about being Mr. Pink would lift the scene to another level.
William Peterson (as transcribed), 'Bill Pete', as Mr. Blonde is called really good; Daniel Day Lewis as Mr. Orange would bring in a different Brit Pack, or Oldman; DDL as Joe Cabot gaining seventy pounds and shaving his head draws a Lincoln impression.
Slater is underrated on this pod: by this film he was Christian Slater in every movie, the Jack Nicholson impersonation that had been exciting in Heathers was now held against him; he is a good actor and believable in the part even though a case can be made the movie is about a schizophrenic, wish fulfillment in his head, a dream woman, a classic bag-of-money scenario, note-perfect gangsters and everyone liking a loser from a comic book store.
Tarantino wins it because it proved Reservoir Dogs was not just a weird indie fluke, established a narrative, led to Pulp Fiction and is belatedly great, the most personal of his films with Clarence as his proxy; Tony Scott was another's runner-up, since the movie needed him and the Gandolfini scene in the wrong hands would go badly, and Tarantino directing it in 1993 would have shot it closer to the ear-cutting scene in Reservoir Dogs; he was famously not on set, and started Pulp Fiction about three months after this came out.
