Darren Schwartz
Subject: It’s What Every White Boy Off the Lake Wants
Bio: What Happens Next Culture Critic and Executive Sales Leader
Transcript:
Larry Bernstein:
Welcome to What Happens Next. My name is Larry Bernstein. What Happens Next is a podcast which covers economics, politics, and culture.
Today’s topic is It’s What Every White Boy Off the Lake Wants.
This podcast is a Tom Cruise Retrospective. You love him and hate him, I get it. Our speaker is Darren Schwartz who is the What Happens Next Culture Critic. The two of us went to the movies together to watch Mission Impossible -- The Final Reckoning.
We need to tell you what we thought of the action film and how it fits into the Tom Cruise oeuvre.
We went to see Mission Impossible together. What'd you think?
Darren Schwartz:
I did not like it. I had a problem with the plot points, unnecessary forced action, and I had a problem with the sound.
Larry Bernstein:
The plot was fundamentally flawed. The key to any action movie is the bad guy and the bad guy here was AI, and AI doesn't have guys. In James Bond, there's always a team of guys that are working for the bad guy. Here there's a team of guys but their affiliation with AI did not make any sense?
The plot was nonsense.
Darren Schwartz:
I agree. It sounded smart but ultimately it was just nonsense. And now, remember, Hal 9,000 in 2001, Space Odyssey. AI was the bad guy but it was done well.
Larry Bernstein:
Hal had a voice. This AI did not. Hal was a character and Hal was vulnerable.,
A lot of the focus in Mission Impossible Final Reckoning was on Tom Cruise and his stunts. There was no plot. Tom Cruise underwater. Tom Cruise in the air. Tom Cruise running. He likes to run. What did you think of the stunts?
Darren Schwartz:
I thought the stunts were good to a degree. It was too much. It's like having too much pepperoni on a pizza. It was stunt after stunt.
Larry Bernstein:
It was stunt after stunt.
Darren Schwartz:
Yeah, and it was accompanied by the music. The music was so loud. It was that constant tension music. You're on pins and needles and it was too in your face.
Larry Bernstein:
25 minutes of previews. I got there on time. I'm in my seat. I'm ready to go.
Darren Schwartz:
I don't show up for previews because they turn the volume up 25 to 30%. I don't like knowing anything about any movie before I see it or any show or anybody for that matter. I showed up and I was only subjected to probably five or six.
And I couldn't find you in the theater.
Larry Bernstein:
There were only three other people there. I had to wave you down before the movie started.
Tom Cruise thanked us for being there and wanted to emphasize that this is unusual that everyone was back in the theaters. He's did it before we saw Top Gun: Maverick.
How did you feel about Tom Cruise's introductory speech?
“Hi everyone, thank you for coming to Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning. We are all so happy you are here in this theater to watch the biggest mission yet, on the big screen, the way it was meant to be seen. Enjoy the show, we made it for you. Thank you.”
Darren Schwartz:
I didn't like it. It felt like pandering. I'm already going to the theaters. You don't have to try to convince me to keep coming back.
Larry Bernstein:
Not only was Tom Cruise introducing the movie, but we also had his ex-wife welcome us back to the theater as well.
Darren Schwartz:
Nicole Kidman thanking us for coming back to the theater. No problem ever, except if I knew that Tom Cruise made her be there
.
Larry Bernstein:
Should people go out and see Mission Impossible?
Darren Schwartz:
I have a hard time saying that it's a high-quality movie that you should run out and see, but at the same time, it's got 89%. People love it. I would say that I didn't like it. I'm probably the problem. If you like action and I love Tom Cruise. If you like Tom Cruise, go see it. Worst case you waste, how long was it? Four hours.
Larry Bernstein:
It was two hours and 45 minutes. We got there at the crack of dawn; we left at 11:30 at night.
Darren Schwartz:
Risk scenario, you waste three and a half hours with the previews and you get a little hearing issue, but it's a great franchise.
Larry Bernstein:
One of the plot twists that I found upsetting was that there were multiple nuclear bombs in the movie that had to be diffused. And these guys had no experience diffusing a nuclear weapon, and yet they were able to do it under the clock in just a few minutes. Why can't a decent engineer come up with something that isn't a simple mousetrap?
Darren Schwartz:
You're saying it was too easy to fix.
Larry Bernstein:
Yeah. Let the thing blow. Kill a million people. Come on.
Downtown London, South Africa. I always thought that South Africa would be safe in a new nuclear exchange.
Darren Schwartz:
You're preaching to the choir. I agree on all points.
Larry Bernstein:
We decided to honor Tom Cruise to evaluate his life work. Away from Mission Impossible, we picked Collateral, A Few Good Men, and Risky Business.
Collateral. Tom Cruise is a hitman. He flies into LA gets picked up by Jamie Foxx, who's a cab driver and he held Foxx hostage as he goes through LA killing the people on his list.
Larry Bernstein:
How does he figure out that he's a contract killer?
Darren Schwartz:
He figures it out pretty quick because at his first stop he goes up to see Ramone. Four or five minutes later, Ramone comes down to the cab via the third floor.
Larry Bernstein:
He's thrown out of the window of his master bedroom on to the windshield of Jimmy Foxx's taxi. And he freaks out.
Darren Schwartz:
Tom Cruise says
Larry Bernstein:
“Hey, help me pick him up and throw him in the trunk.”
Darren Schwartz:
He said, did you do that? “No, I shot him and then he fell out the window.”
Larry Bernstein:
What did you think of Collateral?
Darren Schwartz:
I loved it.
Larry Bernstein:
You did?
Darren Schwartz:
Yep. I don't think it's one of his more famous movies. It did get great reviews. 85-86 area. But it's one of the few movies where he plays a bad guy. He's always an All-American on the hero's journey. Typically, he gets the girl he makes it happen. He comes back from defeat. Here he is just a bad guy.
Larry Bernstein:
He reminded me of Steven Segal.
Darren Schwartz:
Yeah.
Larry Bernstein:
Karate Chop, walks up like no big deal and bones are broken almost instantly. I don't care how big the guy is, he's going down.
Darren Schwartz:
But to clarify, Steven Segal, although he played his roles badly, he was always playing a good guy.
He knew the moves.
It was directed by Michael Mann who did Heat. That’s my favorite Michael Mann movie. And just for context, it did $220 million in 2004 on the $65 million budget. It was nominated for two Oscars.
Larry Bernstein:
Collateral was nominated for two Oscars?
Darren Schwartz:
Editing and Jamie Foxx that did not win but was nominated.
Larry Bernstein:
He was in Ray. He's better in that.
Darren Schwartz:
Yeah.
Larry Bernstein:
Much better.
The female interest is scandalous and sometimes she can cause a slap. Tell us what you thought of Will Smith's wife as the love interest?
Darren Schwartz:
Jada Pinkett.
Larry Bernstein:
Is she slap worthy?
Darren Schwartz:
Do you mean, is she worth slapping someone over?
Larry Bernstein:
Yeah.
Darren Schwartz:
In the spirit of me trusting you to edit this appropriately, she is worth slapping someone over if she was disrespected.
Larry Bernstein:
Got it.
Darren Schwartz:
But not
Larry Bernstein:
Chris Rock.
Darren Schwartz:
And certainly not on stage of the Academy Awards. Chris Rock didn't deserve it on stage. And it sounds like he was just kidding. And I in no way blame Chris Rock for that.
Larry Bernstein:
The whole thing was ridiculous. It was a low moment for us as movie critics.
I didn't like Collateral. What I like about Tom Cruise is that he can show the full range of emotion. He can be vulnerable, he can be proud, he can be hurtful, he can be hurt, he can get the girl, he can lose the girl. He can show up at a date and say he wants to take a shower. It's unbelievable stuff he can do. But here he's just karate chopping and shooting people. I thought they misused Tom Cruise's talents in this role. It was more appropriate for Steven Segal.
Darren Schwartz:
Fair enough. The role was pathological. I love seeing him like that.
Larry Bernstein:
Okay. Let's move on to the next movie.
Darren Schwartz:
A Few Good Men.
Larry Bernstein:
Oh, love it.
Darren Schwartz:
Came out in 1992. Tom Cruise plays a military lawyer to defend two Marines who are accused of killing another Marine Willy Santiago in Cuba. Jack Nicholson is the base commander Colonel Jessop and conflict ensues.
Larry Bernstein:
A military legal drama. On the defense is Tom Cruise and he has two assistants.
Darren Schwartz:
Kevin Pollock
Larry Bernstein:
And
Darren Schwartz:
Demi Moore. Good team.
Larry Bernstein:
Representing the state is Kevin Bacon and Jack Nicholson will be the key witness.
Aaron Sorkin wrote the play originally and then the movie screenplay.
It's a very well written screenplay. Give me your feelings about A Few Good Men and in particular Tom Cruise's role in it.
Darren Schwartz:
I've seen A Few Good Men 10 times. It's fantastic. The dialogue, the cinematography, actors are great. And you've got some very classic lines.
“You can't handle the truth!” Tom Cruise played his typical jocular not taking things too seriously. Is he going to get the job done? People doubt him. He comes through. I thought it was excellent.
A Few Good Men had a $33 million budget. $250 million at the Box Office. Four Oscar awards: Best Picture, Supporting Actor for Nicholson, Film Editing and Sound Mixing. It was a big hit.
Larry Bernstein:
Sorkin didn't win.
Darren Schwartz:
Not nominated.
Larry Bernstein:
The speech.
You want the truth? You can't handle the truth. You need me on that wall? You want me on that wall?
We're watching it. We know it's coming. Does it deliver?
Darren Schwartz:
Oh, it delivers an incredible and profound effect. And if you watch that movie, Nicholson had such an impact on the stand and off when they go to visit him at Guantanamo Bay.
“You want answers? I think I’m entitled. You want the truth! You can’t handle the truth. Son we live in a world that has walls and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it?
Did you order the code red?
I did the job.
Did you order the code red?
You’re goddamn right I did.”
Larry Bernstein:
One good aspect about conflict is sometimes there is no good resolution. At the end of the movie, when Nicholson is arrested for the murder of Willy Santiago, he says, what are you doing? You're hurting this country. I agree with Nicholson, there's good and bad. I like shades of gray.
Darren Schwartz:
You're a gray guy.
Larry Bernstein:
There's no question that ordering the code red does serve a purpose and that we need Nicholson on that wall, but we also want due process and minimizing the risk of physical assault. And that tension coexists and was problematic here. How do you feel about this shade of gray?
Darren Schwartz:
It was a dynamic. It's a great dichotomy. He was such a powerful leader. They said they're fanatics down there about being Marines because their leader created the culture of brotherhood. That's important in war. But the negative effect of that is when someone stepped out of line, Willy Santiago ultimately got killed. He definitely didn't deserve to be in the military. He wasn't good enough.
Larry Bernstein:
David Desche said that one of the reasons he likes to have Darren Schwartz on the show Is he wants to learn something.
What can we tell David Desche about A Few Good Men that he didn't know?
Darren Schwartz:
David Desche is one of your friends in Florida. I'm paraphrasing, “Darren, I don't want to waste my time listening to you if I don't learn something.” I call that the Desche Protocol.
One interesting fact that I found is that the rights to the movie were sold before the play started. So, people read this and felt so strongly about it as an entertainment vehicle that they are like, we're going to make a movie of this also but you're making a play. Great.
Tom Cruise is defending Lance Corporal Dawson played by Wolfgang Bodison, and he was Rob Reiner's gopher on a previous movie. On A Few Good Men, he was the location supervisor. And after doing multiple screen tests on other actors, Rob Reiner said, you know what, you might be good for this. That's where the guy came from and did a great job.
The last interesting fact is that Kevin Pollock, who played Lieutenant Weinberg,
Larry Bernstein:
This is one of the lawyers on the defense team.
Darren Schwartz:
He was not the first choice. The first choice was Jason Alexander.
Larry Bernstein:
How funny is that?
Darren Schwartz:
Played George on Seinfeld. And that season Seinfeld was renewed, which meant he couldn't do the movie.
Larry Bernstein:
How do you think George Costanza would've done that role?
Darren Schwartz:
George would've done great. If you remember how good he was in Pretty Woman. He was a bad guy in that. He's got range.
Larry Bernstein:
I'm doing a podcast and your name comes up as Diablo. How did you give yourself this name?
Darren Schwartz:
I did not give myself that name.
Larry Bernstein:
That's not what I hear.
Darren Schwartz:
No, that's not true. People that give themselves a nickname I have a problem with.
Larry Bernstein:
Well, guess what, I got a problem with you.
Darren Schwartz:
No, this is factually supported. I'm a golfer and I was at our golf club. I was coming in and it was getting dark. I was the last guy out and I gave my clubs to the guy that worked in the club room. He said, thanks, Diablo. I go, who's Diablo? I know what Diablo means in Spanish - devil. Ironically, I was born on Devil's Night, so this hit me at once. You're Diablo. We call you that because we have to wait for you to come in.
Larry Bernstein:
It is every night
Darren Schwartz:
The sun's down and we
Larry Bernstein:
Can't go
Darren Schwartz:
The devil's out there. So that's where that nickname came from
Larry Bernstein:
And you embraced it.
Darren Schwartz:
I was born on Devil's Night. There's supporting information there.
Larry Bernstein:
Diablo, let's move on to Risky Business. I hadn't seen Risky Business since it came out in 1983, so that's 42 years ago. I was blown away. It was even better than I remembered it. It was spectacular. Tom Cruise was 21 years old when he made this film. And yet he shows an incredible range in his acting skill from being vulnerable Joel to top salesman.
Darren Schwartz:
Tom Cruise plays Joel Goodsen a suburban teen. His parents go out of town and while they're out he parties, dances, and creates a brothel with a hooker that he fell in love with while his parents were gone.
Larry Bernstein:
His best friend Miles sits him down and tells him he needs to say what the fuck. And that becomes core to the mission statement of the film.
“Every now and then say what the fuck. What the fuck gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future. So your folks are going out of town, got the place all to yourself.
Yeah?
What the fuck.”
Darren Schwartz:
It gives you a sense of freedom. You don't feel like you're plugged into the Matrix. For Tom Cruise that was hard because he was a strait-laced guy trying to get into Princeton. He was part of this group called Future Enterprisers.
He's a kid. His parents are out of town. He's got a big house, a Porsche. You're going to get in some trouble.
He does the dancing to Bob Seger’s Old Time Rock and Roll in his underwear.
Larry Bernstein:
We'll see a lot of Tom Cruise in his underwear even in Mission Impossible Final Reckoning.
Darren Schwartz:
He's running, he's on a motorcycle. He's got his shirt off. He's in his underwear.
Larry Bernstein:
That's the way he rolls. 40 years of Tom Cruise running around in his underwear.
Darren Schwartz:
Nothing wrong with that. The dance thing wasn't in the script.
Larry:
C’mon.
Darren:
All it said was Joel dances to rock and roll. It wasn't choreographed. Those were some good moves. He did the splits to stand up
Larry Bernstein:
I can't do that anymore. And then he also jumped on the couch and was running in place.
Darren Schwartz:
Which he would later reprise on Oprah. The dance move was impromptu and it was phenomenal and people remember it, that was part of the show that was happy and light. Ultimately Risky Business there is a darkness.
Larry Bernstein:
Oh, for sure.
Darren Schwartz:
I have not seen it in decades. The director, Paul Brickman made a movie that a lot of people might remember as fun and you saw it in your teens, but if you watch it again, it's a serious movie. And it is getting more critical claim as it gets older.
I saw the movie in 1983 when I was 16. And now that I'm 58 I relate better to Joel's parents. We know he's going to have a few friends over. Things are going to be crazy, but we don't expect the egg to be broken, the Porsche to end up in Lake Michigan, and Joel to run a brothel in our house!
Darren Schwartz:
And come under the thumb of Guido the Killer Pimp.
Larry Bernstein:
That's just off the table. Joel's mother says, we trust you and we know you use good judgment.
Where's the breakdown?
Darren Schwartz:
Breakdown is he is 16. My sophomore and junior years of high school I lived alone for four months a year. And it's the same thing.
Larry Bernstein:
There's no frontal lobe development.
Darren Schwartz:
You're focusing on having fun, making friends, being with girls, laughing. Taking care of the garbage and making sure the egg doesn't get broken is secondary. Even if it's said to you a hundred times, it just goes right through.
Larry Bernstein:
It's not Joel, it's the position.
Paul Brickman wrote the script which is genius. It's quotable. The character development is off the charts.
Brickman doesn't do a lot of additional work. It reminded me of Groundhog Day, another great movie, but the writer for that also had no other work. Danny Rubin spoke at my book club.
Darren Schwartz:
Really?
Larry Bernstein:
He wrote a book called How to Write Groundhog Day. And he explained how it's possible to have a one hit wonder. He was asked numerous times to make the remake to Groundhog Day. He said, I don't want to do that. I want to be a creative and do my own thing. But he was never able to sell another script. He got a job teaching others to write scripts.
Brickman, this guy's so talented, this script's amazing. I just can't believe he wasn't able to turn this into a franchise or some other work.
Darren Schwartz:
I read an interview with him about Risky Business’s huge success. He got a ton of projects that were sent his way. My take is the Hollywood vibe started crushing him.
Larry Bernstein:
When I got to college, Sheldon Hackney, the President of Penn, gave an opening speech and he mentioned the new movie Risky Business in his remarks. And he said that someone like Joel really doesn't belong at Princeton. He belongs at Wharton. And the place went bananas. They were right, if you want to be a future enterpriser you belong in entrepreneurial management classes and not in philosophy.
Where did you see Risky Business in 1983?
Darren Schwartz:
It was in Southfield, Michigan.
Larry Bernstein:
How did their crowd respond to the film?
Darren Schwartz:
Great. A bunch of young people laughing not appreciating the story at a deep level.
Larry Bernstein:
I saw the movie at Old Orchard in Skokie, Illinois. The scene that I remember the biggest crowd reaction was where the Princeton admissions officer comes to visit Joel at home on the night that the brothel is being run. It's a sex party. And he's being interviewed and Lana, the brothel manager, knocks on the door with a bed in hand and says, “I'm sorry Joel, but I'm going to need this room.”
Joel says, “just give me a minute.” And the Princeton admissions officer says, I have your SAT scores: 560 math, 550 verbal. Let's be honest here, these are not Ivy League scores.” And Joel gets up, looks in the camera and says, “it looks like it's the University of Illinois.”
Darren Schwartz:
And that's when he gives the big smile with the sunglasses that you see on all the ads.
Larry Bernstein:
Old Orchard exploded. In my high school, 10% of the class went to the University of Illinois. This was the option for every white boy by the lake.
Darren Schwartz:
That's interesting, Larry. That's a good lead in for me to say that was the original title of the play and the movie.
Larry Bernstein:
I didn't know that.
Darren Schwartz:
They rejected it.
White Boys Off the Lake.
Larry Bernstein:
The line was in the movie. Do you remember?
Darren Schwartz:
No.
Larry Bernstein:
Jackie, the black transvestite comes over, and Joel's very uncomfortable and says, I'll get you a cab, and the transvestite says,
“You ask for Lana. It’s what you want.
Thank you.
It’s what every white boy off the lake wants."
Darren Schwartz:
Got it.
After she leaves, he's got the number but he doesn't want to call. He goes into his room. Every young boy in that situation and it goes to
Larry Bernstein:
A conscious dream sequence.
Darren Schwartz:
He couldn't escape his parents. “Joel, get off the babysitter!”
I got to do something. I got to call Lana.
Larry Bernstein:
Lana comes over, he loses his virginity and she says that'd be 300 bucks. Now his mom left Joel $150 for the weekend, but he'd already blown $80 on Jackie's cab. He's only got $70 left by my math. And Lana wants $300 for her work, so he has to go to the bank to cash in a bond.
I've dedicated my career to fixed income bonds. Bonds are what I do, but I've never heard of anyone going to the bank to get a bond to cash it in.
Darren Schwartz:
Yeah, with two keys.
Larry Bernstein:
He goes for a safety deposit box to get a bond to cash it in to pay Lana for her work.
Darren Schwartz:
He's 16! He's got a saved deposit box. What else is in there?
Larry Bernstein:
I don’t know. Gifts from the Bar Mitzvah?
Darren Schwartz:
Joel was Jewish?
Larry Bernstein:
No, I don't think so.
Darren Schwartz:
By the way, I thought of my bar mitzvah because I got some saving bonds. I think every kid back then got a saving bond.
Larry Bernstein:
My bar mitzvah was equity themed not fixed income. I asked for stocks not bonds.
Darren Schwartz:
Did you?
Larry Bernstein:
Yeah, I put them in my brokerage account.
What else did you love about this movie?
Darren Schwartz:
It's spectacular and it's way better than I ever remembered. I mean, it's truly a classic American film that's got depth to it.
Larry Bernstein:
It’s amazing.
Darren Schwartz:
And I would say if you polled 50 of my contemporaries that I went to high school with or college, nobody would have said that unless they've seen it recently. Because back then we just didn't have the receptors to understand.
Larry Bernstein:
But we loved it, don’t get us wrong. Another aspect about the movie is that it was very local for us. This podcast is being taped in Glencoe where Joel lives.
Darren Schwartz:
But a lot of the scenes were shot in Highland Park where I live.
Larry Bernstein:
Glencoe and Highland Park are two suburbs next to each other.
Guido the Killer Pimp is chasing Joel in the Porsche by a Cadillac through Highland Park.
Darren Schwartz:
And keeping up.
Larry Bernstein:
We see the First National Bank of Highland Park, the library, and the Highland Park Movie Theater.
Darren Schwartz:
Gone for 12 years now.
Larry Bernstein:
I saw Young Frankenstein there. What was it like for you when you saw Highland Park in the movie?
Darren Schwartz:
You were with me. I screamed.
“Oh my God, train tracks. There's the pharmacy!”
Larry Bernstein:
This is a Tom Cruise retrospective. And of the films we picked, this is Tom Cruise's best role. In the movie he's a kid but wants to be an adult. He goes back and forth between those two roles. He's vulnerable, he's scared, he's macho, he's strong. Sometimes in the same scene. When the Guido Killer Pimp comes over, he's got his chest puffed up. Two minutes later he's in Lana's arms desperate to get his life back.
Darren Schwartz:
Tom Cruise is at his lowest when Guido Killer Pimp takes all his stuff, the egg is gone, and he starts crying.
Larry Bernstein:
How did you feel about the range and the performance of a 21-year-old Tom Cruise?
Darren Schwartz:
I have a much better appreciation for it. I didn't then, but there are a lot of nuances. it was a great script and a great story by this Paul Brickman cat, and supported by a lot of other good actors.
The music was very impressive.
Larry Bernstein:
Let's go to the music next. Tangerine Dream has most of the soundtrack, away from that Bob Seger song,
Darren Schwartz:
And Phil Collins.
Larry Bernstein:
Tangerine Dream what do you know about them?
Darren Schwartz:
I don't remember Tangerine Dream being in existence until this movie, but people were talking about them like they were the Beatles. They were asked to make the music for the movie and Paul Brickman and his producer go to Berlin. Their studio's a converted church and only recorded at night consistent with Risky Business’s night theme. They nailed it and the music is a perfect fit.
Larry Bernstein:
I'm going to play a clip for the Tangerine Dream.
What do you think of Making Love on a Real Train?
Darren Schwartz:
I think it was very evocative, very emotional, created a lot of tension, even more impactful with how dark the movie became.
Larry Bernstein:
How did you feel when you saw a perfectly good Porsche fall into Lake Michigan?
Darren Schwartz:
It was a 928. The 928 is not like your classic Porsche. It was like a 1983 Honda Accord hatchback. They were leaning against it, looking at the water, having a conversation. He sits up from being on the car. She walks away mad. He left it in neutral, but I just find it hard to believe that it wouldn't have moved if they were leaning on it.
Larry Bernstein:
You are telling me that that was the one thing in the movie where you lost its sense of realism.
Darren Schwartz:
No, no, I'm just saying. Well, yes. That's the only thing that I found to be problematic
Now the Cadillac chasing the Porsche
Larry Bernstein:
Downtown Highland Park,
Darren Schwartz:
I could buy that, but yeah, Porsche went in the water. Fish come out of the car.
Larry Bernstein:
Okay. Who was the U-Boat Commander?
Darren Schwartz:
That was a good line. That's the kind of stuff that you remember when you saw it 40 years ago. What happens to the fish? Are the fish injured? These days you can't make that movie.
Larry Bernstein:
By the way, fish can't get into the Porsche. Windows are up.
Darren Schwartz:
Yeah. What about the exhaust?
Larry Bernstein:
It can't get in that way. If you remember, they opened the door of the car and the fish fell out.
Darren Schwartz:
But I think they swim through the engine or up through the steering.
We can look it up.
Larry Bernstein:
Joel has a product to sell, one night only. How did he do as a salesman?
Darren Schwartz:
He was more of a promoter than a sales guy.
Larry Bernstein:
How do you mean?
Darren Schwartz:
Because he was getting people to come over to interact. He was a party planner and it was fun and cool. The sex part was treated very lightly. Everyone seemed to have a fun time. What was his buddy's name? Curtis Armstrong.
Larry Bernstein:
Miles.
Darren Schwartz:
Miles seemed to have a good time.
Larry Bernstein:
No, Miles didn't have a good time.
Darren Schwartz:
You're right. Miles chickened out.
Larry Bernstein:
Big time. He said, I don't pay for it. I don't have to.
Darren Schwartz:
He looked nervous.
Larry Bernstein:
And then he pulled out a pipe.
Darren Schwartz:
We died.
Larry Bernstein:
What 16-year-old ever pulls out a pipe. What was the last time you saw a guy with a pipe?
Darren Schwartz:
My friend Kenny went through a pipe phase.
Larry Bernstein:
My Uncle Frank had a pipe.
Darren Schwartz:
But how old was Frank?
Larry Bernstein:
At the time, he was in his 70s.
Darren Schwartz:
Yeah. Kenny was probably 52.
Larry Bernstein:
Did you love it when Joel was trying to persuade people, and he said you went on a date with this girl. Where'd you go? We went to dinner. How much did that cost? 30 bucks. Go to the movies? What did that cost you 15 bucks? Yeah. Parking? Parked on the street. What did you make of running the numbers on what dates cost, and then she ends up fooling around with somebody else.
Darren Schwartz:
Dating is not cheap. Finding love is not easy that's the lesson that comes through loud and clear.
Larry Bernstein:
In the Director's Cut for Risky Business, they had the original ending as written and directed by Brickman and it is not the ending that was shown in the theatrical film.
In the alternate ending, Joel and Lana are having dinner on the 95th floor of the Hancock building overlooking the city. Joel says to Lana, I wonder where we're going to be 10 years from now. I'm going to Princeton next semester. You have your whole life in front of you. And Lana says, I'm hugely optimistic. I think we're going to crush it. I'm very confident.
Darren Schwartz:
Joel says, “Was this whole thing a set up?”, and she says, “No”, but she takes a long time to say it and it seems like it may have been. This is the actual theatrical ending. And then they show his compatriots at the future enterprisers who are presenting and then it's a happy ending.
The alternate version was much darker. While they're at the table, she says, “Why does it have to be so tough? And they don't explain it beyond that. My take was she was a prostitute taking advantage of this young kid, but she got close to him. She's not moving in her life, but she knows that this guy is a rising star, and why is it so hard for her to find a good guy? Which is a reflection on where she is in life. Then he says, “Come over here.” She moves over and sits on his lap. And if you look at his face during that shot, it's the strongest and masculine that he's ever been.
Larry Bernstein:
He was a vulnerable child before and now he's a strong alpha male.
Darren Schwartz:
He has been through trials and tribulations. He came out ahead and he says, come over here and embraced her. It is the offset to when he was the vulnerable one. That was the ending Paul Brickman loved. The studio wanted a happy ending. It was a much different ending, a much different movie.
Larry Bernstein:
Scientology, do you care?
Darren Schwartz:
I don't care. I've read an L. Ron Hubbard book or two, decent science fiction. I once went into a Scientology retail front. I walked in to get a vibe and see what it was like. It was awkward. I went in knowing that people wanted to talk me into joining a religion. I'm okay with that.
Larry Bernstein:
What do you think about Tom Cruise?
Darren Schwartz:
He has made so many good movies. We didn't even go into the science fiction stuff. Edge of Tomorrow, Vanilla Sky. Oblivion and that's one of his lowest rated films and I've seen it 10 times. I love it. How about Legend, a fantasy fairy tale by Ridley Scott. It's freaky and weird and it's a beautiful movie.
Larry Bernstein:
Why do people hate him?
Darren Schwartz:
He gets a bad rap because of his other stuff that's not on screen. Whether it's women that he's dated, or when he jumped on the couch with Oprah, or his Scientology. But on screen he's a legend. Who is lead actor of his generation If it's not Tom Cruise?
Larry Bernstein:
Thanks to Darren for joining us.
If you missed the last podcast, the topic was Ending Birthright Citizenship for Illegal Aliens.
Our speaker was Edward Erler who is Professor of Political Science at California State at San Bernardino and author of The United States in Crisis: Citizenship, Immigration, and the Nation State.
President Trump recently gave an executive order to the State Department instructing them to deny citizenship to children born in the US with parents who are illegal aliens. A Federal District Court Judge placed a nationwide injunction against Trump’s order and the issue is now before the Supreme Court.
Edward explained that the 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship for all children born inside the US who are subject to the jurisdiction thereof, and that critically, Congress can define what that clause the subject of jurisdiction thereof means with legislation.
I would like to make a plug for next week’s show. The topic will be how doctors are using AI in their medical practice now. Our speaker will be Dr. Ari Ciment who is the President of the Medical Staff at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach.
You can find our previous episodes and transcripts on our website
whathappensnextin6minutes.com. Please follow us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Thank you for joining us today, goodbye.
Check out our previous episode, Ending Birthright Citizenship for Illegal Aliens, here.
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