dknell Reviews

Big Trouble (1986)

Clearing up the Directorship Issue

[15 June 2006]

I worked on this film in 1986, in a scene that was ultimately left on the cutting room floor. When I auditioned for the film, I met with the director, who was in fact, Andrew Bergman (credited solely as the writer). Several weeks went by before I actually worked, and by that time, Bergman had been replaced by John Cassevetes. What I was told at the time, was that Bergman had been fired, and that Falk, a friend of Cassevetes, recommended that Cassevetes come in to finish the job. I don't know how much of the film was already in the can at that point, but I know that Cassevetes changed the script a bit. In the scene I was involved in, Falk and Arkin go into a hardware store to buy dynamite to blow up a building (An insurance office, as I recall). I played the Hardware store clerk. I remember the script being pretty much thrown out the window, and improvising much of the dialog, which included Falk explaining that the dynamite was need for a luau. "My Wife," he said, "makes a suckling pig, that'll knock your eye out. First you baste it––" "With clarified butter," Arkin chimes in. "Then blast the sh*t of it with dynamite." As the clerk, I apologize that the store doesn't carry dynamite, and end up selling them a hundred pounds of charcoal briquettes instead.

Funny.

And you will likely never see this scene.

Ah well.

Coma (1978)

Spoilers Ahead

[16 September 2003]

I find it a bit odd that no one else has mentioned this, but when I first saw this movie in a theatre in 1978, the biggest problem I had with it was this GAPING hole that totally ruined the movie for me. No one else seemed to be bothered by it, so for the last twenty five years I've wondered if maybe it was just me. Maybe I just got it wrong.

But I just rented the movie from Netflix and it STILL has me steamed.

In the movie, toward the end, Genevieve Boujold goes to Dr. Harris (the paternal head of surgery) and tells her the horrible things she's discovered, in particular that Dr. George (the creepy head of anaesthesiology) is killing all these healthy patients, etc. etc.

Dr. Harris expresses shock and says, in effect, "thank you for bringing this to my attention, I could sure use a drink, how about you?" then he drugs her and cops to the whole plot like any bad movie villain. Then Genevieve looks at the diplomas on the wall and sees that Dr. Harris' first name is, *gasp* GEORGE! "You're Dr. George," she says to him groggily. The big reveal. The big bad guy and the lesser bad guy are the same guy!

Okay, that's just cheesy hitchcockian thriller stuff. But it's not the problem.

I read the book after seeing the film twenty five years ago, and yup, George and Harris? Same guy.

Just like a Scooby Doo episode.

The problem?

In the movie, Richard Widmark plays Dr. Harris, the head of Surgery. Rip Torn, plays Dr. George, the chief anaesthesiologist.

Two different actors? Okay, okay. I could still buy it, except for this:

You can't put them both in the SAME SCENE!

There's a scene about twenty minutes before the aforementioned scene where Boujold is in a room full of doctors and Dr. George (Rip Torn) is having a conversation with her boyfriend (Michael Douglas), when Dr. Harris (Richard Widmark) comes up and talks to HER.

Was she delerious? Seeing things? There's no indication of that. Is it just shoddy storytelling? Dear God, will somebody explain it to me?!!!!

Anyway. Thank you for letting me have this little rant. This has obviously been messing with my head for a quarter of a century. Someday, perhaps I will have the opportunity to meet Michael Chrichton at a party, where I can grab him by the lapels and demand that he give me back those lost twenty five years.