Rewatchables Reference

• Bill: The last 15 minutes – the Oscars sequence with the voice double, Rachel winning, Frank in slow motion spotting the camera rifle, saving her, the airport farewell, and 'I Will Always Love You' kicking in acapella.
• Van: The Frank and Rachel date scene (~7 minutes) – the fake-out about a past lover dying, Rachel not understanding how depressing 'I Will Always Love You' is (pays off later), and the samurai sword scene where Frank lets silk fall on the blade to show how sharp it is. 'One of the best date connection movie scenes I've ever seen.'

• Whitney Houston and Costner in their primes – Whitney's charisma and singing, Costner at his peak.
• The soundtrack – best-selling of all time for a reason.
• The Dolly Parton/'I Will Always Love You' origin story and Costner's suggestion to start it acapella.
• Costner's Steve McQueen-inspired haircut – later taken further by Clooney in ER.
• The widescreen cinematography – looked bad on old square TVs, looks great now on modern screens.
• The professional bodyguard movie genre – spawned the BBC's Bodyguard with Richard Madden, 'Someone to Watch Over Me'.
• Kasdan's Kurosawa influence – 'Yojimbo means bodyguard in Japanese.'

• The sister's motive – a canyon between 'my sister's a little annoying' and 'I'm going to put a hit on my own sister.' The drunken confession scene is particularly bad.
• The third section where Frank and Rachel go ~30 minutes without sharing a scene.
• Whitney smoking a cigarette by the pool – Bill: 'I immediately started worrying about her voice.'
• Robert Wuhl as Oscars host – unrealistic when the real hosts were Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg.
• The Spielberg-esque multiple endings.
• The strange quasi-date-rape bathroom scene with the assassin.

• Original 1970s version: Ryan O'Neal and Diana Ross.
• Modern remake: Van suggests Ryan Gosling and Rihanna. Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth were rumored.

• Winner: Mike Starr – perennial That Guy winner.
• Also discussed: Ralph Waite as Frank's dad; Bill Cobbs (ruled out – he's Bill Cobbs, not a That Guy).

• The sister (Nikki) – 'The letters came first. I don't know who's writing the letters. They're reading my mind. Those are my thoughts. I hate her.'
• Chris Connelly as the Oscars pre-show reporter – 'So over the top, it's like he did 10 lbs of cocaine.'

• Rachel's sister – Van suggests Victoria Dillard (Deep Cover), Bill suggests Angela Bassett for the drunken confession scene.
• The assassin – Bill suggests spending money and casting Val Kilmer to make the party scene where Rachel is attracted to him more believable.

• Rachel's mansion is the same as Jack Woltz's in 'The Godfather' (1011 N. Beverly Drive). Also used in 'Beverly Hills Cop'.
• Whitney gave Costner singing lessons; he gave her acting lessons.
• Whitney suffered a miscarriage during production.
• Kasdan was a huge Akira Kurosawa fan – 'Yojimbo means bodyguard in Japanese.'

• Kevin Costner – no, he already had it. His Apex Mountain led to him being able to make a movie like this.
• Whitney Houston – no, it's the Star-Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl. 'One of the most enduring pop culture moments in American history.'
• Camera rifles – 'No question.' Never saw another one.
• Mike Starr – still 'Dumb and Dumber' (choking on the pepper).

• Rachel should have been more of a narcissist diva with a bigger entourage – 'at that level, you never have any moment where there's not six people running around.'
• Costner pulls out a gun and shoots the camera rifle guy at the Oscars – security would have taken Costner down immediately.
• Fletcher's dad is never mentioned or contacted – easy solution to keep the kid safe.
• We never learn if Rachel found out her sister tried to kill her.
• Frank sleeping with Rachel then pulling away the next morning – 'One night with Whitney Houston... you're not waking up the next morning like I got to get out of this.'
• The movie never acknowledges that Rachel winning Best Actress would make her the first Black actress to win an Oscar.

• Who did the masturbation on Rachel's bed? The stalker, the camera rifle assassin, or the sister planting evidence?
• Why didn't the assassin quit after the sister died?
• Was Mike Starr actually a good bodyguard? (No – got beaten by Costner, mishandled the club scene, people kept getting into the compound.)
• What do Rachel's next couple years look like? Bill: 'It feels like the wheels are about to come off.'
• Most fucked up Oscars moment: Rachel's assassination attempt vs. the La La Land/Moonlight envelope mix-up?

• Van: The camera rifle.
• Bill: Whitney's brooch/beeper – 'I could give it to my wife, she could wear it, it could beep.'

Whitney Houston – unanimous. Van: 'Easy, easy work. This is one of the easier ones.'