Rewatchables Reference

• Bill: Max Cady leaving prison (opening scene with tattoos, 'Already read them').
• Bill's favorite: Max fending off three hitmen (bike chain fight).
• Chris: The whole night waiting for Cady with the teddy bear / Joe Don Baker getting killed.
• Sean: Max Cady calling Danielle while hanging upside down.
• The Juliette Lewis playhouse scene singled out as the most riveting scene in the movie.

• De Niro's laughing in the movie theater (Problem Child scene).
• Jessica Lange's character/performance at the perfect age for the role.
• The Simpsons 'Cape Feare' episode (one of the 5-6 best Simpsons episodes ever).
• Juliette Lewis's career renaissance (Yellowjackets).
• Bernard Herrmann's score (rearranged by Elmer Bernstein).
• Max's tattoo reveals (vegetable ink, stuck on De Niro for months).
• De Niro paid $5K to mess up his teeth, $20K to fix them.

De Niro silhouetted against 4th of July fireworks with the Bernard Herrmann score coming in hard (Brian De Palma/'Blow Out' homage).

• Illeana Douglas's character not testifying (the plot logic of police not pursuing Cady despite the assault).
• The overall handling of law enforcement response to Cady's crimes.

• The De Niro/Illeana Douglas assault scene – horrible to watch.
• The Juliette Lewis auditorium scene – her age makes it uncomfortable.
• Sam's relationship with his daughter (grabbing her face, 'put some clothes on').
• The special effects of the boat/water in the climax – 'really bad'.

• Chris: Max Cady was actually a great marriage counselor – unorthodox methods but brought Lee and Sam back together.
• Bill: De Niro is indisputably the greatest maniac actor ever (Travis Bickle, Rupert Pupkin, Max Cady, Jimmy Conway).

• Scorsese wanted Harrison Ford as Sam; Ford only wanted to play Max Cady.
• Spielberg wanted Bill Murray as Cady.
• ~500 actresses auditioned for Danielle including Reese Witherspoon and Drew Barrymore (both 15).
• Diane Keaton was up for the wife role.

• Jessica Lange: 'Don't you call me lady!'; constant smoking and face-touching; screaming about the dog death.
• They suggest adding 'Lee Bowden' to the overacting award name.

• Joe Don Baker.
• Gregory Peck (playing a 'shit heel lawyer' while known as Atticus Finch).
• Robert Mitchum.

• Ryan Gosling as Sam, Emma Stone as Lee, Jon Bernthal as Max Cady.
• All-Black cast: Sterling K. Brown and Regina King as the couple; Jamie Foxx or Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Max Cady.

• Spielberg gave Scorsese 'Cape Fear'; Scorsese gave Spielberg Schindler's List.
• De Niro's tattoos used vegetable ink; he paid $5K to damage his teeth, $20K to fix them.
• De Niro researched sexual predator crimes; suggested the face-biting scene.
• The climax filmed in a 90-foot water tank, took a month to shoot.
• Film inspired pro wrestler Dan Spivey's character 'Waylon Mercy' and later Bray Wyatt.
• A book in Cady's cell is a fake book from a 1989 'Miami Vice' episode – most obscure Easter egg.

• De Niro: As a box office star, possibly yes ('Goodfellas'/'Cape Fear' era).
• Nolte: No – 1970s or 48 Hours era.
• Juliette Lewis: No – Natural Born Killers.
• Fred Thompson: Yes (Hunt for Red October, 'Days of Thunder', 'Die Hard 2', 'Cape Fear' in 18 months).
• 'Cape Fear' (the place): Yes.

• Double murder in the house and they don't call the cops; instead flee to 'Cape Fear'.
• Max Cady hanging under the car for three hours on the way to 'Cape Fear'.
• Joe Don Baker not noticing the maid had been replaced/killed.
• Sam could have legally shot Cady for trespassing instead of hiring hitmen.
• Juliette Lewis's voiceover: 'We never talked about Max Cady again' – impossible.

• Was Lee kind of into Max Cady on the boat?
• Is this one of the top 5 greatest De Niro death scenes? (Heat, 'Taxi Driver', Jackie Brown, 'Cape Fear').

• Bill: De Niro's bikini lighter.
• Chris: Sam's Mustang or Sam's seersucker suit.

• Bill: Don't bury evidence when representing a client.
• Chris: Leave town; get the fuck out.
• Sean: 'I am as large as God. God is as small as I.' – read your scripture.

• Chris: The original 1962 'Cape Fear'.
• Sean: Vertigo (because of the overt Hitchcock homages).

Robert De Niro / Max Cady – unanimous.