April 23, 2024
'Hardcore'
The Ringer's Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey leave their Midwestern hometowns in search of their favorite runaway film, 'Hardcore,' starring George C. Scott, Season Hubley, and Peter Boyle and directed by Paul Schrader.
Notes
- Written and directed by Paul Schrader. Essentially a beat-for-beat remake of The Searchers, set in the world of pornography.
- Schrader was working on this at the exact same time he was finishing 'Taxi Driver' – sleeping all day, switching between uppers and downers, writing from midnight to noon.
- Based on hearing about a local teenager from Grand Rapids who went missing and was found to have made a porn film.
- George C. Scott had five 'break days' written into his contract to handle his alcoholism. He told Schrader midway: 'You're a heck of a writer, but you're an awful director.'
- Warren Beatty was originally attached to star but left because he wanted the character to search for a missing girlfriend instead of a daughter. Went on to make 'Heaven Can Wait' instead.
- Diana Scarwid was originally cast as Nikki but the studio said she wasn't attractive enough; Season Hubley was cast instead. Marilyn Chambers was also considered.
- Everything was filmed in actual sex shops, strip clubs, porno theaters, and massage parlors. Originally titled 'The Pilgrim.'
- Schrader originally wanted a different ending: the daughter dies in an unrelated car accident, and Jake adopts Nikki. The studio forced the change.
- Tarantino's book Cinema Speculation has a whole chapter on 'Hardcore', praising the first hour but criticizing how it goes off the rails.
- John Huston on Scott: 'He's one of the best actors alive, but my opinion of him as an actor is much higher than my opinion of him as a man.'
- The church hated the movie, and the adult film industry also hated it (for insinuating a close correlation between porn and snuff films).
Categories
Roger Ebert's review
Quote from Rog's review:
“Hardcore, flawed and uneven, contains moments of pure revelation.”
- Ebert's criticism was that Schrader 'doesn't speak to the deeper and more human things' in the ending.
- Siskel gave it three and a half stars. Pauline Kael disliked it, saying 'it's just not electrifying at all.'
Most re-watchable scene
- Winner: Jake watching his daughter's porn film in the rented-out theater ('Turn it off!'). Bill calls it 'the best scene in the movie' – there may never have been another movie scene like it.
- Other contenders: Peter Boyle's first diner scene, Jake's drive through Hollywood with the score kicking in, the porn audition scene (casting Big Dick Black and Jism Jim), Nikki and Jake's conversations.
What aged the best?
- Jack Nitzsche's score (doesn't kick in until 50 minutes into the movie).
- Jake pretending to be a porn producer. The movie poster.
- Middle America 70s kitchens/living rooms/wallpaper. 70s Hollywood hotel apartments.
- Five break days in George C. Scott's contract for alcoholism. Ed Begley Jr. getting an early career shot.
What aged the worst?
- The terrible supervision / no accountability (the daughter disappears on a group trip).
- Jake's creepy vibe with his daughter in the first extended scene.
- The casting of Ilah Davis as Kristen – bad acting, especially in the tacked-on ending.
- Warren Beatty wanting to change the daughter to a girlfriend.
Most cinematic shot
- Chris: Jake standing in front of the 'For Those Who Think Pink' Hustler billboard – the contrast between his gray Grand Rapids life and technicolor Los Angeles.
- Bill: The fun-house mirror shot of George C. Scott at the end of the theater scene.
Best needle drop
'Helpless' by Neil Young / CSNY playing while Jake visits the porn shop. Sean calls it 'by far the funniest point in this movie.'
The hottest take award
- Chris: Jake Van Dorn left a lot on the table as a porn producer – he immediately takes to the world and has a way with actors.
- Sean: Calvinism gets a bad rap. He relates to the ideas of repression and needing redemption.
- Bill: Eight Millimeter clearly ripped off this movie, and the movie is 'touchable' (remakeable) because it's so rooted in the late 70s.
Casting what-ifs
- Warren Beatty was originally attached but left over the daughter/girlfriend dispute.
- Diana Scarwid was originally cast as Nikki but replaced by Season Hubley. Marilyn Chambers was also considered.
Best "that guy"
- Bill: Hal Williams as Big Dick Black; Red Brown as the bouncer.
- Chris: Tracy Walter (the bookstore guy).
- Sean: Dick Sargent (the second Darren from Bewitched).
Apex Mountain
- Season Hubley: Definitely this movie.
- Renting out a theater to ruin a dad's life: Apex Mountain.
- Explaining Calvinism to a hooker: Apex Mountain for TULIP / Calvinism in modern entertainment.
- George C. Scott: No (Patton). Paul Schrader: No (debated between 'Taxi Driver' era, 'American Gigolo', First Reformed).
Cruise or Hanks?
Hanks wins
Hanks – better movie with Hanks as the believable furniture salesman/father from Grand Rapids. Though Cruise would make it one of the funniest movies ever made.
Picking nits
- How did Andy Mast find the 8mm film so easily? Why stage an elaborate theater screening instead of just telling Jake?
- Why did Jake and Nikki fly from LA to San Diego instead of driving (only 1 hour 45 minutes)?
- Could Peter Boyle's character really have just shot a guy in the street in a crowded place?
Over-acting award
- The 'Turn it off!' scene – though Bill argues it's actually great acting, not overacting.
- All the people who auditioned for the porn movie (Jism Jim, Big Dick Black) are terrible actors, which Schrader seemed to enjoy.
Best (or worst!) life lessons from the movie
Don't let your daughter go on a Calvinist trip to Bellflower, California with one chaperone.
Best double feature for this movie
- Clear winner: Eight Millimeter (1999) – basically remade this movie's premise.
- Also discussed: 'Taxi Driver', Cat People (Schrader double feature).
Who won the movie?
- Sean: George C. Scott – the 'turn it off' scene means young people know his face from this; the movie doesn't work without his power.
- Chris and Bill: Schrader – 'this is his world.'