October 05, 2020
'Kicking and Screaming (1995)'
The Ringer's Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Andy Greenwald are nostalgic for conversations they had yesterday after revisiting Noah Baumbach's first film 'Kicking and Screaming', starring Josh Hamilton, Chris Eigeman, and Olivia d'Abo.
Cast
Josh Hamilton as Grover
Chris Eigeman as Max
Carlos Jacott as Otis
Jason Wiles as Skippy
Eric Stoltz as Chet
Olivia d'Abo as Jane
Parker Posey as Miami
Cara Buono as Kate
Elliott Gould as Grover's Dad
Directed by: Noah Baumbach
Written by: Noah Baumbach
Notes
- Bill Simmons considers this one of his 10 favorite movies ever.
- $1.3 million budget, grossed only $718,000.
- Jason Blum (now the Blumhouse horror mogul) was Baumbach's college roommate at Vassar and produced this as his first film.
- Eric Stoltz was added to secure financing after another unknown actor dropped out at the last minute.
- Steve Martin endorsed the script with a letter, which Blum used to obtain financing.
- After this movie, Baumbach was in director jail until Wes Anderson helped him co-write The Life Aquatic.
- Shot at Occidental College in California despite feeling totally East Coast/Vassar.
- Noah Baumbach's father Jonathan plays the professor – inspired the Jeff Daniels character in The Squid and the Whale.
- Marisa Ribisi (Giovanni Ribisi's twin sister, ex-wife of Beck) plays the last freshman Grover goes back to the dorm with.
- Originally titled 'Fifth Year' – all three hosts preferred that title.
Categories
Roger Ebert's review
Quote from Rog's review:
“What struck me about Kicking and Screaming is that it captures so accurately the fact dimly-sensed by undergraduates that the college years are the happiest in their lives.”
Most re-watchable scene
- The airport scene – Grover's 3-minute monologue when he decides to go to Prague but doesn't have his passport.
- The graduation/cocktail party at the beginning – introduces every character like the wedding in 'The Godfather'.
- The book club scene with Eric Stoltz discussing All the Pretty Horses – ad-libbed, seven laugh-out-loud lines.
- Grover confronts Max about sleeping with Miami, pause, then 'How was she?' and Stoltz sneaks back to hear the answer.
What aged the best?
- Freedy Johnston's 'Bad Reputation' (the closing song).
- Chris Eigeman / the Max character – 'I'm nostalgic for conversations I had yesterday'.
- Max's quotes: 'What I used to be able to pass off as a bad summer could now potentially turn into a bad life'.
- Parker Posey's performance and her mid-90s presence.
- No internet, no cell phones – really helps the movie.
What aged the worst?
- The 2005 Will Ferrell movie also called 'Kicking and Screaming' – huge brand confusion.
- Josh Hamilton the baseball player taking over Josh Hamilton the actor on Google.
- Max dating a 17-year-old.
Casting what-ifs
- Gwyneth Paltrow for the Jane role – right age, right elitist air, not yet famous (Bill's best alternative).
- Ethan Hawke may have been the unknown actor originally cast as Grover who dropped out.
- Heather Graham rejected for Jane as too glamorous; Kate Winslet and Joey Lauren Adams also considered.
Over-acting award
Friedrich, the crazy foreign guy – dialing it up the whole time, 'on steroids'.
Best "that guy"
- Cara Buono as Kate – threatening-a-hunter-with-a-tire-iron energy; later had huge roles in Mad Men, Sopranos, and Stranger Things.
- Jason Wiles as Skippy.
- Perrey Reeves (later Mrs. Ari Gold on Entourage).
Half-assed (internet) research
- Jason Blum was Baumbach's Vassar roommate and produced this as his first movie.
- Baumbach was chosen as one of Newsweek's '10 New Faces of 1996'.
- Baumbach Hitchcocked himself as the guy asking people if they'd rather kill their mother.
- Baumbach co-wrote The Life Aquatic with Wes Anderson, which helped him get financing for The Squid and the Whale.
Apex Mountain
- Jason Wiles – maybe the all-time apex mountain, simultaneously in this and on 90210.
- Chris Eigeman – could be Barcelona but this one is 'sweeter'.
- Eric Stoltz – apex mountain for his clout; his best use in any movie.
- Freedy Johnston – yes.
- Tweed jackets – yes.
Picking nits
- Knicks preseason being discussed on the answering machine – no father-son combo would actually talk about NBA preseason.
- The airport clearly doesn't have international flights – it's basically Burbank airport, yet Grover tries to fly to Prague.
- How did Grover and Max pay for stuff?
Sequel, prequel, prestige TV or untouchable?
Would have been a 10-episode Netflix or Amazon series – the writing is so good Baumbach could have kept going.
(Probably) unanswerable questions
- Should Josh Hamilton have been a bigger movie star?
- Could there have been a 'Before Sunrise'-style sequel?
- What happened to these characters? (Miami probably started the Huffington Post or writes for the New Yorker).
Who won the movie?
- Chris Eigeman (Chris Ryan's pick) – without him, it's not the same movie.
- Noah Baumbach (Andy's pick) – incredible to make this at 25.