Rewatchables Reference

• CR: The boarding school courtroom scene / flamethrower speech.
• Bill: The Thanksgiving dinner scene – 'one of my favorite dysfunctional holiday scenes ever.'
• Philip Seymour Hoffman feeling out Charlie after the dean talks to them.
• The tango scene with Gabrielle Anwar.
• The Ferrari driving scene.
• Charlie saves Slade from suicide.
• The Oak Room scene (ordering drinks, setting up the weekend).

• Thomas Newman's score – 'really an actual character in this movie.'
• Rich family/poor family prep school dynamics (old money vs. scholarship kid).
• The concept of passionate Oscar debates – they argue this started with this film (Pacino vs. Denzel).
• The 'Oscar bait disability role' trope starting here.
• New York City as a character (Waldorf Astoria, Oak Room, pre-Resy era).

• Colonel Slade's politically incorrect behavior viewed through the modern lens.
• The first-class cabin on the shuttle looking cheap by modern standards.
• Bill Hader's Pacino impression – it's so good it kind of ruined the character.

• Bill: The movie should end after the redheaded teacher talks to Slade – the additional 8 minutes are unnecessary.
• CR: The Karen Rossi setup scenes at the beginning – 15-20 minutes before leaving.

• Bill: 'Scent of a Woman' might not be one of Pacino's eight best performances.
• CR: Karen Rossi should be ashamed of herself for abandoning a blind man to a teenager over Thanksgiving.

• Pacino initially turned it down; Jack Nicholson was offered Slade and turned it down – it would have been a darker, more sinister movie.
• Stallone claimed on Conan O'Brien that he turned down Colonel Slade.
• The entire 'School Ties' cast auditioned for Charlie (including Matt Damon). O'Donnell wouldn't share the script.
• Chris Rock auditioned and later said the movie would have been more interesting if Charlie were black.

Colonel Frank Slade – 'You could probably put Frank Slade as the name of this category.'

• James Rebhorn as Mr. Trask – 'all-time That Guy.'
• CR: Todd Louiso (the third kid) – also in 'Jerry Maguire', The Rock, Apollo 13, 'High Fidelity'.

• CR: Bradley Whitford as Randy at Thanksgiving (~8 minutes).
• Bill: Gabrielle Anwar (tango scene) and Manny the chauffer.

• Leonardo DiCaprio discussed but too electric for the role; O'Donnell's ordinariness works better.
• Matt Damon deemed 'too smart' with 'too much baggage.'
• Consensus: O'Donnell was actually well-cast – genuinely seems like a kid from Oregon on a scholarship.

• Baird school scenes shot at Emma Willard School in New York.
• Pacino prepared at a school for the blind; his trick was not focusing his eyes on anything.
• The 'Hoo-ah' was improvised.
• Trump and Marla Maples cameo at the Plaza Hotel was cut.
• Martin Brest took his name off the airplane/TV versions.

• Chris O'Donnell: Yes – 'biggest young actor in the world after this movie.'
• Movies built around a blind character: Yes.
• James Rebhorn: Possibly – biggest part in a big movie.
• The 1989 Ferrari Mondial T Cabriolet: Definitely.
• Horrible Thanksgivings in a movie: Definitely.
• Pacino: No.
• Philip Seymour Hoffman: No.

• The blind guy driving a Ferrari – completely impossible even at low speeds.
• Where in NYC can you drive that many blocks without a stoplight?
• Baird's entire disciplinary process is absurd (Trask is judge and prosecutor, committee deliberates in 90 seconds).
• How did the kids in 1992 hijack the PA system and fill/suspend a milk balloon?

Slim pickings. CR picks 'Evangeline' by Dolly Parton. Newman's score dominates the film's music.

• Bill: Dog Day Afternoon.
• CR: The Chocolate War (1988 prep school movie).

• CR: The custom-made suits.
• Bill: The cane.

• Don't be a snitch / don't have an amputated soul.
• 'The day we stop looking, Charlie, is the day we die.'

• Should the movie have ended after the teacher hits on Slade? (Both say yes.)
• How many drinks a day was Slade having? (Estimated 8-9 doubles.)
• How much did Slade spend on his final weekend?

Pacino won the movie. CR adds Hoffman 'very high up.'

• Craig did NOT enjoy the movie. Called Pacino 'actively bad' and the performance 'a parody of somebody doing a blind role.' Didn't think O'Donnell was that good either.
• Bill and CR pushed back – you have to imagine seeing it before the character became a cultural punchline through impressions.