Thursday, August 12, 2021 - 3:52 PM CDT
Name:
"Brett"
Why oh why to important deleted scenes from DePalma movies never make it to DVDs? At least the DePalma doc showed us a glimpse of the Snake Eyes deleted ending. I would so love to see Bonfire's deleted scene. From all descriptions, it sounds wonderful. I always found the cut from Sherman leaving the courtroom trimphant to Fallow back at his event a tad abrupt.
While on the topic of Bonfire, kudos to the The Plot Thickens podcast for a terrific series on Bonfire. I loved the audio footage and current interviews with many of the players. Although, am I the only one who came away just sad about the whole affair? It's been 30 years now and I've never come an inch closer to understanding the vitriol aimed at this movie. OK, so it's different from the book. It wouldn't be the first or last time that happened. What is it about THIS movie that made people's skin crawl? I have seen it easily 30 times, including 2 recent views, and it never changes for me. I love it. It's fast, it's funny, it's stylish, and I think it has a lot to say about its subject. There are so many truly wonderful scenes, and IMO, only a couple of clunkers (I never liked the Sherman "I pissed in my pants" subway moment). The fact that people find it unwatchable baffles me. The fact that apparently Morgan Freeman never saw it baffles me (he's so good!). I get the mostly lame NYC critics in 1990 who were elitists would have hated any deviation from the Wolfe novel. But Gene Siskel panning it? Ebert giving it thumbs down? I. Don't. Get. It.
Even the fact that it's remembered as such a gigantic bomb is perplexing. The same month Bonfire came out Sydney Pollack's Havana was released and made HALF of what Bonfire made, and cost about the same amount. No one ever talks about that movie (or even remembers it!). Maybe I should be happy people still talk about Bonfire, and it's satisfying to seen certain online reviews from people who like the movie and don't get why it was such a cause celebre to hate it. But there really seems to be not much of a critical reappraisal of it. I'm mostly glad DePalma himself still likes the movie he made, as well he should. It's about 100 times more compelling than 99% of the movies I see today.
Lastly, I would have loved if the podcast interviewed Lucy Fisher or Rob Friedman or other WB execs who loved the movie when it screened. Were they full of shit when they praised it? Or did they love it and only retreat when the pile on occurred? Did Peter Guber ever see it? DePalma was and remains so magnanimous about the whole affair and takes responsibility for all that happened. It was really nice to hear the praise Salamon, Schwab, Morris, Goldstein and others in the podcast had for him.