“I think it’s one of the reasons that people resent writers is because when we are writing, we are God. When you’re making a movie, the most powerful director is still subject to, the lens won’t do that, the sun just went behind the clouds, the actor doesn’t want to say the line that way, the location, the door opens this way. There’s a thousand things every moment that you cannot control as the director that you could control when you’re the writer. And so it’s one of the reasons I love writing and actually loathe directing.”
– Phil Alden Robinson (All of Me, Field of Dreams, Sneakers)
Who doesn’t love ‘Sneakers’, right? Yeah, it’ll be dated with all the techo stuff but I have a hunch that if I had a good squiz at the screenplay I’ll pick up some clues on how to write for an ensemble. There’s nothing more satisfying than when friends become family and they don’t even know it.
I have a lot of respect for Phil Alden Robinson as he’s been involved a wide range of movies, All of Me, Field of Dreams, Sneakers – that covers some pretty serious territory genre-wise. Also, I’ll never forget screening Field of Dreams at the WGA Theater, packed with the typical assortment of cynical writers. I’ve never experienced this before or after, but I swear the men in the place needed the full 6 minutes of the credits to regain their composure. Such sniffling, sobbing, and crying you’ve never heard before, all these sourpuss writers turned out to be a bunch of softies when it came to things like Dad and having a game of catch.
And oh yeah, I cried, too.
Hands up anyone who didn’t cry.
Go the distance.
Kiwichick, you’re saying that Field of Dreams played in New Zealand? I would have thought that all the baseball stuff would have been a bit culturally specific to translate internationally. Then again. Fathers, sons. That’s universal.
Do you remember that wonderful period piece Hope and Glory (1987)? There were a lot of subplots in it, but one was where the father taught the son that special cricket pitch, a “googly” I think he called it. A bit of a British version of playing catch with Dad ala Field of Dreams.
Yeah, we know your culture better than you know ours … baseball, little league, take me out to the ball game. Hell, we even know Condoleeza’s shoe size and what time Suri’s due for a nap.
Fathers/sons – universal. A-list actors -universal … (Well, Kevin was an a-lister in the 90s, right?)
Best father/son moment apart from Kevin’s? Um … Maybe Luke and Darth? Dunno. Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck in Armageddon? A bit lame? I’ll keep thinking.