Amph That's Some Casting Director: "Catch Me If You Can" (2002)

Very nice line-up in this movie with some real surprises of big names like George Clooney and John Travolta turning up in cameos, supported by established character actors like Reilly and Koteas.

Adrien Brody and James Caviezel would go on to become big names. Ben Chaplin's career took a bit of dip with that mail order bride film with Nicole Kidman and The Touch with Michelle Yeoh.

I believe this was Nick Stahl's first notable appearance too.

That said, I don't think the film is that good. Visceral sure but somewhat unrealistic at times. Harrelson's run in with an attached grenade is laughable.

 

Always a good decision.

 

Next: "Batman Begins"

The cast included: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, and Morgan Freeman.

 

Terrific cast and they work well together,and the material is terrific,so they get to use their skills

 

I felt like Katie Holmes was just out of place in this film and that there were other choices which could have made a better Rachel Dawes. As it stands though, i thoroughly enjoyed the film and even though I didn't buy Katie as an assistant DA.

 

I thought the casting was superb for the most part. I didn't care for Katie Holmes' character, she just seemed out of place (I didn't buy her as an ADA either) and at times, unnecessary. Almost as if she was the token love interest, you know?

 

I know.

Next: "Ruthless People" (1986)

Starring: Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Anita Morris, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater, and Bill Pullman (in his first role as the stupidest man in the world...)

 

The casting in Batman Begins was fantastic. Chris Nolan said when it came to casting, he wanted to take the same approach that Richard Donner did with Superman: The Movie--casting a relative unknown in the lead, and surround him with well-renowned actors and actresses. It's my opinion that this is how it should always be done. I never want to see a superstar playing a superhero.

 

The casting in Batman Begins was fantastic. Chris Nolan said when it came to casting, he wanted to take the same approach that Richard Donner did with Superman: The Movie--casting a relative unknown in the lead, and surround him with well-renowned actors and actresses. It's my opinion that this is how it should always be done. I never want to see a superstar playing a superhero.

I agree. And Christian Bale had a perfect warmup act for a two sided personality with a rich, spoiled background and demons to tame in AMERICAN PSYCHO. His character was Patrick Bateman. Bateman! One letter out and it's Batman! Oh the irony! Bale was a superb choice.

Anyway, I thought the cast was INCREDIBLE for this film. Tom Wilkinson was especially good, I thought.

The one "fly in the ointment" was Katie Holmes who was totally unbelievable.
Thank God Warner Brothers gave her the boot when her new boyfriend when
NUTS.

 

Judge Reinhold is brilliant in this movie. So ethical, he can't even sell retail.

Midler is surprisingly not annoying.

 

I don't know what happened to Reinhold...oh, yes I do, he's playing the stooge in the "Santa Clause" movies.

Next: Another Judge Reinhold film: "Beverley Hills Cop"

The cast included Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Ronny Cox, Steven Berkoff, Stephen Elliot, and very small roles by three funny comedians: Damon Wayans, Paul Reiser, and Bronson Pinchot.

 

Great cast. An interesting thing about it is that it was to star Sylvester Stallone until the last minute when Bruckheimer or Simpson thought about Eddie in it. Stallone used some of his ideas for it later in "Cobra", and they reworked the script for Eddie. And it turned out to be an excellent decision.

 

Reiser, Pinchot and Reinhold steal the show right out from under Murphy. It's amazing. I remember none of Murphy's schtick, but I vividly remember the scenes with those three comedians. I think those were the scenes where I laughed out loud: Reinhold's John Wayne line is still the funniest delivery of the entire film.

 

Yeah, they're all great.

Next; an example of 'The Cast Couldn't Save It':

Hank Azaria, Clare Forlani, Janeane Garofalo, Greg Kinnear, William H. Macy, Lena Olin, Paul Reubens, Geoffrey Rush, Ben Stiller, Wes Studi, Tom Waits, Eddie Izzard, and Louise Lasser.

And the film is: "Mystery Men"

 

Beverly Hills Cop had a good cast. It was a cool film. I still watch it on occasion.

 

Mystery Men has a terrific cast but its just not funny. In this case I think the fault lies with the director Kinka Usher. He's a commercial director and usually that means not very good with actors. If someone like Ivan Reitman were in charge this could have been a terrific movie.

 

Mystery Men wasn`t a great film but I thought it had some momments

 

What a coincidence, I was just watching 'Mystery Men' the other day. An average movie, but the chemistry between the cast was awesome. And I love Will Macy's performance, worth watching for him alone.

 

William Macy is always good, even in this film, however the film doesn't work as a whole. There are no laugh out loud scenes. There's some cute little asides that seem the result of actor improvs. Again I blame Usher. I've worked with him & he isn't interested in actors. He cares more about how something looks rather than how it plays. For 30 sec spots you can get away with it, in a feature film its deadly.

 

..eh, "Mystery Men" is one of those movies who's humour is understood by a very small fraction of the population.

I think it's one of the more underrated comedies in history, but also have trouble saying THAT because i can understand how many people just wouldn't find it funny.

That was a great cast, though.

Wes Studi was FANTASTIC.

As was Geoffrey Rush.

"TO ZE DISCO ROOM!"

 

I don't know, this movie is a sort of guilty pleasure for me. There are parts that definitely don't work, but I find myself quoting it every once in a while.

"Deathman is dead."

"It's...what I do."

"You're a moron! You're a moron! You're a moron!" (I especially use this in traffic)

"I am a ticking time bomb of fury."

"Disco is NOT dead! Disco is LIFE!"

"Aw dang!" (Just before lance/Capt America passes out)

 

Next: "Tombstone"

The cast included: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston, Jason Priestley, Stephen Lang, Thomas Haden Church, Dana Delany, Harry Carey, Jr. (he of the John Ford stock company), Billy Zane, and John Corbett. Robert Mitchum was the narrator.

 

What timing! I just watched this movie.

A great, great cast. Elliot, Paxton and Russell are all very good as the Earps. Kilmer steals the show as Holliday (You're a daisy if you do).

Powers Boothe and Michael Biehn (finally, another great role for Michael Biehn!) are beyond brilliant as the villains, both elevating their roles to icon status.

Church, Lang, Zane and Corbett were not big names yet. Zane especially has charm, wit and presence. Very good performance.

I was quite amused to see Heston's name in the credits. I had somehow managed to not recognize him. Don't ask me how that happened.

 

It's a great movie all around. I think everyone was cast perfectly, and Powers Boothe made for a perfect bad guy. And of course, Sam Elliot is great in anything he's in. He just screams a late 1800s kind of guy. He doesn't have a huge range of acting skills, but he, like Clint Eastwood, doesn't need it. He just oozes "coolness."