THE IN-LAWS (1979)

Matthew

doesn't it?

Ian

Because knowing Peter Falk changes watching the 1979 action comedy, The In Laws.

Matthew

That makes such a difference. And yes, we watch all of the Columbo series. And you know, our original Columbo episode really early in the podcast, that is still our most downloaded episode ever. There are a lot of Columbo fans all over the world.

Ian

Yes, and of course the timing of this couldn't be more perfect. Yes.

Matthew

Yes, yes. We are now into February, listeners, when you're hearing this. Yes. And yeah, it's a pretty busy month here in and around the Intermillennium Media Project headquarters. Yeah, we've got a wedding planned.

Ian

Yep, that's right. For a long time, listeners, you have probably heard me mention my wonderful girlfriend, Jennifer. Now, fiance, Jennifer. And, later this month, my wife!

Matthew

Yay! So we figured, what better, what better chance to talk about a movie involving families being joined by marriage.

Ian

Yeah! And the, the, the ticking clock of an impending wedding being such a, a key point to this film's narrative.

Matthew

Now, fortunately, I get along really well with Jen's dad. I'm, I'm hoping he feels the same. Neither of us have, have abducted the other to a small Central American nation to be part of a, a currency fraud scheme on behalf of the CIA. But, you know, it's early days. Who knows what could happen? That's

Ian

what

Matthew

could

Ian

happen. Yeah, that's the other thing. This is a movie where if you understand the sort of things going on in the background, it is all the more intense because some of the things they get away with are bewildering.

Matthew

Yes.

Ian

And I'm not talking about the international espionage part. Yes.

Matthew

And we will, by the way, of course, we will be spoiling this movie as we talk about it. There's no other way to do it.

Ian

Yeah. In a similar way, honestly, to The Sting. This is a movie where it has back and forth twists and turns, I feel. And that changes seeing the movie, because less so in some elements, this is a movie where the who's doing what where is a little less intense, but it's still prevalent.

Matthew

And it's one of those movies where it's, there's constant revelation of things, but it's not the, you're peeling back layers of the onion and you're getting closer to some truth. It's more of a back and forth. Oh, it looks like this true. Oh, no, this can't be true. Well, maybe it's true. Is it really true? Oh, it couldn't be true. I guess it's true.

Ian

It's got an element almost like ping pong in that sense. Yes,

Matthew

and it all happens within like the two days prior to this wedding.

Ian

Yeah, kind of wild. It's two days before the wedding and Vince Ricardo, played by Peter Falk, is finally in town long enough. To meet up with the family of the Kornpetts.

Matthew

His son, Tommy Ricardo is going to be marrying barbara Kornpet, which is bringing these two families together.

Ian

And this is the first time that Peter Falk's character of Vince, it's going to be easier to call it Peter and Peter Falk, but I'm going to try to use the names early. This is the first time Vince has been able to meet the other family.

Matthew

Because while Kornpet is a dentist in New York city, very straight laced, very. By the book, kind of guy, he's got his practice. He's got his patients. He's got his really nice house in the suburbs in New Jersey. And meanwhile, a Vince Ricardo is some kind of international consultant that has him traveling and out of town a lot, which is why he hasn't been able to be here. He's he tells the weirdest stories about what he does for a living. None of them are believable.

Ian

None of them believable at all But the first shot of this is actually, I think, a great setup.

Matthew

Yes.

Ian

Yes. So the first shot of this is nothing about that.

Matthew

Nope. Kind of a prologue.

Ian

An armored truck for the United States Treasury is radioing in about being on their way to the home base. And it is the, it is excellent just to set the tone, because even the drivers of the armored truck have this casual chatting attitude. Yes. And that is the way this entire film is written. This, there is every single, every single discussion in this film, whether it be about what did you have for lunch last week? Or, I've got 15 guns trained on you, whatcha gonna do about it? Are, are written with the same kind of like, ah, that's life.

Matthew

The story, yeah, the story and the scenes are so well crafted and yet they're, they're executed with this almost improv kind of easy conversational style. And I think part of that is the energy that the stars, Peter Falk and Alan Arkin, bring to this, but also I think Arthur Hiller, the director, is really good at having that kind of that comedic, casual, improvisational style, even during weird, intense scenes.

Ian

Have we seen Alan Arkin in anything else?

Matthew

I don't know that we have. There are definitely other movies that we should cover on the podcast and some TV shows, but I don't think we have we've talked about him yet. Oh,

Ian

wow. Because he's one of those actors who also has, in a similar way to the way Falk has a, a presence that is distinctly him, but adjusts to his character. Yeah. Alan Arkin is the same way. It's like he appears and you recognize him at the same time. He is absolutely whoever he says he's playing right now and you do not question.

Matthew

Yes. He brings so much to the part of, of, of who he is. And this is true of both of them, as you say, but cast properly. It just makes those characters so real because so much of it is what Arkin is bringing.

Ian

Oh yeah.

Matthew

And I, and I don't think we have talked about any other Arthur Hiller movies, but he was really a force in, in directing a lot of these 60s and 70s comedies. These kind of two character movies or little ensemble pieces that had that sort of witty or absurdist 60s or 70s comedy style.

Ian

Yeah. He worked with like Gene Wilder and Silverstreak and things like that. Right. That's okay. That kind of gives you the tone and style. That opening, though, with this, you know, armored truck rolling down, and then being in a heist where it's blocked off from being able to escape. This team runs over, welds the doors shut.

Matthew

After they pick it up with a giant electromagnet on a crane to put it behind a wall for safety and privacy.

Ian

Which, which is, it's just, it's just not a silent scene. It's one of the two drivers going like, they're picking us up with a crane. Do they not know who we are? What are they doing? I got places to be after this. Oh, come on, man.

Matthew

And they're, they've jammed the radio as well. Which I imagine the giant electromagnet on top of your truck might do anyway.

Ian

Yeah, that might just do that to begin with. But the the entire scene, they, you know, weld the doors shut, cut the back open, and you're like, oh, wow, it's a big heist. They get in. There's nothing in here but money,

Matthew

right? And they just throw the money aside. They don't care about hurting the guards. They're just welding them into in in place. So they're not in the way they don't care about the money. They're looking for something else in here.

Ian

Yeah, and they find them. These large, bubble wrapped, silvery bricks of plates.

Matthew

Engraved printing plates for, or engraving plates, for U. S. currency.

Ian

That's a big heist. And I love the idea that just like, it makes so much sense. You know, it's mixed in with the money to hide it. It's, it's actually brilliant.

Matthew

Yes. If you're going to have these secure transport methods for the mint or for the Bureau of Printing and Engraving or the treasury why not use them to transport all of this stuff?

Ian

Mm hmm. And we watch everything get handed off to one of the, the robbers. And then we get all of the title cards as he climbs the stairs of an adjacent building to get to the meeting on the roof. And that is such a perfect, perfect example. Because you watch as this guy, with a bag and a mask, And a heavy set of plates in the bag, walk up flight after flight of stairs and just get more tired as he goes.

It's watching him, like, halt at the top of one of those stairs and then keep going. This is not smooth Ocean's Eleven style, robbery. This is arduous, kind of. Boring at times grunt work.

Matthew

And when he meets the guy on the roof, he's asking, why are we up here? What is this about? And we also get a chance to see that, yes, this is Washington D. C. where they are. And the answer is just, well, there's a reason for everything kind of answer. We never find out why they're meeting up on the roof.

Ian

We never do.

Matthew

And the guy that he's meeting to deliver these plates to. Is Vince Ricardo. Peter Falk. So at the very beginning we know that Falk is involved in this crime. And now he owes the people who executed the heist for him is it 2 million? 1. 5 million. 1. 5

Ian

million. Which they want tomorrow, .

Matthew

It's Thursday or Friday. His kids are getting married on Sunday. And he's gotta come up with $1.5 million tomorrow.

Ian

That's where we set Peter Falk's character, and we then set Alan Arkin's character of Sheldon, or Shelley Kornpett, in his dentist's office, dealing with weird caricature clients.

Matthew

All these old New yorkers.

Ian

And being good at his job, but stressed about the wedding, and planning that. Right.

Matthew

He's got patients telling him, Oh, you haven't met the boy's father yet. You've got to call off this wedding until you can meet him. He's the tree. The kid is just the acorn, but you got to see his father to see what kind of man he's going to turn out to be. And Sheldon doesn't really. Give that any credence at first.

Ian

Yeah. It's like, oh, it'll be fine. You know, the kid's good. The dad must be fine. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Meanwhile, he's saying that and we've just watched the dad being in a heist. That really sets you up for something. Yes.

Matthew

So we know that his stories about being an international consultant aren't quite right, and he's telling stories about being in some South American place for nine months where they had giant tsetse flies who would carry away children. This is his dinner conversation when he finally meets the Kornpett.

Ian

What in the world? Everyone's hanging on to every word of it, but the only character who's not is Alan Arkin's there, who's like You're sure these are flies right?

Matthew

He's not believing a word of this, but he's not coming out and saying you're a liar

Ian

it's just yeah, just a little too much for him

Matthew

Sheldon is kind of angry and impatient and it's taken so long to meet He's late for this dinner meeting dinner party also but at the beginning It seems like he feels like he's in control. He's tolerating this weirdo who showed up at his house, whose son is marrying his daughter. But he seems very much in control. And just doesn't know what to make of this guy, but it doesn't faze him that much. And yet That changes a whole lot the next day.

Ian

Because at the end of the dinner Vince needs to run downstairs and use the phone. Yeah. And, makes a call and hides something in there.

Matthew

And the call was evidently to whoever he owes this million and a half dollars to. And he says, well, I, I held out one of those plates just in case you try to pull something like this. So wherever the other plates are, one of them is still with Vince and he hides it in the basement of the Kornpett house.

Ian

Yep. But the next day when Vince goes to go to his office, there's two guys waiting outside. So he can't go get them. And what's his, what does he do? He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the business card he was given the night before. For Sheldon Kornpett's dentistry. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Matthew

So, nine o'clock in the morning, he shows up at at Sheldon's office and asks, Can I borrow you for about five minutes? It's not a big deal, but it would really help me out. Doesn't explain what it is. You know, if you can't do it, I understand, but it really would help.

Ian

It effectively avoids explaining.

Matthew

Yes. And that whole, that Peter Faulk style that you get so much in Columbo when he's asking questions, but I don't want to impose, but it would really help me out if you have an explanation for this. That same kind of Deferential insistence. He's railroading you into helping him while he's being very deferential and making it seem as if you're just being so super generous and he'll never forget it.

Ian

I gotta study that more because my goodness, if I can, if I could Peter Falk an entire table of players at a D& D game, I could make storylines happen and they wouldn't suspect a thing. I gotta learn that.

Matthew

Yes.

Ian

Oh, boy. But yeah, he, he convinces Alan to take a really early lunch

Matthew

He wants Sheldon to go in and go in and open the safe in my office and bring out this bag that you'll find there. And there might be two guys. Who I out front who don't worry. They're just like business competitors, and I don't want to lose my competitive advantage But you don't let these guys know where you're going at what you're doing.

Ian

Mm hmm, but Immediately this nervous dentist walking into the building tips off the two guys Follow and pull guns

Matthew

After Sheldon has gotten to Vince's office and it's just this tiny shabby little office for transglobal enterprises vincent ricardo president and the safe is behind a. Photograph on the wall and a signed photograph of John F. Kennedy with something like, you know dear Vince, thanks for everything. At least we tried and they explain that a little bit later, like what in the world he's getting. What did you try with JFK? But he gets the bag and but he's chased by these guys with guns as as he's trying to leave. And meanwhile.

Vince, who has been outside in the cab, he's now in the bar nearby with the, with the the cab driver who's explaining American television to him because he doesn't get to watch much television. And

Ian

it's a whole little aside about like, you never seen The Price is Right?

Matthew

And Vince is explaining why he's, he's Out of the country so much and he tells the cab driver. Oh, I work for the Central Intelligence Agency. I'm a CIA agent now It's not all James Bond types, you know, most of them. I'm your classic agency type, I could believe that too. Very believable.

Ian

It's great. I Love that bit. It's His description is once again, it's an instance where it's like Is he being honest? Am I, I don't know what to think.

Matthew

Right. We've already seen that he's involved in federal crimes and stealing engraving plates. Yeah. And yet he does apparently spend a lot of time out of the country. We've seen him lie about what he saw in South America. And now he's telling this kid that he works for the CIA. It's just another lie, right?

Ian

Yeah. Right? Right?

Matthew

Yeah. Huh. So that's where we go back and forth, whether to believe him or what to believe as he's he's saying these things, eventually he manages to rescue Sheldon from the pursuing bad guys with guns and the cabbie gets them out of there. And then we have this long scene in a diner where he's explaining to Sheldon exactly what's going on that. Yeah, I work for the CIA and we have word of an international scheme where the South American syndicate. Is going to, they've already stolen engraving and printing plates from Germany and from France and from someplace else, and now they want the big fish, the American currency because they want to print up billions, billions and billions in fake currency, totally devalue the world's currencies and cause tremendous global inflation because that will make it so much easier for them to pay off their international debt, which they otherwise will never be able to pay off.

Ian

A wild scheme

Matthew

it is. And so you work for the CIA and you, the CA, well, not exactly because the CIA didn't believe me and didn't want to do this. So I'm kind of on my own now, if I am doing this and I get caught, you know, they'll shred my file and say, they never heard of me, but thank you so much for, for, for helping me, Sheldon. I'll never forget this.

Ian

And I love that they're doing this in the middle of a diner and you watch as more and more patrons just start to turn and watch them have this entire scene until they're pacing back and forth and it becomes like they're the dinner show for all these other people.

Matthew

And that's something Hiller is so good at. Some movies would have a scene like this in a diner. And except maybe for a glance from the person at the next table, you wouldn't get any reaction. The other diner patrons would just be part of the furniture. Here, we get more and more people in this diner paying attention to this conversation, including the cooks in the kitchen, because it's impossible to ignore.

And it's so, it gets loud and it gets so weird.

Ian

They're just getting more and more wild the entire time.

Matthew

And Sheldon, He's got this tension between he absolutely does not believe this all even though he's now seen the engraving plates and He doesn't know whether to believe this and if he does believe it he wants nothing to do with it And he's terrified by it

Ian

Meanwhile, there's a wedding being prepped. Yes. And Carol Kornpett is bringing stuff in, having people bring in boxes and boxes of, you know, champagne and things like that, and finds an engraving plate. In the cellar. So she brings it to the bank.

Matthew

Has no idea what to do with it, but people at the bank must know.

Ian

And it's so perfectly timed, it's like, What happens if they find out? Will they shred everything? We go to jail? Thanks for doing this. Cut to them finding.

Matthew

Yes.

Ian

It's excellently done panic, for the audience, and it's only because we as the audience Have a completely different perspective. We're getting both moments at the same time. And that means that everyone else is worrying about what might happen. And we're seeing what is.

Matthew

And so we know what's waiting for Sheldon because , this engraving plate goes from the bank teller that Mrs. Kornpett asked him, asked about it to the bank manager. And next thing you know, there is a whole team of, treasury agents in the Kornpett house waiting for Sheldon Kornpett because, you know, this is from this big heist that happened a day or so before and we need explanations or he's going to go to jail for a long time.

Ian

Okay. One bit of trivia. I did hear, I did find out about this movie. Yeah. This entire film is about these engraving plates for 500 bills. Yeah. And this movie takes place in 1970s.

Matthew

Yeah.

Ian

500 bills for discontinued in 1948 45

Matthew

makes them a nice MacGuffin.

Ian

They're an excellent MacGuffin. It's got that like unreality aspect to it as well.

Matthew

That's right. It's believable. It's this nice big. denomination where you could see if somebody could print thousands and thousands of these, it would be a big deal.

Ian

So now we've got chases happening. We've got agents waiting.

Matthew

Because after Mrs. Kornpett has just been telling the agents, what a normal regular guy, he walks in that door at seven o'clock every night. He's going to be able to explain if he knows anything about this, he'll be able to explain it. No worries at all. Next thing you know, the treasury agents who are looking out the window, they see Sheldon full up in his BMW. See the treasury agent cars and then turn around and leave at high speed.

Ian

The way that is phrased where it's like, Oh, like I forget the model. Yeah. Oh,

Matthew

BMW pulling in. Oh, that's Sheldon. BMW pulling out.

Ian

And it's, it's everywhere in the room going like, ah.

Matthew

So this high speed chase through , the New Jersey suburbs. And he eventually gets away by hiding himself in, the computer spray car painting garage, automatic car painting. So when he's done, he's got these flames painted onto the hood of his BMW being assured. No, don't worry about it. These will never come off. You can't paint over them. It's a really high quality job.

Ian

And so in his panic, he calls the one person who got him into this mess. He calls Peter Falk

Matthew

and starts screaming, there are flames on my car. What are you talking about?

Ian

Sheldon? I'm talking about Sheldon. Okay. Okay. Yeah. They're coming after you. Oh goodness. Well, know exactly where to go. You know, you're meet me over at the airstrip at this time. Right. Okay. Yeah. We're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna make a short flight over to the, to the right office and sort all this out.

Matthew

We're just going to be going over to Scranton, Pennsylvania. We'll have this fixed up in no time.

Ian

Exactly. And they get there, get on a plane and they're not going to Scranton.

Matthew

No. But they do the plane is one of the best things there is it's this tiny business jet and it's piloted by two Chinese guys because after Peter Falk hangs up with talking with Shelly, we see him pick up another phone and dial somebody and start talking in one of the pilots one of the, well Vince winds up piloting the plane, but one of the two guys with the plane is James Hong. Who makes everything better? James Hong is just awesome.

Ian

James Hong! It's, he's so good. And I love the fact, I love James Hong's scene in this because he's playing Billy the pilot. Yes. And, but it's, it's watching him do the entire in flight safety briefing in Chinese. With all the little

Matthew

Personal presentation for Mr. Sheldon, it's great.

Ian

It's like, he knows exactly, it's like, oh yeah, you know, the oxygen mask, here's how to fill up the vest, and we just, this, it's this It's absolutely still back and forth comedy scene between Alan Arkin. It's all, it's super

Matthew

expressive, super polite, all in Cantonese, except for the occasional English word.

Ian

Exactly. It's so good. I loved that bit.

Matthew

One of my favorite supporting roles for James Hong.

Ian

Oh, yes. You could tell he was having fun.

Matthew

Oh, yes. Yes. And yeah, like you said, they're, they're not going to Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Ian

Nope.

Matthew

As Sheldon notices, we're over water. There's no big bodies of water between northern New Jersey and Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Ian

Because instead, they're going to a small island south of Honduras. Ha ha ha ha ha. Because this is where they were going to do the drop off. This is part of what was happening,

Matthew

They're going to the island of Tejada to sell the well, they're going to meet a corrupt senator from the Tejada legislature, and then they're going to sell the plates to the general who's behind the whole counterfeiting scheme as part of the criminal syndicate. And don't worry, we just, you know, we, we see the senator, we sell this stuff to the the general. We get payment for it, and then we got him red handed, we arrest him, and this whole thing is done. Don't worry about it.

Ian

Don't worry about it. They arrive, there's this, you know, Hey, it's good to see ya! And their contact is shot. Yeah. That scene is such a great moment of like anti climax in that sense. Right. Yes.

Matthew

Because there are some, we know we're never entirely sure who these people are, but they're against the general and his schemes and they're anarchists or somebody, but they're, they're riflemen surrounding the airport who shoot the senator that they were supposed to meet. And now, of course, are trying to shoot them.

Ian

And this leads to one of your favorite scenes. I know. Oh,

Matthew

yes. Serpentine. They're trying to get from the, plane to the car that the Senator had so that they can get away. And Vince is, is advising Sheldon about how to run to avoid gunfire and serpentine serpentine And it leads to this bizarre. Chickens with their heads cut off kind of running scene where they're taking so long to cover 20 feet in order to avoid gunfire.

Ian

And you get this wonderful bit where we watch, we watch Alan Arkin's character, get more and more frantic about this. And then we cut over to the riflemen and all of their guns are jamming.

Matthew

So they're not very good at their jobs either.

Ian

They're not very good at their jobs, but you watch as, Sheldon Kornpett, this Dentist starts thinking that he made it.

Matthew

Yes.

Ian

Starts thinking that the serpentine is the thing that completely worked. There is no other element. And you watch his confidence start to rise.

Matthew

Yes. And he has to run back to the dead Senator to get the car keys. And Sheldon says, no, I will do it. I would rather be out there getting shot than back here alone. If you get shot and he has to do the serpentine thing all again, he forgets. So he goes back and then serpentines forward again.

Ian

It's

Matthew

like, this is the magic. It's working.

Ian

Yeah. And you do get to see Peter Falk. It's just like, huh? Yeah. It's like very intrigued. It's like.

Matthew

You're doing a great job, Sheldon. I'm so impressed.

Ian

Yeah, but you don't have to go out. You do that for me? Like, it's legitimate. It's great. I love that moment. But it's, it's part of where the characters start to, I don't want to say grow, but they evolve.

Matthew

They do. It's, it's not that Sheldon, like you say, it's not that he grows into this role, but he kind of accepts it. Okay, this is real. This is happening. I need to make some decisions. And, and accept this, and just try not to ignore the fact that this is where I am right now.

Ian

They make it to a small hotel, and call the actual mastermind, General Garcia, to perform the drop off.

Matthew

So they arrange that meeting, and while Vince is on the phone, Sheldon sneaks away to the lobby and calls the U. S. Embassy to talk to somebody in intelligence.

Ian

And they say, oh yeah, Vince was an agent, was, he was discharged for being mentally insane.

Matthew

Yes, he's not with the agents anymore and the worst thing is we, we lost a lot of good agents who had to work with him before we realized what the problem was. If you're anywhere near him, get away from him, don't have anything to do with them, you're in danger.

Ian

And, Peter Falk comes out and they're like, Oh, you called the agency, huh? Yeah, they said you're crazy. Well, of course they did. They can't tell you over the phone I'm with them. Of course they told you I'm crazy. That's the, that's standard procedure. What do you think?

Matthew

Hey, you're just some random person who called the embassy. They're not going to give you details about real agency operatives. ,

Ian

which, once again, You immediately flip flop back and forth. Is this real? Is it not?

Matthew

And every piece of it is kind of believable when you hear it.

Ian

Mm hmm. Every single bit is potentially accurate, but doesn't quite line up.

Matthew

Some of these comedy bits are a little too repetitive and go on a little bit too long. They're kind of wrestling in the hotel lobby. While Sheldon's trying to leave, and Vince is saying, you know, you've gotta, you've gotta be part of this, and then says, okay, if you really can't come with me, you gotta stay here, I'll be back, it'll take less than an hour, don't worry about it, then we'll go back to New Jersey, we'll have the wedding, everything will be fine.

And, that's kind of where it's left until Sheldon notices that the guys with guns, the anarchists, have taken the place of the cab driver in the cab that Vince is now in, and are following him in another car, and he sees that Vince is in trouble, and I, it's hard to tell, is he going to rescue Vince because he knows that without Vince he's never going to get home, or does he actually care about Vince and he feels like, oh, I have an obligation to If I know that I can save this guy's life, I should do it.

Ian

Yeah.

Matthew

And he doesn't know either.

Ian

Yeah, he's confused too. There's this bonding that's happened, but he doesn't quite know what.

Matthew

I, I've trauma bonded with this in law and it's going to kill me.

Ian

Yeah. So there's this a second grand car chase.

Matthew

Another bit that goes on a little too long. So I think sometimes Hiller, like those weird action scenes and it's almost what you see in some animated comedy these days where it's the, the fact that it goes on so long is supposed to be part of the comedy that never grabbed me, but it's well shot. It just could have been edited more.

Ian

And they, They kind of escape to the general's estate and meet the insane general, played by Richard Libertini, who's another one of like, I know, I think I've seen him in something, but I don't know what.

Matthew

Right, he's very much one of those, oh yeah, it's that guy kind of actors. These these shows up in these character roles that are pivotal because he drives everything else that happens in this movie once they meet him and part of it is the weird energy he brings to it so he's this powerful general who's got all of the the opulence and pomp of a corrupt Central American South American general in the 70s.

And his art collection that is, like, it's all, he's proud of this art collection, most of which is paintings on black velvet. Yeah. In fact, his favorite artist, he commissioned to paint a new flag for his nation, which is, the new flag features him and a naked prostitute painted on black velvet, of course.

Ian

It feels like. It feels like some weird comedy video from like the Newgrounds in early YouTube days suddenly injected itself into this movie from the late 70s. It's that kind of weird, oh so random humor. It throws the entire movie for a loop,

Matthew

it definitely changes the tone because suddenly Vince is not the weirdest person in the room by far. Yeah. It starts to make Vince seem normal and alert and competent.

Ian

And, Vince seems nervous around this guy.

Matthew

Yes, that's right.

Ian

Vince is suddenly like, serious and concerned. Meanwhile, a recently, and still kind of currently traumatized Sheldon is getting into the vibe more. It's like, oh yeah, okay, so we're gonna bust this guy, what's going on? I guess this is life.

Matthew

Just kind of flowing with it. Just kind of flowing with it. In addition to everything else, the general does the whole bit with the face painted on his hand as a little puppet.

Ian

Yeah.

Matthew

And insists on having these interactions, and, and doing these little comedy bits, and yet he knows he's doing a bit. And he accepts Vince's compliments when Vince said that's a, you know, a terrific act. You're really a gifted performer. Oh, thank you.

Ian

Yeah. It's, it, that's where like that, you, it's like early YouTube new groundsy feel comes in. It's like , this feels off, but it's also acknowledged as such. And the big scene that this leads to is they're, they're shown all of the engraving. Plates that have been stolen and everything ready to go to crash the economy. .

Matthew

Oh, there will be looting in the streets and the bloods will run in the gutters and widows and orphans will be devastated. And you were here at the beginning, my friends, you must be so proud. Oh, yes. I'm feeling weirdly patriotic right now.

Ian

Well, let's go have dinner. And they go out to have a meal outside. And we watch, watching Peter Falk play increasingly worried.

Matthew

Yes. But they get to have the chicken earlier on when they're in the middle of this car chase. And Peter Falk is just taking it super casual. And he's talking about this amazing chicken that they make here with the marinated. They serve it on a hard roll, but it's, you can only get it here. They never tell, but it's, it's wonderful. We got to stop and get some of this before we go home. And that's what they have. That's what the general serves.

He's so proud of it. But Peter Falk is too distracted. Vince's is not, doesn't really have an appetite.

Ian

Sheldon does say it's good stuff.

Matthew

Yeah, it is. Yeah.

Ian

This is nice.

Matthew

And they're being serenaded by a military choir singing unlikely songs like I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree.

Ian

It gets weirder and weirder and then it's well, you know, you know, I'm a pacifist. I don't like to do, to do violence, which is why I'm sorry, I've got to kill you, says the general.

Matthew

And this is probably why Vince has been asking, Oh, did you hear a helicopter? Or what do you think traffic is like here? He's obviously waiting for something that is not happening.

Ian

Because he figured out, nope, that's not just a choir, that's a firing squad.

Matthew

Yes. Yes, the choir and the firing squad are the same team.

Ian

And there's this long section of them getting ready to be shot and delay tactics and back and forth

Matthew

right now, I'm supposed to have a you should spare Sheldon won't do that. At least we should have blindfolds. At least we should have cigarettes. All these delaying and delaying and. And this is one of those scenes where it goes on and on, but I wouldn't shorten it because it is so weird and vibrant and absurdist.

Ian

Yes.

Matthew

Where there's just all these people running around and Sheldon is blindfolded, wandering away, and somebody tries to bring him back to where he's supposed to stand and be shot by the firing squad.

Ian

And you do also get to see as Richard Libertini's, you know, General Garcia character here has taken over with that weird humor we were describing. And we watch Peter Falk, , re establish his character as the main weird guy in the room, by continuing to butt in, cut over, and make this happen. And, finally, just when they're about to be Executed agents pile over the walls.

Matthew

Secret service and or U. S. military and CIA come in with trucks and armed agents and save the day.

Ian

We forgot one bit. That's important.

Matthew

Oh, yeah.

Ian

Which is the general, as part of the prep, gave them medals and $20 million for the plates.

Matthew

Yeah. Yeah, that's true. He awarded them the Medal of Freedom for Tejada

Ian

Which is really unfortunately a medal that depicts the exact same thing that was put on his flag earlier, which is awkward.

Matthew

I mean, he's giving them the medal of freedom and at the same time he's setting them up for a firing squad and you're right Vince was very particular about how the payment, the, the 20 million payment should be done.

Ian

Yes.

Matthew

A briefcase with 10 million and then two smaller packages with 5 million each.

Ian

This all leads to the setup of the two of them, Peter Falk and Alan Arkin blindfolded on the ground, spinning in little circles as they kick in the dirt as a giant firefight happens around them, which is just wild.

Matthew

Yes. And the whole op, this whole rescue is being led by the intelligence attaché from the embassy that Sheldon spoke to on the phone, who explains to Sheldon, I hope you understand I had to tell you that he was no longer an agent and had been released for, mental illness grounds because, you know, I didn't know who you were. I couldn't just give you information about this, just as Vince had told him.

Ian

Exactly. It's exactly like, and yet. Shelly is noticing the person from the embassy saying, Oh, and you got the 10 million that we were supposed to get from the guy for the payment as part of this.

Matthew

Yeah. It's right here in the briefcase.

Ian

Right here in the briefcase. Huh?

Matthew

The general keeps trying to tell the CIA guy, I gave him 20 million and Sheldon keeps trying to say, Oh, and there's also these other two bundles of 5 million. And Vince keeps. Interrupting them and not letting them say that.

Ian

Yes. It adds a little bit of odd insight as to what's going on here.

Matthew

And it brings us back to the kind of guy Vince Ricardo was at the beginning where he's paying mobsters to steal engraving plates from the U. S. Treasury.

Ian

And they are, let go and they get home, they get home via helicopter wearing nice suits now. Right. I love that

Matthew

they're just in time for the wedding or just a little bit late for the wedding, but the wedding has been delayed just a little bit.

Ian

They've

Matthew

hired the, the Paramus symphony orchestra to play at the wedding.

Ian

That's the, that's the part where I'm like, no, no, I, I. We, I say we're in the middle of this right now. You don't just change that like that.

Matthew

Oh yes. Now that you're doing a wedding planning, you know, it doesn't matter how nice the orchestra is. You don't add them at the last minute, literally.

Ian

Yeah. We've done the planning. Things are paid. Things can't change now. Ha,

Matthew

ha,

Ian

ha,

Matthew

ha, ha. That's the most disturbing and frightening thing about this, isn't it?

Ian

Yes, yes, it is.

Matthew

You can't be late to my wedding and change things at the same time. He should go to jail for that. Nevermind the rest of it. Right to jail.

Ian

Just the contracts you signed with the people you already had. Come

Matthew

on. Well, I'm sure the piano player is still going to get paid.

Ian

Yeah, especially since they then show up and immediately say, Hey, sorry, we're late, give time for the orchestra to start up for what? And here's your wedding gift and it's the envelopes.

Matthew

Each of the kids gets a million dollars. Yeah. Hang on a moment. Oh, mom just broke in with that's not happening unless I take a sudden trip to Paramus New Jersey or Scranton, Pennsylvania. Yeah,

Ian

I understand. But There's one last bit of fake out, which is the agent from the embassy showing up and walking in and it's like, how did you not tell me? How could you do this to me? Your son's getting married to , this guy's daughter and you didn't invite me. It's like, ah, and here's 50 bucks from the rest of the agency. Oh, thank you.

Matthew

I'll just put it in here for safekeeping as she tucks it into the, okay. Envelope with a million dollars

Ian

and then this perfect moment of seeing Shelly Kornpett suddenly become a little bit more like Vince in that sense. He just carefully lowers his daughter's hand with the envelope out of sight.

Matthew

Yeah.

Ian

In an extremely Vince like move in that one moment. Yes. And there's that bond between them.

Matthew

So Vince now, is retiring from the agency because he's got four million dollars to live on, as does Shelly apparently.

Ian

Yeah, he's got four million dollars, and my son's married, it's a different time. I can't keep up with this stuff. And that is the end of the in laws. It's, it ends at the wedding,

Matthew

it does. And it works very well, almost a full circle in that which starts out talking about this wedding or after the little prologue about the heist and then we actually do get the wedding and they actually are in laws. Yes. Oh, and we do get a, a final cameo from our pilots. Because they're flying over the wedding in a biplane pulling a banner, happy wedding and releasing balloons. Whether they did that themselves or if that's something that Vince arranged, who knows?

Ian

Who knows, but it tells you that they made it out okay.

Matthew

Always good to see James Hong again.

Ian

Always good to see James Hong.

Matthew

And it's one of those plots where it's frenetic, it seems utterly absurd, and yet every piece makes sense related to what came before. Everything has an explanation. You start out weird, and that leads to weird. Mm hmm. It's

Ian

very, it's consistent in that way. It's wild and frenetic, but it's consistent.

Matthew

There's one bit of fridge logic I encountered with this movie on this watch. Thinking about it last night after I watched it. But it's a piece of fridge logic that makes it make more sense. It's like it seems it's in some ways it seems so capricious that the general would do this deal, give these guys the medal of freedom, and then put them up against a firing squad. But it makes perfect sense. Because he, he, he has every reason not to trust them. He's just paid them 20 million. And they've accepted 20 million in U. S. currency in payment. Why would they accept that if he's about to crash the U. S. economy, create a massive global inflation? These 20 million are not going to be worth anything.

Why would they accept that as payment instead of gold or something else?

Ian

Accepting the money proves that they're duplicitous.

Matthew

Right, that they're somehow in on it or for some reason they don't believe his plan is going to work, otherwise the money wouldn't be acceptable payment.

Ian

You're right!

Matthew

So he must have known that they were going to double cross him. They had some other plans. They were going to report him. They were part of the CIA, who knows. But that, that was enough of a tip off, I would think. The general may have been crazy, but he was smart.

Ian

Oh, goodness. Yeah.

Matthew

So even in that, it has this inexorable logic and cause and effect as weird as it gets. And I think that might mean that we're heading towards our final questions. What do you think?

Ian

I think that's the case.

Matthew

Yep. So hang on listeners for those final questions and answers. But in the meantime, if you're enjoying the intermillennium media project, please go to immproject. com. That's where you will find links to. Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcatcher or podcast method. You'll also find all of our back episodes, including that early episode about Columbo. And we kept watching about Columbo because we couldn't stop. We watched the whole series. And you'll also It's a good series.

It is. It is so powerful. And apparently a lot of people like that episode. Hey! And you'll also find a link to our contact page. We would love to hear from you either on Discord or by email or by U. S. mail at our post office box. You'll find all of that on immproject. com. If you want to support the podcast, you can go to our shop and get a cool things like nifty coffee mugs and t shirts and notebooks with various designs, not just the IMMP logo, but also things for fans of the prisoner.

And speaking of CIA people, that favorite sport for ex spies, Kosho. Kosho! And, if you want more of the IMMP and you want to support us, you'll find a link to our Patreon, and starting at 3 a month, you can get bonus content, and if you join us at the Movie Club level, you will also get a mystery DVD in the mail every few months, with something that will be on the podcast.

Ian

You'll want to join me in the experience of , seeing things for the first time and not knowing what's gonna be the next episode. You watch. Come join the movie club.

Matthew

And Ian, where will people find you?

Ian

I can be found at itemcrafting.com or as item crafting live on Twitch. We stream every Thursday over here starting out with some fun bits from the chao garden, and then going into gameplay or crafting every single Thursday.

Matthew

There was a very cool streams.

Ian

Thank you. And Dad, where can they find you?

Matthew

You can find me at bymatthewporter. com. You'll find links to whatever I'm doing, including my YouTube channel, where I do regular reviews of movies and of movie theater visits, especially the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas all around the country.

Ian

Mm hmm.

Matthew

So that brings us to our final questions. First one. It's a movie screen or no screen.

Ian

I'm going to say screen. This is just a fun romp. It's not everyone's jam. Yeah, but it's a good, good action comedy. I almost want to say it's an iconic action comedy because that, that ability to be frenetic and yet maintain a consistent pace. Is exactly what a lot of action comedies fail at.

Matthew

And the ability to balance that absurdism with a plot that does make sense, beat to beat. That's hard to do, and this manages it.

Ian

And I will also say, this movie is a prime example of that late 70s, early 80s filmmaking . It hits that tone just right. If you want to know what films of this time were like. This is a great example.

Matthew

Yeah. I say screen as well. It's a lot of fun. I acknowledge it is not for everybody. Some people find the, this style of humor or the kind of character that Peter Falk is playing, they find that more irritating than entertaining. I get that, but I, I recommend it. Give it a try. And, and if you want to know more about what my dad's sense of humor was like, this was one of his favorite movies. He loved this movie.

Ian

Yeah.

Matthew

So this was definitely his style. So I was thinking about him a lot when we were watching this.

Ian

Which is funny to me, because the next thing we usually talk about is the Revive, Reboot, or Rest in Peace. Yes. But this time, I went above and beyond on that. Oh yeah? Because I always look up if there's another film. And there was. There was a remake in 2003, and you know who's a fan of that remake? My lovely Jennifer. So we watched it.

Matthew

You did?

Ian

We watched the 2003 remake, and that means I can compare these two.

Matthew

Okay.

Ian

And if you think that the film is a perfect example of the films of the time, the 2003 is that for when it was. Really? It is, it is a very different beast. It still has that same through line, but Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks playing these characters play them very differently. The scenarios of what it means to be a CIA agent and what the CIA is doing and what international politics are like are very different by then. And how much you have that takes place in foreign places and how much is running around the city and how much is about the wedding shifts. But that through line exists,

Matthew

huh? Do you recommend it? Is it a screen for the sequel for you?

Ian

I think I'm going to also say the, the, the sequel, which was not as well received by critics. is also a screen for me, but it's a very different film. And I think seeing them both is a fascinating comparison.

Matthew

Oh, so what do you think? Maybe we should do a Patreon bonus about that. I think we need to. I will make sure. For

Ian

anyone who joins us on the Patreon, we'll have an extra clip about the 2003 version. So that you can get an idea and hear more about that one.

Matthew

I will give that a try.

Ian

Yes, please. All right. So it's been remade and the cast itself actually has a spiritual, not a spiritual, they have a reunion film. Yeah. The, the the 86 film Big Trouble was a reunion of the cast. I did see bringing together Peter Falk, Alan Arkin even bringing in Richard Libertini, who played the general goes up in that film, apparently.

Matthew

Now Arthur Hiller didn't direct that. He wasn't involved in that. Was he?

Ian

No, this was, you know, this was directed and written by different people. And oddly enough it was. Part of getting that reunion together for Big Trouble was what caused Universal Pictures to be able to make a deal to get the script for a little movie called Back to the Future.

Matthew

Is that right? Wow. Apparently, yeah. Interesting. Yeah, I saw Big Trouble. It was okay. It was diverting, but it wasn't a great movie. It didn't have the impact that The In Laws did.

Ian

Yeah, but this movie had a big impact on the cast and everything else, it seems, if they wanted to do that sort of reunion, this was a blast for them.

Matthew

I'm glad to hear that, because it certainly looks, when you're watching it, it looks like something where everybody involved was having a great time. And I hope that was the case, and this suggested it was, if they came back.

Ian

Oh, yes. So, the questions become, you know, revive, reboot, or rest in peace. Do we want a second movie that follows, I don't know, maybe the happy couple, maybe further adventures of the, of of these two? It's been many years, so we do not have the original actors, but narratively, we could have that story. Do we want a, another remake? They did a 2003, do we want another one?

Matthew

Yeah.

Ian

Or, should this rest in peace? Have we gotten what we need? This was the right thing, we don't need to, to touch it and to do more.

Matthew

Yeah, I, I don't think we need a revival, I don't think we need anything in the same continuity, I think it really was of it's time, and part of the, the charm of it was the way it ended. It was this weird, happy ending for everybody involved. And I suppose you could, like you say, do something with the kids. Maybe after Tommy graduates from law school, he goes to work for the FBI or something. But you don't need that. And I would have said, rest in peace, until I heard you saying good things about this remake.

So maybe at some point there's room for another remake. It is sort of a, an evergreen idea, even though it's going to change. depending on the time and place where it's set. I'm happy to say rest in peace, but I'm open to another remake. What do you think?

Ian

I'm kind of the same, although I'm leaning, I think the other way. I'm okay with rest in peace, but I would be interested in seeing another remake.

Matthew

Yeah.

Ian

I'd be interested in seeing a newer take again, because this story is just a fun setup, and it's a great chance for a pair of comedic actors to Test their chops and play off of each other with a, a wild, thrilling story.

Matthew

Okay, here's a dangerous question, but maybe I'll cut it out, maybe I'll use it, is if you were going to make this within the next, say, five years, who would you cast? Are there, are there actors with that kind of energy to play the, the weird, he's really a CIA guy, and the, the neurotic straight laced Every man who gets roped into this.

Ian

Yes. And I'm just trying to think about of who I want to cast for one of them. One sec. Weirdly enough, I kind of want to put Oh no, where is he? I'm trying to find the name so I get it right. Okay, this is going to sound really wild. I could see a version of this with Adam Driver playing the doctor and Bo Burnham playing the agent.

Matthew

Oh, I could too. That would work

Ian

weirdly. That combo would work where Adam Driver has some comedy chops, and he's been playing so much serious, I could see him saying, I want to do something else. And letting him be this kind of person, while Bo Burnham, who is so, you know, musical and comedic, getting to play the, oh yeah, I'm in dangerous stuff all the time guy, would be a great inversion between them.

Matthew

That's interesting. I can see that would work.

Ian

Yeah. So I, I, I'd be interested in seeing another, another weird idea in that went through my head is that if you were to do a new modern version, I have the perfect unexpected tip of a hat MacGuffin, which is, a supply of old printing plates. That never got recovered from an old job being the MacGuffin that's being tossed around for a while is all you need. And all it does this is imply that the 79 film exists in the same universe, but these are none of the same people

Matthew

They're stolen from some CIA evidence vault or something, right?

Ian

Cool. It's like, oh yeah, because I mean, also, if you look at it, you do a movie, you start filming now, you get a movie out in 2027. You're exactly the same distance between the original and its 2003 remake. You could have fun just like chaining time like that and just like, oh, yeah, you know, there's an old job They're they're old plates. But if you throw them through circulation, they might do something. There's information that's useful still from those It's like, okay, I can see that being a fun piece of that would be background

Matthew

And you know about, about casting a potential remake? I've got a couple of ideas for that.

Ian

Okay.

Matthew

A few years from now, I think they may be a little bit too young now, but at some point, maybe this is just because I'm a big fan of the show community, Donald Glover and Danny Pudi.

Ian

Okay, but you've gotta put, you've gotta put Glover as the doctor and Pudi as the agent.

Matthew

Yes, Glover is the, the normal guy who's in way over his head, and Pudi is, has this weird, is he crazy or not energy. If I were making it now, what I, the cast I would want would be Jane Lynch and Amy Poehler. Jane Lynch as the potentially crazy CIA agent, and Amy Poehler as the normal person who's getting sucked into this.

Ian

That works well too. That works really good. That would be fun. I like it both. So there's a lot of things like you throw two comedic actors, you have them flip what you'd expect and then run with it. Yeah. This is a good setup. I, I think we're gonna get another at some point. I bet we will. Although, I don't know. I bet we will. It's a classic. It's good. I'd say it's, it's definitely fun.

Matthew

I'm glad we got a chance to watch this again and we got a chance to talk about it. And like you said, it's it's very thematic for this month. Oh, absolutely. It's going to be a busy month and and we will admit listeners, we're recording this ahead of time so podcasts in the weeks leading up to a wedding. We've got other things to do in the days leading up to a wedding, like infiltrate corrupt South American syndicates.

Ian

Absolutely. You know, normal wedding stuff. That's right. And the next episode is right. Right around when the wedding's happening, so.

Matthew

Yes, I believe it is scheduled to drop the day after you're married.

Ian

I think so. So, listeners, that might be a special episode. Yes. I think that's going to be an interesting one.

Matthew

I believe it will, so please do join us in a couple of weeks for another tale of 20th century.

Ian

And in the meantime, go find something new to watch.