...for Hal Ashby, it's something of a tragedy in the course of his career. At this point, to give some background, he wasn't getting the same kind of prime work he did in the 70s (Harold and Maude, Last Detail, Coming Home, Shampoo, Being There), this despite the fact that he won an Oscar as editor and nominated for director. After some low-budget comedies- and a less than great Rolling Stones movie- he took on this neo-noir co-scripted by Oliver Stone, and had a good cast in place with Jeff Bridges playing the on-off lush ex-detective, Rosanna Arquette as the call girl entrapped by cold, grinning/vicious pimp/pusher played by newcomer Andy Garcia. It seemed like a solid genre picture, one that could hopefully make a few bucks among the crowds looking for another fix of action and crime and romance and what-have-you.
As far as I know, I'm not sure why Ashby was then fired midway through by the producers. Maybe it was paranoia on the producers part (Ashby had an addiction to cocaine, ironically considering the subject matter of the film, and perhaps he was still on it during filming), or he did genuinely screw up somehow, but seeing that he wasn't part of the production all the way through, it casts the film in something of another light. Taking it as it is, there's some entertainment to be had with the tense dialog from Stone between Bridges and Garcia, and also some good chemistry between Bridges and Arquette. Hell, there's even a compelling undercurrent of redemption that's to be had with Bridges's Matthew coming back from bad alcoholic blackouts to track down the killer of the call girl Sonny.
But, and this is the crucial part, the film often has the feel as though it was seriously meddled with by the producers. This isn't to say Ashby's touches with his actors isn't there, as that's compelling enough, but the soundtrack in place makes this so painfully scream out 1980 THRILLER! that it boggles the mind like a hangover with Miami Vice. And there's even a section of the plot that, as perhaps with Matthew as well, blacks out right after Sonny's death. Certain other scenes don't feel like they had that touch of what came at least mostly naturally to Ashby, which was interesting editing. It would've been one thing if this was just another in a series of damned efforts from the director (apparently another film he made also had this happen to him), but given that it's also his final directed feature, albeit after the fact, adds to the shamefulness.
Does 8 Million Ways to Die deserve a director's cut? Maybe so, maybe not, as it stands it's a competent, mostly satisfying thriller. But we'll never know either way.
As far as I know, I'm not sure why Ashby was then fired midway through by the producers. Maybe it was paranoia on the producers part (Ashby had an addiction to cocaine, ironically considering the subject matter of the film, and perhaps he was still on it during filming), or he did genuinely screw up somehow, but seeing that he wasn't part of the production all the way through, it casts the film in something of another light. Taking it as it is, there's some entertainment to be had with the tense dialog from Stone between Bridges and Garcia, and also some good chemistry between Bridges and Arquette. Hell, there's even a compelling undercurrent of redemption that's to be had with Bridges's Matthew coming back from bad alcoholic blackouts to track down the killer of the call girl Sonny.
But, and this is the crucial part, the film often has the feel as though it was seriously meddled with by the producers. This isn't to say Ashby's touches with his actors isn't there, as that's compelling enough, but the soundtrack in place makes this so painfully scream out 1980 THRILLER! that it boggles the mind like a hangover with Miami Vice. And there's even a section of the plot that, as perhaps with Matthew as well, blacks out right after Sonny's death. Certain other scenes don't feel like they had that touch of what came at least mostly naturally to Ashby, which was interesting editing. It would've been one thing if this was just another in a series of damned efforts from the director (apparently another film he made also had this happen to him), but given that it's also his final directed feature, albeit after the fact, adds to the shamefulness.
Does 8 Million Ways to Die deserve a director's cut? Maybe so, maybe not, as it stands it's a competent, mostly satisfying thriller. But we'll never know either way.