SPIELBERG: RUNNIN' DOWN A DREAM

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A BIGGER BOAT: DUEL & CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

We are joined once again by podcast fave Rick Patt to discuss Spielberg's two chase movies made at two very different points in his career.

1971's TV movie DUEL effectively served as Spielberg's calling card. Written by Richard Matheson from his own short story, Duel is the deceptively simple story of an everyman from the city mysterious besieged by a demonic semi truck in the lonely high desert highways of Southern California. Often called the greatest TV movie ever made (The Jericho Mile would like a word with you there) DUEL had scenes added following its initial airing so it could be released theatrically in Europe. It led to Spielberg being considered for Jaws and the rest is history.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. By 2002 Beardo had already won two best director Oscars and could make almost any movie he wanted. Taking the truth-contested autobiography of Frank Abegnale Jr, a project he had intended to produce with directors like Gore Verbinski and David Fincher briefly attached, Spielberg guided the tale of a teenage conman into a tale of a boy who could not handle the fact his parents divorced. On paper that sounds a bit too much, given Spielberg's background. But in screenwriter Jeff Nathanson's hands (a rare instance in this era where Spielberg didn't doctor a script out) and with a cast featuring too many great actors to name off, Spielberg infuses the story of a teenage savant with more energy and joy than any of his movies since Raiders. It may be his best work of the 21st century.

Two good movies this episode!

THEME SONG BY: WEIRD A.I.

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