Page 13 - JIMMY REARDON LETTER TO CHICAGO CRITICS

f

sexy. The protagonist is an adolescent whose “pecker leads him around like a mule

chasing a carrot.” This certain testosterone takeover cannot be a secret about teen-

age boys. Therefore it was raw, and funny as hell (if you asked me) but there was a

bite to it and a hard-won lesson in it and River’s character almost gets killed.

Shortly before the theatrical release of the movie, Fox informed critics from all

media that the ilm would not be screened for any critics anywhere before it

opened, “for reasons you’ll understand when you see it,” was their warning line.

“A NIGHT IN THE LIFE OF JIMMY REARDON” has grown in time to have a lot

of fans, as I’ve discovered on the internet. I don’t dislike the movie; Bill Conti

wrote some excellent music and I worked on both versions with equal care. How-

ever, the changes made to the DNA of my movie by Fox remind me of the 1 per

cent genetic difference that makes humans different from chimps, for example.

I felt that both my movie and I got cheated out of our true destiny, however big or

small it was. I didn’t get to roll my own dice.

Fox publicity and marketing departments withheld facts about the making of the

movie, and gave out misleading information, which cast a taint across the entire

release. They took the heart and breath out of our excellent adventure, enshroud-

ing in their stratagems the very reasons River and I were so proud of the movie,

making it hurtful for us to talk about it or watch it.

Years later I was told by an Oregon video store owner that the studio sent an un-

precedented notice that only one VHS “A

Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon”

would be allowed per store.

Was this part of some kind of promotional

anti-movie-campaign, hoping the critics

would so trash the movie it would become

an overnight sensation? Or was this refusal

to screen for critics before release the

vengeance of studio executives intent on

burying the work of a director who fought

13