Paul Thomas Anderson has never been shy about his love for Martin Brest, and especially “Midnight Run,” a movie he has long treated as a personal cinematic touchstone. The 1988 action comedy’s intricate construction, deceptively emotional character work, and perfectly calibrated chemistry between Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin clearly mean a lot to him. Anderson doesn’t just love the movie; he talks about it like a filmmaker who has studied how every part works.
So, it makes a certain amount of sense that Anderson and Brest once discussed making a movie together. The real surprise is that no one seems to have known about it until now.
The revelation came during a 2021 American Cinematheque screening of “Midnight Run” and “Beverly Hills Cop” at the Aero Theatre, with Anderson joining Brest for a lengthy conversation. The Cinematheque just uploaded the discussion this week, five years after the event took place. Whatever the delay, it’s a notable nugget worth excavating from the halls of forgotten cinematic lore.
“One of the first people who was ever nice to me in Hollywood, California, was Marty Brest,” Anderson said. “I got to go into his office, and he was nice to me. We even talked about making a movie. We had a nice idea, but nothing ever happened. Maybe one day.”
Brest didn’t appear to remember the proposed project, prompting Anderson to explain that he had been very young at the time and Brest used to call him “Paulie Three Names.”
And what exactly was this lost Brest-Anderson collaboration?
“It was about a guy who kidnapped some girls, and they drove around and looked at Christmas lights because he wanted to just have somebody to go look at these Christmas lights in the neighborhood,” Anderson explained.
“Call my people,” Brest joked.
There’s no indication the project ever progressed beyond those early conversations, and Anderson’s “maybe one day” comment was delivered lightly. Still, the possibility of the two filmmakers working together is tantalizing, especially given Brest’s long absence from directing.
Brest made a run of enduring studio films that included “Going in Style,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Midnight Run,” “Scent of a Woman,” and “Meet Joe Black.” However, he hasn’t directed a feature since 2003’s infamous Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy “Gigli,” which was savaged by critics and became shorthand for a major Hollywood bomb.
During the discussion, Anderson described Brest as an early supporter and spoke passionately about the durability of “Midnight Run,” particularly its extraordinary cast.
“When this movie came out, it meant so much to me,” Anderson said. “It was great then, and it was great a couple years later, and it was great 10 years later, and it’s still great now. It ages so well.”
Anderson added that the movie still felt like “a miracle,” praising everyone from Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin down to the actors playing waitresses and truck passengers. Brest, meanwhile, discussed the film’s carefully constructed screenplay, its extensive improvisation, and how Grodin proved to be the rare actor capable of knocking De Niro off balance.
Whether “Paulie Three Names” will ever get Brest back behind the camera remains extremely doubtful. But if anyone can convince the long-retired filmmaker to make another movie, Anderson seems like a pretty good candidate. Maybe one day? Watch their full conversation below.
Born in Chile, raised in Canada, now living in Brooklyn, NY, Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2007. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, MuchMusic, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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