While we’re at it with Baumbach. A little bit of history/ trivia. After shooting “Mr. Jealousy” in 1997 (not his best film, but still some decent parts; Chris Eigeman is naturally brilliant), Noah Baumbach retained the same cast for a low-budget film that was shot over the course of a week (it also featured Baumbach acting in it). It never came out in theaters, but then a few years ago (2000) it was released on DVD under the title “Highball,” with Baumbach’s writer and director credits taken off apparently at his request (Jesse Carter was the writer’s name, and Ernie Fusco was the director, but it’s all Baumbach).
He talked about it in a 2005 interview with The Onion.
“It’s not obvious [that I disavowed it]? [Laughs.] The truth is, I never “owned” Highball. It really was an experiment, and kind of a foolish experiment, because I didn’t think about what the ramifications would be if it didn’t work. But it was made with all the best intentions, which was to try and make a movie in six days, and use all the same people from Mr. Jealousy, with all their goodwill, and bring in some more people. And it was a funny script. But it was just too ambitious. We didn’t have enough time, we didn’t finish it, it didn’t look good, it was just a whole… mess. [Laughs.] We couldn’t get it done, and I had a falling out with the producer. He abandoned it, and I had no money to finish it, to go back and maybe get two more days or something. Then later, it was put out on DVD without my approval.”
Here’s an 8 minute scene from the long-forgotten flick.
