Tuesday, February 12, 2008

We're Gonna Need A Better Eulogy...

Actor Roy Scheider passed away at age 75 on Sunday. 

Since then every obit I have read quotes his famous line from JAWS - "You're gonna need a bigger boat."

This is fine because it's his most famous role and he reportedly adlibbed the line so it's a fitting reminder of his place in pop culture (the line is #35 on the AFI's list of best quotes from U.S. movies). What's not fine is that most people misquote it as "we're going to need a bigger boat" and they let it stand alone as if it'll be on his tombstone. 

I saw a CNN bit yesterday that had the clip of the said scene in that damn classic Spielberg movie with the solitary caption "Roy Scheider (1932-2008)" and that was it - a man's life reduced to a soundbite. C'mon people! We can do better than that! The guy had a whole career we can talk about! So since everybody knows JAWS (and JAWS 2 for that matter) let's look at: 

5 Essential Sharkless Roy Scheider Roles 


1. THE FRENCH CONNECTION (Dir. William Friedkin, 1971) This film won 5 Oscars but Scheider, despite being nominated, went home without any gold. Everyone talks about Gene Hackman as Popeye Doyle and the incredible chase scene but what about Scheider as Buddy "Cloudy" Russo? He was the glue that held this tense 70's cop tale of drug smuggling uncovered by jaded racist cops together! Not exactly the "good cop" to Hackman's "bad cop" but close enough in my book - or on my blog. See the trailer here

2. ALL THAT JAZZ (Dir. Bob Fosse, 1979)


In an interview Scheider remarked that he had made what he considered "three landmark films" - JAWS, THE FRENCH CONNECTION and ALL THAT JAZZ. He was right for many consider JAZZ his finest performance. In his role as Joe Gideon, a character who was somewhat semi-autobiographically based on Fosse, Scheider acts, sings, and dances with a verve unseen in the rest of his filmography. As Vincent Canby said in his review "With an actor of less weight and intensity, ALL THAT JAZZ might have evaporated as we watched it. Mr. Scheider's is a presence to reckon with." Check out this clip of "Bye Bye Life".



3. 2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT (Dir. Peter Hyams, 1984) This sequel to the classic Kubrick film is better than most people remember. Sure, it was pretty unneccessary and its conclusions are far from satisfying but it is full of worthy dialogue and acting - most of which comes courtesey of Scheider. As Dr. Heywood Floyd (a role originally played by William Slyvester) Scheider brings his reliable determined intensity displayed by such lines like: "Reason? There's no TIME to be reasonable!" 

4. MARATHON MAN (Dir. John Schlesinger, 1976) It's another sidekick role but Scheider shines as Dustin Hoffman's brother Henry 'Doc' Levy. He is extremely enjoyable as he effortlessly glides through his scenes. What's really worth seeking out is the DVD of the documentary about producer Robert Evans THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE for the bonus material features Hoffman and Scheider riffing on the MARATHON MAN set doing dueling Evans impressions. funny stuff - funnier than when Scheider hosted SNL in 1985 anyway.


5. BLUE THUNDER (Dir. John Badham, 1983) Sure some people will snicker at the sight of this flick making such a tributary list but it's my list and this was the first Scheider film I ever saw at the theater. It's not the most memorable film - I saw it with my mother and she doesn't remember it but I sure do. 

Scheider is a cop assigned to the heavily armed police helicopter of the title, and with his sidekick Daniel Stern they fly around and fight crime. Yep, it's a big dumb 80's action thriller but that doesn't mean it isn't fun. "Uh-oh. You'd better hold your nose. We're in deep shit" Scheider warns his partner at one point, and yeah, that's no match for the "bigger boat" line but damnit this film could stand a few more late night TV airings - that is, if JAWS needs to take a rest. See the trailer here

Scheider Spillover: ROMEO IS BLEEDING (Dir. Peter Medek, 1993) This is a personal favorite and it's the only film of Scheider's I own on DVD. He's a mob boss who has only a few scenes but they're pretty damn vital. Post Note: Somebody put this inevitable mash-up on Youtube - ALL THAT JAWS. Enjoy! I feel unqualified to properly access Scheider's ouvre since I haven't seen many of his films (including the highly regarded SORCERER) but I feel this top five will suffice - for now. 

  R.I.P. Roy Scheider. 

  More later...

5 comments:

Jason said...

I'm glad you enjoyed the mashup. Truly bizarre thing is that I didn't know he'd died until moments after I finished it.

Oh, and go rent 'Sorcerer.' Now. Amazing film.

Jay Wright said...

Rent "Sorcerer." It was one of the first movies I rented when I got Netflix. One of the reasons was to rent this film and "Wages of Fear" which "Sorcerer was based upon.

I saw "Blue Thunder" when it was on the big screen. It was a cool movie at the time. The only bad thing was the forgettable TV show with James Farrentino which was horrible.

Also, I recommend "Cohen and Tate" which had Mr. Scheider as an aging hitman with Adam Baldwin. He is really good in it and this was when Baldwin was still pretty unknown except for "My Bodyguard."

Anonymous said...

I third the motion - rent SORCERER!!!! I expect to see some film babble on that soon.
- Moviester

Daniel Cook Johnson said...

Okay! SORCERER is in my Netflix queue. I'll report on it as soon as I see it.

Anonymous said...

ROY SCHEIDER’S FINAL FILM “IRON CROSS” – TRAILER & UPDATE MAY 2009

Calibra Pictures is pleased to announce the release of the trailer for Roy Scheider’s last film “Iron Cross”.

The revenge thriller, written and directed by Joshua Newton, will be previewed towards the end of the year in Los Angeles, following our Roy Scheider Film Week, dates and location tbc.

The trailer can be downloaded securely from the following yousendit.com link:

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/674374016/2c8d2c044adbfe73d4293fc995eca0cb

We’d be delighted to receive your comments.

Yours truly

The Iron Cross Team
ironcross@calibrapictures.com