Sam Elliott Birthday Double Feature: The Hero (2017) & The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot (2018)

Hollie and I celebrate Sam Elliott's upcoming birthday with two of his lesser known recent films, The Hero and The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot. If you know nothing about either one, hit play to see what we think and if they're ones you should watch.

Podcast may contain minimal profanity.

Spoiler alert.

Teaser for next week's episode!

Music by Moodmode on Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/users/moodmode-33139253/
https://www.youtube.com/@moodmode - Check out my Youtube channel.
https://www.tiktok.com/@mood.mode - TikTok

Thanks for listening and be sure to look for new episodes soon!

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Sean 0:02

Welcome back to Scenes from the Screen, where we talk about all types of films and TV. Obscure, forgotten, prestigious, rotten, from must see to "Are you kidding me?" Big screen and small, we cover it all. Who knows? You might discover a new gem or be reintroduced to an old favorite. My name is Sean, and I'll be your host. Welcome back, Hollie.

Hollie 0:22

Glad to be here. Thanks for the invite.

Sean 0:24

Well, you know you're always invited.

Hollie 0:26

Mm hmm. Sometimes I feel like I'm not, but that's ok.

Sean 0:28

You are always invited.

Hollie 0:29

I talked too much last time.

Sean 0:31

You did not. I I love the fact that you talked that much. It shows you're interested.

Hollie 0:36

It does.

Sean 0:37

Well, are you interested though? I guess it showed it, but I didn't know. Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Well, you'll have a brief reprieve in two weeks. Because next week you'll be with me again. We're going to be doing Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Hollie 0:49

I'm very excited to go see that.

Sean 0:51

Yeah, I am too. I actually, early reports, I've not read anything, but I've seen uh the headline saying it's the best Spider-Man in 20 years. So I'm actually really looking forward to it. But today we chose. Well, I chose, I guess.

Hollie 1:03

You chose. I did not choose.

Sean 1:05

Right. I chose only because I was doing research one day for something I'm sure was pretty weird, as I normally do. It always takes me down a rabbit hole. And this one, this particular research I was doing led me to Sam Elliott's birthday, which is, I believe, August 9th. So I thought, since I'd just seen a movie that he was in a few weeks before that I'd never heard of called The Hero. I thought, well, why not, since he's a goddamn national treasure. I'm sure you agree with that. Sam Elliott.

Hollie 1:36

Sam Elliott is yes.

Sean 1:38

He's awesome.

Hollie 1:38

He's amazing.

Sean 1:39

So I thought, well, let's do a special for his birthday and highlight a couple movies. So we're gonna do The Hero from 2017. But I thought, well, might why not make it a twofer?

Hollie 1:49

I like the two fers.

Sean 1:50

You like the two fers. And the twofer is one that we'd seen before, but it was it had been a while, so we watched it again was The Man Who Killed Hitler and then the Bigfoot.

Hollie 1:58

The man who killed Hitler then the Bigfoot. I don't think there's an and.

Sean 2:04

No, it is there. There is a yes. It's the man who killed Hitler and then the Bigfoot.

Hollie 2:08

Okay.

Sean 2:09

Because I love that title for various reasons. Because it all depends on how you look at it, but we'll get to that in a moment. The Hero is about Sam Elliott plays an aging, I would guess movie star.

Hollie 2:21

Actor of some sort.

Sean 2:23

Actor, right. And when we open up on the film, he's doing voiceovers for a chicken, I guess not a chicken place, but a barbecue sauce.

Hollie 2:30

Right. It seemed almost biographical of him too, though, in a way, because of you know aging and although in real life, Sam Elliott's still pretty much an a major actor.

Sean 2:43

He's in demand.

Hollie 2:43

In the movie, he wasn't, but it seemed a lot of biographical stuff to me.

Sean 2:47

Correct. Yeah, and I was we were actually gonna get to that too, because both of the films I think were very biographical in a way, or well not by I'm sorry, not biographical, but they had a certain theme.

Hollie 2:57

Okay.

Sean 2:58

And it's you're staring down mortality, you're coming to the end of your life. So yeah, I'm I'm sorry, yeah, not necessarily...

Hollie 3:06

Caught me off guard on that one.

Sean 3:07

Yeah, sorry about that. But yeah, it was a common theme. I thought I saw in both. So I don't know if you agree, but but in The Hero, um, so he at the beginning, it's it's a short film, it's a little over an hour and a half, but it was like an hour and 38 minutes, something like that. And the film at the very beginning, he gets a well, he's trying to look for work.

Hollie 3:24

Right.

Sean 3:25

You can tell he's irritated with the voiceover stuff because they keep asking him to repeat it, which is actually kind of comical.

Hollie 3:30

Right, they ask him to repeat it, but they're not telling him why or what to change...

Sean 3:34

Yes.

Hollie 3:34

...and he even asks, like, how do you want it different? And they're they're like, just say it again. So he it's like a waste of time.

Sean 3:40

And his acting is so good that you can tell he's getting irritated without his maybe only a minor change in facial expression.

Hollie 3:45

Right.

Sean 3:45

His eyes really do all the heavy lifting, and his voice, too, even though it's the same, you could tell it's a little bit more exasperated each and every time he does it, in a way. But I think that's only because you see him. But then he finds he's trying to get more work, he calls his agent, there's really nothing coming in per se. And then he finds out he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After that, you know, he kind of starts to, I guess, take stock of his life a little bit.

Hollie 4:10

Well, he reaches out to people that...

Sean 4:13

His ex-wife...

Hollie 4:13

His ex-wife and his daughter.

Sean 4:14

...played by Katherine Ross, his real life wife since 1984.

Hollie 4:18

And and his daughter, who he has a very strange, strange, strained relationship with.

Sean 4:24

I think you were gonna say estranged as well. You're right. You kind of got caught up. Yeah, because I I was thinking estranged. And she's that's played by Kristen Ritter from Jessica Jones and uh Breaking Bad. She was in Breaking Bad also. So he lives next door, I would say, to kind of a drug dealer. Nick Offerman plays the drug dealer.

Hollie 4:42

Right, he's definitely a drug dealer.

Sean 4:43

But a really cool one, y'know. Seems like they hang out together a lot, they smoke weed.

Hollie 4:47

Well, they were in a movie or show together when Nick Offerman was young. That's how they met.

Sean 4:53

Yes, yeah. They were in he played a boy in some sort of a western. Yeah, so that's how yeah, that's how they they remained friends. And in real life, they were in Parks and Rec together. They both played the two Rons. Yeah, I mean, that's hysterical. I'm sure...

Hollie 5:07

So I'm wondering if they became friends after that. Because it's an odd role for Nick Offerman. It's not like it, although he's I love Nick Offerman, and but it's not that I wasn't expecting to see him because I didn't look to see who was in the movie. So when I'm like, oh my god, that's Nick Offerman. Like it was a shock. It just I don't know, it seemed like outside of his normal realm, but every kind of everything he does is a little unique, though, if you think about it.

Sean 5:33

Last of Us was totally different from his normal realm. So I almost expect to see him pop up in anything, and I'm overjoyed that he does because I love Nick Offerman. But so when he goes over and he's hanging out with him, they're watching old films like Buster Keaton films, and um, someone else comes to get drugs, and that's Laura Prepon, who was in That 70 Show and Orange is the New Black. I didn't see Orange is the New Black. You you watched that.

Hollie 5:55

Oh, that was an awesome show. She was she's gorgeous and amazing. I I like her a lot.

Sean 6:00

Yeah, she plays uh Charlotte, so she kind of takes a liking to uh Sam Elliott's character, Lee, and...

Hollie 6:09

She has a thing for old men.

Sean 6:10

She does, and she's she notes that he's sad. You know, she said not old sad men, but she has a thing for older men, and she's a stand-up comedian. So actually, he is invited to this Lifetime Achievement Award to you know to accept a lifetime achievement, and he asks the daughter who can't go, so he asks Charlotte, Laura Prepon's character, and they take drugs beforehand and...

Hollie 6:33

Yeah, she gives them ecstasy or something, or Molly.

Sean 6:35

Molly, I think it is, yes. So when they they go into Lifetime Achievement, they're all both pretty high and....

Hollie 6:41

Yes, very high.

Sean 6:42

And here is a little aside, but in the movie is the head of everything is Max Gail. Wojciehowicz from Barney Miller.

Hollie 6:48

Right. And the Lifetime Achievement Award was for some little brinky dink outfit, some group that likes westerns. So it's not like it was a lifetime achievement for a big thing.

Sean 6:59

Right, it wasn't like the Academy Awards or anything like that. So he he's all high and he delivers a speech that basically says that we're all worthy of an award. So he hands it out to a random person in the audience, played by Patrika Darbo, who was in...

Hollie 7:13

Seinfeld.

Sean 7:13

Seinfeld and she was in...remember, we watched The Vagrant...

Hollie 7:15

Right.

Sean 7:16

With Bill Paxton, which is a weird movie.

Hollie 7:18

Right. Very weird.

Sean 7:19

I'd like to do that at some point too, because that's a very odd film. But so he goes viral.

Hollie 7:24

Yeah, because he's his acceptance speech was so out there, and he was just saying how you know everybody deserves the award, you deserve the award, and he gives it to her. So, you know, he becomes in demand when that goes viral. It's like, wow, look how cool this dude is. He's just so nice, and everybody and he became famous again.

Sean 7:44

And one of the offers that he gets is for they never say what it is, but it's almost like a young adult adaptation, uh, and he he plays like a father figure role.

Hollie 7:53

Yeah, that's what it seemed like, yeah.

Sean 7:55

Yes. When he goes in to read the lines, he he tears up and uh because it reminds him of his relationship with his daughter in a way, like stuff he I guess can't say, or something that will probably never happen between the two of them.

Hollie 8:09

Right. Well, I think too, because the line in the the fake movie line was I didn't die because uh it was almost to me like a um she thought he was talking to a girl, I got the impression, and he the lines were like I didn't die, I came back to help you, and she was mad, why are you here? And he's like, I came back to help you, but just talking about dying, and that's part of the movie when his treatment options were being discussed, and he knows he's going to die.

Sean 8:41

Right and you know, what he even says during the the movie at one point, one of the lines was I don't know if it's worth it buying time, which is a I thought a great line.

Hollie 8:48

That is a good line.

Sean 8:49

Probably the best line of the film. So that's the you know, that's the gist of it, and then the rest explores his relationship, uh honestly, with again repairing it with his ex-wife in a great scene. He you could he's telling her about what's going on with him, but there's no dialogue.

Hollie 9:02

I thought that was fantastic the way they did that because you didn't have to see their faces or hear their dialogue, it was just far enough away, it was just through their body language and the music that you knew he was telling his ex-wife that he was he was gonna die because he had not at prior to that he'd never told anyone except he just opened up to Laura, the Charlotte character, and she told him you have to tell your family, and convinced him that he has to tell them because he he stood up his daughter. I forget what what happened, why he stood her up, because they were gonna meet for dinner or lunch, and he stood her up, and you could tell that's...

Sean 9:38

I think it was just him going through the process of dealing with...

Hollie 9:40

Yeah, he's dealing with a lot in in you know, they need to know why he's being such a jerk.

Sean 9:47

More so than I guess he normally was in the past.

Hollie 9:50

Right. But I think too, in the way, like when he finally does talk to his daughter about it, I she was pissed. Like, you know, it he was telling her for him, not for her, because he was never there for her. So he was just telling her so he would feel better about it. And and I thought that was a really cool scene. I thought both actors were amazing in it, too.

Sean 10:09

I agree, I agree, and uh, you know, I have to be, I mean, Sam Elliott, well, he's great in anything again. So that's that's just on the table, put it out there. I will watch him in anything. I I mean I loved him and his brief appearance in a movie I don't like, and a lot of people do, is Big Lebowski. I'm just not a fan of that movie, but he I love you know, Sam Elliott pops up, you you elevate it like a hundredfold.

Hollie 10:29

What is he, 80, 81 or something now?

Sean 10:31

He is, I believe he's 81, yes.

Hollie 10:33

Yeah, and he's still, I mean, he looks old, don't get me wrong, but he is still so sexy. He's like an empathetic, kind, thoughtful man's man. You know, like he he doesn't he comes off very manly.

Sean 10:46

Comes off as rugged.

Hollie 10:47

Rugged and like you know, cowboy, you know, all that burly stuff. But then he also comes off very kind and genuine and and thoughtful, more of a sensitive man. So he he seems to be able to take both both sides of himself and merge into one. And not too many actors or men even can come off with that. And he's still very, very sexy, and that voice. And he when he was playing, this is where I think it was more biographical. He was playing an older actor who's famous for his voice, and Sam Elliott is famous for his voice.

Sean 11:17

Yes, yeah, that is correct. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, well, more than that, but his voice is very distinctive.

Hollie 11:22

Everyone knows Sam Elliott's voice. Like you hear it, you know that's him.

Sean 11:25

So the film did have its problems. One is that dream they kept going to his dream, him being the I thought it was and it was supposed to be some motif, I guess, of him because he saw a man hanging.

Hollie 11:36

Or was that a movie that he did? I didn't know.

Sean 11:39

I was confused because he did do a movie called The Hero, which the title is based on, and it's this, and here's another problem. This is the celebrated film, I guess, that people know him for and loved it. And he he even says that's the best work I've ever done, but I never feel it because nobody else even talks about it. It it's not like it's he's not I don't know, there's something about it...

Hollie 12:00

It's almost like they edited something out to explain that more to us. Like, I don't think it was it was told what what that was and what that was about.

Sean 12:08

And if the dream was meant to represent that, I I don't think that did it very well.

Hollie 12:14

No, and plus it bothered me that there were other people in it, like if it was him talking about dreaming or or having a sense of his own mortality relating back to a movie he did, there were other characters in it. So it it was it a movie, was it him? Like I didn't understand that. I thought that that was weak, a weak part of the movie.

Sean 12:32

And that's where it lingered too long. Um, it's shot very well. Like, I really think the director did a great job in in shooting it and that cinematographer, but again, like the dream sequences didn't really add anything to the story for me. Um, I think they should have done more with that audition and made it his final role.

Hollie 12:46

I thought the audition was amazing. I thought watching Sam Elliott cry like that is hard for me. It's certain men can cry and it doesn't bother me because they aren't good criers. Sam Elliott, that was the first time I ever saw him cry like that that I can remember in a movie.

Sean 13:06

Yeah, he broke down.

Hollie 13:06

Other than the other movie we talked about. But him crying is just amazing. Like he he really I feel like he felt that, you know, and I I teared up, but I cry a lot, and I teared up.

Sean 13:17

I did not, but that the scene was very well acted.

Hollie 13:19

Yeah, and I like how they didn't really talk, really show the other two people that much. It was more just his face.

Sean 13:24

I agree. And like I said, some of it was a little not that part, but some of the film overall was a little heavy-handed, but it was also not fully formed at the same time, which is very odd. I thought so again, some of the choice they made with the the actual overall story. Like I thought it would have been more interesting to maybe to explore because of that viral speech that he did, that it would have been more interesting to explore his career resurgence and at the same time maybe deal with his pancreatic cancer. Again, making that his final role and putting it, you know, trying to put his life all back together instead of it, it still was kind of fractured in a way. Like I said, I don't really know what they were going for in terms of that.

Hollie 14:04

Yeah, I think it was neat that they kept the movie only a few days. It seemed to only be a few days, like maybe a week or two of time.

Sean 14:12

I agree. Yeah, I it wasn't very long.

Hollie 14:14

Right and I like that. But if you're gonna talk about like this role and reflecting on this movie, it's almost like I needed to see more than just a few days. Because if you're gonna go into all this other stuff visually, like you could talk about it, but they went into it with that with the movie dream sequence and all that. We needed to know more. It would have been interesting to have more about what actually happened to them.

Sean 14:35

Right. And I also, you know, I and I know we kind of bypassed this a little bit, but uh there's... Laura Prepon is so good in this.

Hollie 14:43

She is.

Sean 14:43

I mean, she's she's really good in everything. I'm I I wish we would see her in more things, but the one thing I really thought about her in this film is that she has these really stunning eyes, and that it looks like behind those eyes the wheels are always turning, like there's something always clicking, they're alive. And if that's not like a calculating way or like a mischievous, but it's more thinking, you know, she's very into the scene with whoever it is, and no matter what scene it was, again, there's something like sly about it, too, you know, so...

Hollie 15:14

I think at first, I when we first started watching the movie, I was not enjoying it. And I told you, I don't think I like this movie. It was slightly slow, and I guess because I'm just so in tune of with more, you know, you get the way movies are today and not so much storytelling. But then once I really got into it, I did start to enjoy it a lot. And what a thing that bothered me initially was as soon as she walked into that door into...Nick Offerman's house, the drug dealer's house, I was like, if they make a romantic connection between Laura Prepon and Sam Elliott, which there has to be a 40, she has to be at least twice her age. She's probably in her late 30s, if that.

Sean 15:56

It's yeah, it's almost, I think it's like at least a 30-year difference.

Hollie 16:00

She's older, she's not 50.

Sean 16:02

Well, yeah, no, probably 40.

Hollie 16:03

So that I was like gross, first of all. And I don't know if I wanted I love Sam Elliott and I find him sexy, but I I think seeing him in a sex scene is kind of like taking away the mystique of Sam Elliott. However, I think they filmed it very well. And once you get to know her character, you kind of see her with an old man. So it didn't bother me after the initial, oh God, please don't do that. Because they do that a lot. Old man with a young woman, that's you know, Hollywood. thing. They did it well.

Sean 16:32

That's a very similar...yeah, very similar to what I thought too. I'm like, oh, here we go. The old trope about she falls in love with it, but they make it work so well that the I mean, I think any other actors in that in those roles, it just would not have worked...

Hollie 16:42

No, it worked.

Sean 16:43

...but they made it work very well...

Hollie 16:44

I agree.

Sean 16:44

...it's it is it's very believable. So, this movie is on for those who are interested, it's on Amazon for free and also the Roku channel, so...

Hollie 16:54

I do recommend it.

Sean 16:55

Yeah, in terms of rewatchability, I would not watch it again, but to watch it the first time, yes.

Hollie 17:00

Yes, I would watch it, but I would not watch it again.

Sean 17:02

Sam Elliott again for the cast, and it like I said, it is it is it is well done.

Hollie 17:06

Very well, but it's sad.

Sean 17:08

It yeah, it is sad, which brings us to the next movie. I first came upon this several years ago, and you know, when you hear a title like The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot...

Hollie 17:18

The Bigfoot.

Sean 17:19

...the Bigfoot, right. It's not just big, he's the Bigfoot, like the Ohio State University, so you know a lot of importance is lent to the Bigfoot in this one. So I had to look it up because I'm trying to think when it was set in. It was set in late 80s, I think 87 is when they said it was set in. I mean, the title is just awesome in and of itself.

Hollie 17:36

Yeah, the title, it's just and that's what happened, you know. Like it's the...

Sean 17:39

Right, they weren't lying, they like they weren't they're not fucking around.

Hollie 17:42

That's the character, that's what happened.

Sean 17:43

Yeah, the man he is the man who killed Hitler and then the Bigfoot, so...

Hollie 17:47

Not really that close together in time.

Sean 17:49

No spoiler alerts yet, but right. It's though that you know that's gonna happen. And when the first time we saw it, I think we were both taken aback by how much of a uh like a relationship story it is.

Hollie 18:00

Right.

Sean 18:00

It's about him younger and older and dealing again, dealing with his mortality in a way.

Hollie 18:06

Right and I did I this time I didn't notice it so much the first time, but this time his relationship with his brother, I thought was played by Larry Miller, which was really amazing and and very well done. And it was touching, it was very touching.

Sean 18:20

I do agree with that. Well, let's go into the story a little bit. So when the film opens, it's during World War II, um, he's a younger man and he covertly sneaks in as an SS agent and eventually reveals over the time that he assassinated Hitler, but it was one of the many Hit Hitler...

Hollie 18:38

There were more than one Hitlers because...

Sean 18:40

Doppelgangers running around.

Hollie 18:41

I mean I did like that, so it was really interesting. And when they said, Why do you think he's so caricature-ish? Is because they put him, he is almost costume-like if you think about Hitler. He looks like anyone can dress up and look exactly like Hitler, and that's so he can have doppelgangers or body doubles.

Sean 18:58

Exactly. Yeah, and so that he assassinated one of them, if maybe the right one.

Hollie 19:03

He assassinated three of them.

Sean 19:04

Three of them, that's true. Yeah, he did assassinate three. So he now he's called upon by the United States government to kill Bigfoot. Yeah, so Bigfoot is, and here's just an interesting twist on that. It's not just because, hey, I just want you to kill Bigfoot. There's a serial killing up in Canada, but it's not just kill, yeah, it's not just Bigfoot's in a way, serial killing. Bigfoot has... the Bigfoot... has a virus that will kill humankind.

Hollie 19:29

Well, they tell you it's serial killer because they they the news is telling about the serial killer in Canada, and you keep seeing news articles laying down, and they they kind of look at it in the background, it's not up in your face. And then when the FBI comes, which is John Livingston...

Sean 19:44

Ron Livingston.

Hollie 19:44

...Ron Livingston...

Sean 19:45

From...

Hollie 19:46

Office Space.

Sean 19:47

Office Space, yeah, couldn't think of the name, yeah, um...

Hollie 19:49

And many other things, but they come to talk to him and they're like, Yeah, it's not really a serial killer, it's Bigfoot with a very bad virus.

Sean 19:58

And he happens to be immune. Sam Elliott's character is immune.

Hollie 20:01

One of three people that have the this blood type that's immune to the virus.

Sean 20:04

Correct. Yeah, so and the other one is a baby...

Hollie 20:07

One's a baby and one's dead.

Sean 20:09

Yeah, one so yeah, so he's the really the only one that could do this, and he can track.

Hollie 20:13

And he's a tracker, yes. And he's very intelligent military person. Like he he was an extremely gifted soldier who does not like to kill. So I thought that was so awesome. Like killing to him was very he didn't want to kill Hitler, he didn't want to do any of these things, but he had to because he does what he's told, because he's a good soldier and and he's a good person. And someone tells him to do something, he does it. You know, he listens to the authority and the rules, and that was a sad thing.

Sean 20:42

Well, he also saw it as a waste of time because he killed the Hitlers, but the Hitlers message lived on.

Hollie 20:48

Right.

Sean 20:49

That was the thing. So then he figured that was a waste of time.

Hollie 20:51

You killed a Hitler. You killed a human being, but still the the idea and the hate was still there.

Sean 20:55

Correct, yeah.

Hollie 20:56

Just kind of very...

Sean 20:56

very that was very interesting, yeah.

Hollie 20:57

...timely for today.

Sean 20:59

I agree, I agree.

Hollie 21:01

Since Fascism is back.

Sean 21:02

The cast is amazing. I mean, so we already mentioned Ron Livingston and Larry Miller, stand-up comedian who plays his brother. Alden Turner plays uh Sam Elliott as a younger man.

Hollie 21:11

He looked like him. He resembled him too.

Sean 21:13

And a little a little the voice...just a little bit.

Hollie 21:14

Yeah, mannerisms in a little bit, like you could see that the actor was probably trying to get the voice because that's like we said, Sam Elliott's voice is...one of a kind.

Sean 21:21

Right, it's very distinctive. And Caitlin Fitzgerald plays his love interest back in around the World War II time. She was in Masters of Sex and Succession, and so it kind of focused on their relationship too. He goes to he tries to propose, and you know, but he has to go off to war, and she writes some letters, and he, you know, he doesn't respond because they're not allowed to know where he is.

Hollie 21:44

Because he's so covert with his skill set.

Sean 21:47

But yeah, so it goes back and forth in time. Now I did find on the repeat viewing that at the end it it really it really went on a little bit too long. I think they should have moved that around in the story about him and the love interest.

Hollie 22:02

I agree. I think it was timing that wasn't the best place to put that scene, but I I didn't think it necessarily went too long. I I just really loved it.

Sean 22:11

Well, lingered long at the end because I mean again, you you get out like after you killed the Bigfoot. So I know that's not what it's the movie's about. You can linger on a little bit longer because there's a reason to, and you know, we won't get into that. The reason why we we linger a little bit.

Hollie 22:25

When was this movie made?

Sean 22:26

2018.

Hollie 22:27

We can spoil it, babe.

Sean 22:28

Well, basically, he he he almost dies when killing the Bigfoot.

Hollie 22:32

People think he's dead.

Sean 22:33

People think he's dead, but he's actually not. I still don't know how he gets away with that because isn't he living in his house? Or where is he living somewhere else? I guess that's what I'm confused about.

Hollie 22:41

Well, no, they thought he was dead until he came back. Like they the government had him.

Sean 22:46

Right. I just thought they still felt other than his brother. I thought that everyone still thought that he was dead.

Hollie 22:50

Well, I'm sure people eventually saw him hanging around. He didn't care to tell anyone. He wasn't what I thought was really sad...

Sean 22:56

He wasn't flashy

Hollie 22:57

...about him is he was very solitary man. He never fell in love again after the girlfriend before the war. He never had a family. It was just him and his dog. Uh, he just never had any relationships because he was so adept at what he did in his skill set that he never made connections with people. It's almost like he was an assassin that didn't make connections, that really hated killing and didn't want to kill anything.

Sean 23:23

And she ended up passing away at some point. I I'm not sure exactly when...

Hollie 23:26

I t seemed like while he was away at war or when right when he came back, because she was it said someone said something about her being very young.

Sean 23:34

Yeah, it was his brother. Yeah, yeah, because she kept in touch with him.

Hollie 23:37

At his yeah, at his funeral.

Speaker 23:38

Yeah, yeah, at his funeral, right. So at his well, what you thought was his funeral. But yeah, I I I think, and and I I hope I don't butcher the name. So it was wonderfully written and directed by Robert D. Krzykowski, and I believe that's how you pronounce it.

Hollie 23:54

Sure. Sounds good.

Sean 23:55

And I think this film needs love because it's really well done. The writer director hasn't really done anything since then. I don't know why because...

Hollie 24:01

It was such a cool story.

Sean 24:02

It is a cool story!

Hollie 24:03

It is a very cool story, a character-driven, nice story, a little sad, but not as sad as The Hero, but a little sad. But it it was a beautiful story.

Sean 24:14

Yeah, I I mean, I it was completely different than what I expected when we went into it. Because I mean, you see a thing like that, like, man, this is it's fucking awesome. You know, the title.

Hollie 24:21

It was a very intern in internal Sam... Sam Elliott. He wasn't like bold and brash, like like in Roadhouse, where he was like the big cowboy...

Sean 24:31

Which I just watched earlier.

Hollie 24:32

Yeah. And both...I figured you did. Both of these movies, he's more peaceful...

Sean 24:37

Introspective.

Hollie 24:38

Thank you, introspective. And I'm not used to seeing him that way. And I, like this movie, I just love the story because he's such a good person, like he's he's a truly good person that even when he kills the Bigfoot who has this terrible virus, that if he gets out of this 50-mile radius circle that they have in Canada...

Sean 24:57

That's it for the human race.

Hollie 24:58

It's it for the human race because he's getting animals are getting it and people won't be able to eat, and it's just going so fast. And at first, you're like, Well, no, does he have to kill this bigfoot? What's the big deal? And then you realize that it's gonna wipe out a lot of living things, you know...

Sean 25:11

He even takes pity on it.

Hollie 25:12

Right and he feels so bad killing it, like he didn't want to kill it the way he thought he killed it, and he's like, I didn't want to do this, and it's just so sad because he he really didn't want to kill the bigfoot...

Sean 25:22

Yeah.

Hollie 25:22

...he didn't want to kill again, and he says that to his brother, I don't want to kill again. And I just it's just very sweet and very touching.

Sean 25:30

That was another odd pairing of Larry Miller being his brother, but I mean, I love Larry Miller too. I mean...

Hollie 25:34

And he was really good in it.

Sean 25:34

...10 Things I Hate About You, yeah. I mean, great stand-up comedian...

Hollie 25:38

Yeah.

Sean 25:38

...just uh just phenomenal. So, again, Elliott gets lucky because he's surrounded by great actors with him in these two films.

Hollie 25:46

He yeah, he is very...

Sean 25:47

You know, nobody is I I wouldn't I'd say in either film, there is not one bad performance.

Hollie 25:53

No, every person has a reason to be there. The characters are realistic, and it's like you said, it's very it's the story in the characters, the actors and the characters seem part of that story. Like you know, watch movies, sometimes they have some random character and they make them make them all silly and too over the top. That wasn't any either one of these movies.

Sean 26:15

And what you thought in the by the title, the second one, that's what it was gonna be.

Hollie 26:19

It sounded very over the top.

Sean 26:19

That's I mean, that's what drew me in to be honest with you. The title, because how do you not love a title like that?

Hollie 26:23

Right.

Sean 26:24

But it's a completely different movie, and I love when something can surprise me because that rarely happens anymore.

Hollie 26:28

Yeah, we were really not prepared for that movie when we first watched it.

Sean 26:31

I mean, when I told you the time, I think you rolled your eyes.

Hollie 26:34

Oh, what is he making me watch now? What craziness.

Sean 26:37

Is it rewatchable? It is.

Hollie 26:38

Yes, I loved watching it again.

Sean 26:40

You know, I would give it some time, I wouldn't want to keep seeing it. If it's on TV, I'd probably watch it for a few minutes. But you know, if it had been a while, I'd I'd watch the whole thing.

Hollie 26:48

Right. I did catch new things this time.

Sean 26:48

Because it is very well done. Yeah, you always think something different. That's a tribute to a good film, when you...

Hollie 26:54

The brother relationship, really like before the first time I watched it was the romantic relationship with the girl, of course, because that's and that's a primary focus. But then when you really watch the movie and see how solitary and how lonely he is, and he doesn't even he lives in the same town, I assume, as his brother, but they don't really see each other much, like he's just so alone, and all he has is his dog and anybody with a dog...

Sean 27:17

That's a great relationship with the dog as well, yeah.

Hollie 27:19

Yeah, but when he's talked about getting a haircut, his brother's a barber, and he goes, Did you get your haircut somewhere else? And he's like, Yeah. Like you know...

Sean 27:26

Yeah, it is a great those little unspoken things that only brothers can can do. Um, yeah, I mean, as if they're both and it seems like Sam Elliott went through maybe a phase where he was kind of thinking about his own mortality. Is that well, he's amazing. Well, he is well back then it was about 70 something because this was almost 10 years ago. So I'll say 72, you know. Yeah, yeah, it comes a long way from and one I would a movie I would love to do with him in it, and not many people think think about is Frogs.

Hollie 27:52

I know you made me watch Frogs.

Sean 27:53

I love Frogs, I mean Frogs is amazing, but that's for the horror. Maybe the 31 Days of Halloween we'll add that on.

Hollie 27:59

I just I think this both of these movies are so different than what you would see. Like he was in 1883, which is one of my favorite shows. And I hate, I'm not a Western fan, and that movie was fantastic. That show was fantastic, and that's the Sam Elliott I know, you know, the one from that, the cowboy...

Sean 28:18

All the Westerns.

Hollie 28:19

The bar guy, the you know, the motorcycle rider in Mask, you know, that's that's a Sam Elliott. And this is so far removed from that. Both of these movies that that's why I really really liked them. So if you have any any Sam Elliott admiration in you, it's it's worth it. Watch.

Sean 28:34

Yeah. If you're a person who hates Sam Elliott, then you're an asshole.

Hollie 28:38

Right. If someone says that movie, I don't want to see Sam Elliott's in it. I'm gonna punch them in the face.

Sean 28:41

Yeah, I mean, who would say that? I I can't like I just can't imagine anybody not liking Sam Elliott.

Hollie 28:46

When I told mom that we were doing this with Sam Elliott, she goes, Oh, he's so sexy. So my mom says...

Sean 28:51

He just... he's just fantastic. Um so this movie can be found you know currently on Hulu, Roku Channel, and Tubi. Watch it and watch both of them. It's a nice double feature because it's only about a little over three hours long. I don't think either are wasting your time.

Hollie 29:04

No, I don't either, but if I had to pick one over the other one, I would pick the The Man That Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot.

Sean 29:09

I I would too. Yeah, I mean you start with that one and then go into The Hero.

Hollie 29:13

And then go into The Hero, yeah.

Sean 29:13

Right, but like I said, either one you will not be disappointed.

Hollie 29:16

But you how can you be disappointed, Nick Offerman in something?

Sean 29:19

Exactly. Like I said, the cat the cast of both. I did not expect him to be in that...

Hollie 29:23

No.

Sean 29:23

...because I tried not to look too much of it up before. I I like to be surprised when I can.

Hollie 29:27

You don't even tell me the titles of these movies when we start...

Sean 29:30

True

Hollie 29:31

...until I sit down.

Sean 29:32

Well, I did tell you the title of I think I originally saw it The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot.

Hollie 29:36

Yes, that one, but not...

Sean 29:37

Because I was so impressed with the title. So I'd like to see more by that director. Even the director of The Hero as well. But like I said, that one I think uh suffered from script issues,

Hollie 29:47

Right.

Sean 29:48

Maybe like editing.

Hollie 29:48

Maybe editing.

Sean 29:50

Right. You know, I think they try to tell a little bit too much, but there wasn't enough information.

Hollie 29:54

Right. I agree.

Sean 29:56

Thank you.

Hollie 29:57

You're welcome.

Sean 29:57

I'm glad you do.

Hollie 29:58

Um, you know, that's all that matters.

Sean 30:00

And so next week we will be back with Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Hollie 30:05

Web Slinger.

Speaker 30:06

That wraps up another episode. So make sure you hit that subscribe button and download new episodes every Saturday on your favorite podcast platform. For Scenes From the Screen. I'm Sean, and thanks for listening.