“What’s the name of that movie with those two guys in it? You know the one I mean.”
Searching for a movie by one actor’s credits is a losing proposition. And a lot of times I–or a friend–will know one other actor in a movie we’re thinking about. Or we see a few seconds of a movie, two actors, and wonder what the heck movie is that?
That’s just happened as I was watching “Billions”. Brian Koppelman¹ & company love to sprinkle references throughout his material, and in Season 6, he & team are having a blast. No holds barred². In episode 2, A.G. Chuck Rhodes is in his farmhouse watching a few seconds of a movie. Gene Hackman is there. Then a splash of Ricky Jay (o.b.m.). I know I know this movie. Because it’s Ricky Jay, I can guess it’s Mamet³, but I haven’t been fluent in Mamet since he got preachy about turning from liberal to conservative. So what movie is it?
IMDB’s collaboration search is the sanity saver here. Enter “Gene Hackman”–or any part of his name, the lookup is very forgiving about helping you get the right name. Then enter “Ricky Jay” and hit “Search”.
You can also see a list of people who have 2 movies in common with the search on the right, but I never use that one.
Bang. “Heist” (trailer for “Heist”) and “Heartbreakers”. I can probably rule out that the gravel-throated self-proclaimed “defender of the people” is watching a film about, let’s see…, “A mother and daughter con team seduce and scam wealthy men.” So “Heist” it is. By the way, IMDB is wrong about how much that movie made. It grossed 28 million, which, sadly, is still 12 shy of its counterpart.
And I know you’re curious, so here’s the trailer for “Heartbreakers“.
¹ Koppelman’s podcast “The Moment” is also quite good.
² Koppelman loves wrestling, so that was for him. That is about the only wrestling reference I could muster off the top of my head.
³ Plus, Koppelman loves Mamet. Probably pre-conservative Mamet, too, if you follow –Spoiler Alert– the orgiastic triumph of Rhodes in episode 1 of Season 6.