Ep. 3 - Child in the Night (1990)

[00:00:00] All right, then keep your secrets. Get that frog out of your pants. I'm the guy. The real guy. Where do all these movies come from anyway? Just fucking ding-a-ling. I will take the ring to Mordor. Though, I do not know the way.

[00:00:24] Hello and welcome to episode three of The Complete Works season five. A deep dive into the career and films of actor Elijah Wood. My name is Mike Smith and joining me on this journey there and back again is my friend, co-host and fellow carpenter. Mike Ducuccio. Because we're working with wood. Because we're working with wood. Do you get it? Yeah. I like it. You like that one more than woodpecker?

[00:00:53] Woodpecker bottom. No matter what. Woodpecker last. And then Elijah Provida was the one that we had last week. Elijah Provida is pretty funny. Okay. That's pretty good. Yeah, I'd say it's a toss up between Elijah Provida and Carpenter for now. Okay. All three of these have been suggestions by Kyle Cullen, who is our music supervisor slash, I think at this point, podcast producer, Kyle Cullen. Yes. Uh, he texted me and was like, can we do a podcast episode where we strip the producer title away from Colin and give it to me?

[00:01:24] I didn't know he cared that much. Oh, I think, I think it's a, it's, it's going to be a bloodbath. Uh, absolutely. It's just been 10 years of Kyle gritting his teeth at our joke. Yes. With Kyle doing the actual work for the podcast and Colin sometimes listening to it. Uh, yes, correct. We changed producer Colin to listener. Colin is what we do. Um, but we'll have to do, uh, an episode with all, with all four of us and hash this out at some point.

[00:01:51] I think whoever wins, we get to remain friends with the other person. We'll never talk to you again. Whoever wins, we lose. Uh, thanks AVP. Yes. Uh, but today we're not talking about AVP Mike, but we are talking about Elijah Woods first leading role and it's bringing us back to the wonderful world. I'm sorry. I'm just reveling in that segue. It just really, really need to sit with that. We're not talking about AVP as if you could have tried to connect it.

[00:02:22] But captain segue strikes again. Good job, Mike. That's me. That's a, it's many years of professionally working in radio, uh, coming to the forefront. Uh, we're talking about Elijah Woods first leading role today, Mike. Yes, we are. And introducing credit, which was pretty exciting. Yes, absolutely. And it's bringing us back to the wonderful world of TV movies, which is one of Mike D's favorite places to be.

[00:02:43] I was thinking about that today, um, before we were recording about this like longstanding, like thread of me being like very interested in, in, uh, TV movies and just fascinated as like a cultural artifact that doesn't really exist anymore. Yeah. Um, but I've done zero digging or research or like time spent outside of stuff I've had to watch for the podcast involved in TV movies. Yes. And I, and I have to imagine our run on the Roy Scheider season may have killed your interest in TV movies entirely.

[00:03:11] I mean, maybe that was part of why I was thinking about it today. Also this one. Yeah. It's like, you know what? Maybe I'm good on these. I don't know. Uh, so after about a year of auditioning, when he first moved to LA, Elijah Wood booked a couple of small roles in back to the future part two and internal affairs, which of course we've already talked about, but he also landed the role of one of the main characters in a TV movie about a kid who witnesses his father get murdered.

[00:03:36] And like many TV movies of the era, it has largely fallen into obscurity. However, it's got a couple of things going for you here, Mike. What's what's that? Well, a it's Elijah Wood's first big role. So it's a little bit notable for that front. Uh, it's also got a couple of other big names in the movie. It's also genuinely a pretty weird movie involving Captain Hook and Peter Pan in ways you would not expect.

[00:03:59] And, and it does feature a hook handed killer years before I know what you did last summer. Uh, right. So all of those things. So the movie was notable enough to get a little bit of a rediscovery actually a few years back, uh, a few years ago, vinegar syndrome released a televised terror box sets, uh, featuring three made for TV horror movies. And this was one of the movies that was included in the lineup.

[00:04:24] Yes, I did actually see that, um, in, in the research and I can't tell you how many times I've almost bought that box set every sale just cause it's like, well, this will be cool to have. But then I think back on all the other like random box sets I've bought from, uh, vinegar syndrome that I've watched like one okay movie from and been like, man. So I just never actually bought this one. Uh, cause it's just never been on like a deep enough sale for me. If it's even still in print, who knows?

[00:04:48] I was looking it up and it is, uh, not in print anymore. It's out of stock. Uh, so it's, it's, yeah, you can't buy this box set anymore. And if you do, I'm sure it'll be a reseller for some kind of exorbitant price. Um, but, uh, a lot of the letterbox reviews for this movie are people who ended up watching it through the vinegar syndrome box set. Like many of them mentioned it being like movie number three in the vinegar syndrome box set. A lot of the reviews also say it is the weakest of the three movies in the, uh, in the box. Damn. Um, but since Elijah Wood is in it, we have to talk about child in the night.

[00:05:18] So child in the night features Elijah Wood as the titular child in the night. It sure does, uh, introduces him. In fact, it says like, like mighty said, it has the end introducing Elijah Wood as Luke credits, uh, in the movie, which is pretty exciting to see. Uh, but he is the child at the center of the movie who witnessed his dad's murder and repressed it. Uh, then you've got Tom Skerritt from movies like alien mash and top gun. He plays bass, the detective work in the case. He enlists reluctant child psychologist, Dr.

[00:05:47] Hollis to help. And she is played by Joe Beth Williams, best known as the mom from poltergeist who is also in Kramer versus Kramer and the big chill. Uh, from there, Oz Winfield, Elijah's grandfather is played by Darren McGavin, the dad from a Christmas story. Uh, yeah. Elijah's mom, Valerie Winfield is played by season hubly who played Nikki, the sex worker in Paul Schrader's hardcore. Yeah. Uh, you're a hardcore guy, right? Mike? I mean, I've seen that movie. You know me, I'm big into hardcore.

[00:06:17] Yeah. I, uh, I have not seen hardcore, although I own two different Blu-rays of hardcore. Incredible. I think it's a Kino Lorber and it was a movie that I bought during a Kino Lorber sale. And then at some point, like a year later, accidentally bought it again, not realizing that I already owned it, which is why it's important to update your Blu-ray Excel spreadsheet. Uh, yes. It's important to one, have an Excel spreadsheet of your Blu-rays and to keep it up to date. Exactly. Yes. Uh, that

[00:06:44] was a mistake, but I do have hardcore. One of these days I'm going to watch it. I've heard it's good. You like it, right? Yeah, it's good. It's like a, it's like a, I'm going to say like a fucked up eight millimeter, but eight millimeters already kind of fucked up, but a proto version of that basically. Yeah. There was a movie recently that, uh, like there's a trailer that I saw recently that was like boasting from the writer of seven and eight millimeter, like specifically those two movies. It's Andrew Kevin Walker wrote something new and I'm blanking on what it is, but there is some.

[00:07:10] I believe it's a psycho killer is the movie. Yes. Yeah. I think you're right. Uh, and the trailer says like from the writer of eight millimeter. And I was like, what a weird poll to, uh, to bring up 30 years later. Oh wait, who directed eight millimeter? Uh, Joel Schumacher, Joel Schumacher. Oh, that's right. Yes. Uh, it was, it was, the psycho killer was not directed by Joel Schumacher because he is no longer alive. Uh, so, uh, Andrew Kevin Walker was involved with that and, uh, eight millimeter, not related to this movie in any, in any capacity. Uh, most importantly,

[00:07:40] as far as the cast goes, one other name I got to mention, uh, Captain Hook in this movie, uh, is played by Rick May who voiced a lot of characters in video games. And most specifically, uh, for me was the voice of Peppy hair and star Fox 64. The, uh, no way the rabbits, uh, on star Fox's team do a barrel roll. That's him. That's him. Do a barrel roll. He is video game history. Yes. He is Captain Hook in this movie. Star Fox 64, the very first video game I ever beat all the way through.

[00:08:09] Like I, that was a game that like back then, I think it was before we had a memory card, uh, for my N64. Uh, and so, but it was a game you could theoretically first off memory pack. Yes. Yes. Of course. Yes. Uh, it was a memory pack cause the PlayStation had the memory card, right? Yeah. So the N64 had like the memory pack that he stuck in the controller. Uh, and we did eventually get one. Um, but it probably took like a year or two before I even knew that they existed.

[00:08:35] And my parents didn't, you know? So for me, it was just like, this is how video games work. You play them for as long as you can and maybe you'll get to the end one day if you play for long enough. Uh, and for star Fox 64, that's what I did.

[00:08:48] I, I played it a lot. Uh, and then, uh, yeah, I think eventually got to a point where I think there's like seven planets in star Fox 64. And I think if you get really good at it, you can beat it in like under two hours, like an hour and a half, two hours. And there's like a lot of shortcuts and stuff. And I learned all there is to learn about star Fox 64. Or played it a lot. And I heard Pepe say do a barrel roll many times. He also plays Andross in the video game, the villain of star Fox 64. So multi-talented. What a guy and Captain Hook and child in the night. Wow.

[00:09:17] That's what I'm saying. Absolutely. Uh, so the movie was written by Michael Patrini, uh, who wrote for several shows and TV movies in the eighties and nineties, uh, including moonlighting and Matlock, uh, and directed by Mike robe, who has directed several TV movies over the years.

[00:09:30] His most recent was a hallmark movie in 2017 called love struck cafe, which sounds like a hallmark movie. I know nothing else about it, but that sounds like one, uh, child in the nights premiered on CBS on Tuesday, May 1st, 1990 after a new episode of rescue 911 over on ABC. You had a strong sitcom lineup with new episodes of who's the boss, the wonder years, Roseanne coach and 30 something. And over on NBC, that's the channel Mike Smith would have on a hundred.

[00:09:58] Oh, absolutely. Yes. I would've been watching that. I mean, I think, uh, I, I did watch a lot of who's the boss on Nick at night, uh, back in the day. And I definitely watched some Roseanne as well. The wonder years coach and 30 something. I've maybe seen episodes here and there of, but there were never, but if I would've been locked in the comedy night thing. Absolutely. Uh, over on NBC, you had a new episode of Matlock. Uh, and you also had new episodes of in the heat of the night and midnight caller 1990 baby. That was TV. That's all you had to watch. That's it. Three channels. That's all. Exactly.

[00:10:26] Exactly. The IMD plot synopsis reads a psychologist treats an eight year old boy who witnesses father's murder, but the child blocks out details that could help the police. Uh, so there we go. I went with the IMDb this week. I'm going to go back and forth when IMDb and letterbox to see who has the better plot synopsis, uh, for each movie now, because now, now I'm not trusting either of them. Uh, and IMDb had one sentence. I was like, perfect. Great. That's all we need. Uh, all right. Going into child in the night, Mike, uh, what were you expecting from this movie? We both knew that it was a bigger role for Elijah Wood. We knew it was a team.

[00:10:56] Uh, but what were you expecting from child in the night and what are your overall thoughts on the film? You're going into it. I mean, you never know with these TV movies. It could kind of be anything. Maybe there's beheaded heads in lockers or whatever that like there was in the Simon Munich, right? Or no, the other one. Um, was it a Simon Munich? I'm blanking on what you're even referring to a beheaded heads in lockers. What, uh, yeah, it was one of the shider TV movies. Is that the diamond one? Uh, I think no, or, uh, whatever. It doesn't matter. Okay. Anyway.

[00:11:27] It could be something crazy is what I'm saying. We watched like 15 of those, uh, shider TV movies. They're all blending together. It's the one with the lady from clue, I think. Um, but anyway, um, I'm with the lady from clue. I'm going to have to look it up. Maybe it wasn't even a TV movie. We'll never know. It might be a dream you had. Maybe I invented a movie. So there was this, I invented this movie with Roy Scheider and the lady from clue. Um, but anyway, some, so it could be something crazy or wackadoo, or it could be something like really, um,

[00:11:54] although usually TV movies, it's usually not something like after school, especially, you know, it's not, but, but I feel like there's always the risk of that kind of thing. But yeah, child in the night is like fine. I don't know. It starts off crazy. It's, it's just like an instant slasher killer. Like they got, they're at this, the boat house office. It's the sounds of the sea. So like, it's just, it has like some kind of like really cheesy stuff happening to it. And instantly there's a raincoat slasher

[00:12:21] guy. Tom Skerritt is just a bastard cop, but it's like, I don't know. I ended up, um, getting kind of bored with it, which is crazy. Cause it's only, it's, it's a TV movie. It's 90 minutes, like, you know, whatever. It's got rise and falls for commercials, presumably. Um, uh, even though there's no like commercial breaks. Cause I believe we did end up watching the blu-ray version of it. Um, you know, three beans. Um, so, so there was that. Yeah. I just kind of ultimately was sort of bored by it. I think the second act where it's like the romance portion where it's

[00:12:50] Tom Skerritt and what's Jovem Williams. Yeah. Uh, sort of like being divorced, divorced people, you know, like on, on, on the town together or whatever, even though that's not really what's happening, but it's got that kind of vibe to it. I was just like, all right, whatever. I don't care about this stuff. We're at a murder investigation. God damn it. Um, and, uh, and then the, the weird psychology stuff to it feels very strange and all the, all the like Vaseline around the rim of the lens.

[00:13:20] For the, for the Peter Pan sequences. It's like, okay. And I think he may, he's might, there might be a girl involved cause he's saying shmee instead of smee. Like, okay. Like, all right, whatever. You know? Um, so there's that. So ultimately I was kind of like bored by it. I was like, okay, come on. We could, you know, I wish I could fast forward a little bit. Like, let's go going on for me. And, um, it is cool. Like it is the beauty. He had, Elijah Wood has dialogue. Uh, and that's, that's neat.

[00:13:50] You know, he's the main character. Basically, I guess really Joe Beth Williams is the main character. Yeah. He's probably like the third main character behind Joe Beth Williams and Tom Skerritt, but he is like a major role in the movie. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And the whole thing hinges on him and whether he will, uh, recollect what he witnessed as his father's death. Um, and then the reveal of what was going on is just psychotic, uh, on top of the Peter Pan stuff. Um, so there, there's some fun banana pants twists in the last 10 minutes.

[00:14:20] But ultimately I was kind of just like, ah, whatever, maybe I'm done with being interested in TV movies, you know, as an art form. Uh, this is, this is your Timothee Chalamet and ballet kind of thing. You're like TV movies as a whole. I'm just talking about them. Nobody's going to the TV anymore. Um, and yeah, I don't know. And that was what made me realize like, Oh, but actually I've never like gone out of my way to like seek out other TV movies. And like, I think,

[00:14:47] I think it's still an interesting concept as just a, like I said, cultural artifact. Um, but like, I think I'm good for most of them, you know? Yeah. I mean, there, there have definitely been obviously standout ones, you know, you're, I mean, I made you watch a Steven Spielberg's duel last summer, uh, for a Mike makes Mike watch, which is like, that's barely a TV movie. Yeah. That's a Steven Spielberg movie that happened to air on TV, you know? Um, but there's also like Toby Hooper had Salem's lot and all, all, all that stuff. That's true. Is that a miniseries? That's multiple episodes, isn't it? That's technically a two-parter. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:15:15] It also, I know. Yeah. Uh, yes. The original it's, um, but we, we've watched a bunch of them on the complete works for like Goldblum and Scheider specifically. I'm not sure if Yoho really had any TV movies. Uh, yeah, I don't think by the time she is more Netflix originals, I guess, but yeah, with Goldblum, I heard Goldblum had a couple of strong ones, uh, rehearsal for murder. I'm really liking the, uh, I was a big rehearsal for murder fan, which is basically just like an episode of Columbo. Cause it's written by the same guys. Uh, and it's, uh, yeah, that's right. And it's like a fun whodunit mystery thing.

[00:15:45] That's great. I remember liking that one. I remember thinking that, uh, it was lush life, a TV movie, the, uh, the jamming on the saxophone scheme on the saxophone scheme. Was that a TV movie? It might've been, I think that one might've been, um, yeah, lush life is good. I liked that. Uh, the Ernie Kovacs movie was all right. Uh, you know, and then Scheider, I mean, you know, Scheider had, uh, RKO two 81, which is an HBO movie, which is a little bit different than, uh, your TV TV. It's HBO. Exactly. Also King of Texas, which, uh, we kind of enjoyed. Okay. Yeah. So yeah, there's diamonds out there.

[00:16:15] There's, but there's also diamond hunters out there, you know, that's a, and that was bad. We didn't like that one. That, that was a, not very good. That, that I think was a mini series on a movie, but, uh, yeah, but the whole art of a TV movies where it is just like, you know, the, a network had like a dedicated time slot every week to be like, this is like child in the night. It was considered like CBS is like Tuesday movie night special kind of thing. Like they, it was just like every Tuesday, there was a TV movie playing on CBS. And, you know, sometimes they would replay older ones or whatever. Uh, but like,

[00:16:46] many times it'd be like, yeah, every week there's a new movie here on the network and they don't have that. They don't have a lot of time to get made and they're made relatively quickly and cheaply. And, uh, you know, I think there's, uh, definitely work in there that, you know, transcends the medium, but, uh, I think for the most part, it lends itself to a lot of forgettable stuff. Uh, much like the modern ecosystem of Netflix originals, uh, and things like that. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I guess, I guess I didn't draw that connection, but yeah, you're right.

[00:17:13] Right. Just the churn of quote unquote content. Right. Yes. But this is before that like kind of existed and like, you know, the, the term content and, uh, that kind of mindset, but in a similar way, it's kind of led to it in a, in a weird way. Can we blame TV movies for the death of cinema 30 years later? Who's to say, but in any case, I think this movie is all right. It's okay. Uh, I think I gave it like a two and a half. So I'm not like a crazy big fan of this movie or anything, but I, I was kind of engaged

[00:17:43] with it. I think the murder mystery itself is pretty half baked. Uh, it's, you know, it is, it's just kind of, it does what it does. Uh, you know, it's very clear that it's a member of the family very early on that, uh, killed the dad. Uh, and then once I realized like Darren McGavin was like the biggest name outside of the trio and like got the and credit at the, in the opening credits, I was like, it's probably him. He's probably the guy that did it. Uh, it turns out, yes. Darren McGavin, the grandfather, uh, killed his own son, uh, in front of Elijah Wood.

[00:18:13] All that stuff is fine. I actually kind of liked the romance between, uh, Tom Skerritt and Joe Beth Williams. Uh, I, I thought they had, yeah, sure. I thought they had some chemistry together. Uh, maybe it's just cause I liked both those actors. Uh, you know, Tom Skerritt, especially was, uh, he was an alien obviously, but around this time he was, uh, doing a recurring role on cheers. Uh, he played, uh, Evan Drake, who was like the love interest for, uh, Kirstie Alley's character on her like first season of the show.

[00:18:39] And, uh, so he was on cheers a lot, like around this time. Uh, so I've seen him like with a mustache a lot because I watched a lot of cheers. Uh, and so it's like, yeah, it's fun to see him pop up in this. Uh, and poltergeist is also one of those movies that was like huge for me when I was like eight years old. So Joe Beth Williams has always been a fan of, so two of them together. They're great. I think they have good chemistry. I like the, uh, kind of dynamic between the two of them where she is very recently divorced, like her four months divorced and, uh, he's four years divorced. Uh, and they have a kind of a, will they won't they thing going on.

[00:19:09] She throws herself at him at throws herself at him at one point and he finally like turns her down cause it doesn't feel right. All that stuff. Uh, I think all that worked for me. I thought that was fun. And then the captain hook stuff is just bonkers. It's fucking weird shit. And I, I, I enjoyed how insane that was. So yeah, I, I didn't like, like, I don't know. I wouldn't even say I like this movie that much by any means, but I was engaged by it because it is such a weird thing.

[00:19:33] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I do, I, I did, uh, like in air quotes in that I burst out laughing when you're not definitely not supposed to, when Joe Beth Williams character is confiding in Tom Skerritt about why she no longer is a child psychotic, practicing child psychologists and explains that a plane crashed into a playground, um, and killed a bunch of children.

[00:19:59] And she was counseling the survivors and she was bad at it. And one of their sixth graders committed suicide on her watch. Uh, and that's in fucking hilarious. That's insane. That's hilarious. That shouldn't like, that's like, and the way it's delivered, like in the, in the hallway of their, of her apartment, like, it's just like wild.

[00:20:18] What, what's so weird about that is that you have, there's another scene in the movie where she has, I think a pretty good acting moment where it's her and Tom Skerritt in the car. And, uh, it's about like why she doesn't have kids. Right. Yeah. And it's about like her husband, uh, you know, she and her husband were trying to have kids for so long and all of that stuff. Then they realized that she was infertile. She couldn't, uh, she couldn't have kids. And so he left her for another woman and he, and you know, this other woman decided independently to not have kids and he's fine with it. And so she's like,

[00:20:48] all that stuff. Um, but like you could just easily make that the reason why she doesn't want to be around kids. Like that's, that could be it. Not, not this thing that would be like absolute national news forever. Like, like a plane crashed into a playground. Oh man. Very funny. Um, and then later on, and then when they're on their like dates, uh, and he has like a, I shot a kid story, uh, what about what was she asked why they got divorced?

[00:21:20] Uh, and he talks about being a cop and how, you know, you start normal and then, and then whatever you, the job becomes the only important thing. And, and then I, and he's like listing off stuff and he's like, and then I shot my first perp and you're like, what the fuck? Blew his head off, blew his neck open or whatever. He's got some like a really graphic detail that he shares. I forget. Um, and it's just like, you guys are crazy. This is a psychotic movie. And then the Captain Hook stuff starts.

[00:21:44] And then the Captain Hook stuff starts. Yeah. So the way Elijah would, um, like as the kid is able to kind of like process his father's murder is by like kind of retreating into a fantasy world and like comparing everything into the world of like Peter Pan essentially. Right. Uh, and so because the killer had a hook for a hand, uh, you know, it's, he becomes Captain Hook and Elijah Wood is Peter Pan. And throughout the movie, you're kind of getting like further and further into Elijah Wood's mind.

[00:22:14] And you're seeing like these kind of dream sequences or like flashbacks or like whatever you want to call it, where it's sort of like how he's viewing the world through this lens of Peter Pan. Uh, and it's him against Captain Hook. And it's just like this weird, like Freudian stuff. At one point, Captain Hook's banging his mom. Yeah. All that stuff is happening. Uh, and it's, uh, it's very, very silly. There's moments where like Elijah Woods just like sitting in the house and Captain Hook will be peering through the window.

[00:22:41] It's very funny. Yeah. It's like musicals, like the sickos gif me, like me, like, but it's Captain Hook. It's so, it's so silly. Uh, but it's treated so seriously. Like the movie takes it so seriously. It's nuts. It's a, it's a pretty, uh, it's a weird movie is, is I think what we're getting at. But Elijah Wood is the, uh, is the center of it all. He is the main kid. Uh, he is the child in the night.

[00:23:04] Uh, so what did you think of Elijah Wood's performance? This movie, Mike, this is the first time I asked that question where I could, I think I feel like we can give an actual answer. Yeah. Yeah. There is something to look at. Um, and I think he's pretty good. You know, all things considered it's the, it's, he's very young, obviously like both younger than 10. It seems I don't really know. So this exactly, this movie was released in 1990. He was born in 81. Uh, so he was probably like eight or nine when filming this.

[00:23:30] Yeah. And, uh, and yeah, he's really, it's, it's, uh, intense also. Like he's got a lot. He's got like acting to do, you know, he's a kid that witnessed his father's murder that has all this weird Captain Hook trauma stuff.

[00:23:42] So he has a lot going on that he's got to portray and it's not, it doesn't feel like, I don't, I don't even really, you know, notorious child haters, Mike and Mike, but I think he's pretty good. He's fine. He's pretty good. He's, it's like, he can tell like, Oh, there's like talent here. Like he's got like, there's like stuff that, you know, he's doing, he's doing acting. Um, so that's, that's the, the, my first brush. What about you?

[00:24:04] Yeah, no, I think Elijah Wood is, uh, is really solid in this movie, but that is something that I had been thinking about, uh, as, uh, you know, we're finally doing, uh, an arc on the complete works that I've been pitching to do for a long time, which is like, we should get somebody who was a child actor originally and kind of watch them grow up like throughout their filmography and into their adulthood. Right. All that stuff. And I've pitched previous child actors like Natalie Portman and Kirsten Dunst, and, uh, they never made it. Elijah Wood, the first one to finally make it. Um, but I think part of what I find interesting about that is that we are notorious child haters.

[00:24:33] Mike and Mike, uh, we have a reputation question mark, uh, for, uh, hating on kid performances in movies. Uh, cause you know, kids are kids. They're not there. It's no shade to the kids or whatever, but it's like, they're not, they haven't fully developed as actors yet, you know? And it's, I think it's very rare when you get a really good, like naturalistic kid performance or a really good kid performance. Uh, and I think there are child actors who, uh, do very well in that front. Um, but, and, and this is an era like the nineties.

[00:25:03] Where there are a lot of like kind of child actors who are kind of becoming famous. Obviously Macaulay Culkin's like the big one. Um, but you have people like Mara Wilson around the same time and all that stuff. And Elijah Wood being another one, uh, who is, I think he becomes somebody who is relatively famous for a while, but like not nearly as famous as like a Macaulay Culkin style actor, you know?

[00:25:22] And I think to that end, I think he sort of gets like more interesting projects as a result, uh, and kind of gets to kind of grow as an actor in different ways than like a Macaulay Culkin does where Macaulay Culkin hits like pretty major success right away. You know, you get home alone and that's like the biggest movie of all time.

[00:25:41] When that comes out, it immediately comes out with the sequel. He's a huge, like bankable child star for like five years. And obviously like, you know, Macaulay Culkin, we've talked about like it kind of messes with, with him. He has issues with his parents and the issues with drugs later in life and all, all of that stuff. Uh, whereas Elijah Wood, I think because he never reached that like stratospheric level of fame that like Macaulay Culkin did, uh, you know, didn't get like seemingly warped at the age of eight years old.

[00:26:05] Right. Uh, and instead like, you know, I was kind of looking at like the early filmography too, and he's working with a lot of interesting people. I mean, you got Robert Zemeckis and Mike Figgis in the first two movies. The next movie is a Barry Levinson joint, uh, director of Rain Man and Diner and things like that. Uh, so working with interesting filmmakers, uh, and I think filmmakers who maybe, uh, kind of put him on a path of more artist or artistic path, I guess, um, than a commercial path. Yeah. Get, get fucked. Chris Columbus. Yeah. Uh, right. Is that what you mean?

[00:26:34] Chris Columbus did make home alone. Uh, well, and I do think Chris Columbus is actually pretty good with child actors. Um, and especially, I mean, and I think part of what I think is interesting about the Harry Potter movies, uh, is that, you know, Chris Columbus directed the first two of those as well. And I think felt like a little bit of like guilt over everything with Macaulay Culkin because he wasn't like as protective of him as like he could have been in the early nineties.

[00:26:55] Uh, and so the Harry Potter kids all grew up to be pretty well adjusted, much more well adjusted than the creator of Harry Potter, let's say. Uh, and, and, uh, you know, they, they were all cast when they were like 10 or 11 years old. And there was a huge emphasis in like, you know, we got to make sure they still like go to school and everything, like give them an education, like when they're not working on the movies.

[00:27:15] And you know, cause that those movies are, it's such an insane thing to kind of think about. Like, yeah, no, we want, we had these kids making these Harry Potter movies for 10 years straight. Like there was no break in between them because it was like every year there was a new Harry Potter movie coming out. Cause you had to make them. Cause the kid like that. Everyone takes place a year later. So the kids get too old after a while to make it. Right. Right. You know, otherwise you have like a stranger thing, season five situation on your hands where they're all, you know, it's wet hot American summer first day at camp. Uh, yeah. Yeah. Everybody's 28 and you're like, what the fuck? Right.

[00:27:44] So it is a, such a weird thing, but I think Chris Columbus actually does a really good job with, uh, you know, I think, I think deserves a lot of credit for like putting the, the guardrails and the boundaries in there at the beginning to like kind of help those kids grow up to be like not assholes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Not terrible people. Uh, all, all of that is like kind of getting away from the fact that, uh, yeah, Elijah was pretty good in this movie. He's, uh, he's, he's, he's very solid talk about, uh, in child in the night. I think, uh, he displays, uh, kind of, uh, an innate talent. Uh, and I think like we kind of mentioned in the

[00:28:14] internal affairs episode, kind of looking at the filmography, I think it's interesting that like these are the kinds of movies that he seems to be making. And there's not a lot of like kid oriented stuff down the line. There's a couple of things like there's North and there's flipper and stuff like that. Um, but neither of those are like huge hits. I don't think flipper might be like a modest hit. Um, but yeah, no, it's, he's doing more esoteric stuff. And that brings him to, you know, he's always been a little bit more of an esoteric, uh, actor, you know, that seems very drawn to genre type things.

[00:28:44] He's a weird little guy right from the beginning. Yes, exactly. Uh, I mean, yeah, right from the beginning, his first leading role is a movie in which he's having visions where Captain Hook is banging his mom. You know, that's exactly. This is setting the tone for the rest of Elijah Woods film. And let's clarify Captain Hook, who is his grandfather. Yes. We later find out is his grandfather. She finds out her husband was cheating on her. So like to get the ultimate revenge, she sleeps with her husband's father. Right. Um, who is a psycho. Um, like,

[00:29:14] they were trying to have committed and all this stuff. Interesting twist. Yes. Interesting twist to say the least. Um, so how do you think this fits into the Elijah Wood roles we've seen so far, Mike? This is a question that might be tougher to answer. Uh, well, I guess it's the natural evolution of what we've seen so far compared to the two roles previous, which were just single sentence cameo. Yeah. Uh, well not cameos, but you know, cameos in that it's like, Oh shit, is that Elijah Wood? Like that kind of thing. Yeah. Um,

[00:29:44] Yeah. I mean, I think, I think like you were talking about looking forward a little bit, it's, it's like, this is the kind of stuff that, um, he's interested in doing or his parents, his parents are interested in him doing, I guess, or something. Uh, I don't know how that works, but, um, that's, that's, you know, stands out. That's unique. He's not in, like you said, he's not the Olsen twins or he's not like, he's not in the Disney movies and stuff like that, or Disney channel movies. So that's different. I think, you know, like you said, some of the other child stars, like you were just talking about of this.

[00:30:14] Early nineties era. Uh, and we'll see how that progresses. Yeah, absolutely. Uh, I do think this is a little bit similar to his role on internal affairs. Um, which is also, I mean, obviously this is much more expanded than that movie. He only gets the one scene, uh, in internal affairs, but sort of a similar inciting incident in both scenes where he sees violence upon one of his parents. Uh, and in internal affairs, he acts upon it in this movie. He doesn't.

[00:30:38] Whoa. Uh, but you know that, and that's like his growth throughout the movie. Uh, it is, it is funny that like the very end of the movie, like the whole movie is just building up to like basically when Elijah would at the beginning witnesses his father's murder, he doesn't say anything. Right. He freezes, he freezes, he's scared. And, uh, that's what he like tells the police. Like I was under the desk the whole time. That's what my dad told me to do. Um, but they know that like, you know, he was up against the window because his hand was cut and there's blood on the glass, all that stuff. Uh, and so at the end of the movie, it's like building up to him saying, no,

[00:31:08] no, don't kill them. Yeah. And then the, and then his grandpa being like, oh, you're right. No, I shouldn't. Snaps out of it because of sweet, sweet, the pure innocence of Leaky. Can't, you can't do that. Yes. Uh, exactly. So any other scenes or moments that, uh, stand out to you, Mike and a child in the night, anything that we haven't covered yet? Um, there's a really funny moment to me, another similar, like, oh, this isn't actually funny, but it's very funny. Yeah. Um, in that climax at the end when, when, uh,

[00:31:38] Elijah Wood has run away, he's run back to like escape to the house where the cops are and grab the keys and he's ridden his bike to his father's office. And he calls Joe Beth Williams to come hypnotize me. I think it'll work this time. Like he wants to finally help now or whatever. Um, and that's when the grandfather confronts them and we realized that he's the killer and all that. Uh, and he's chasing Joe Beth Williams and she gets outside and she's out on the dock and she's yelling up at the windows to like get Luke to come to the window thinking he's still in the office.

[00:32:08] There's just like a blah. And the grandpa bursts through the window on the first floor. And it's just hilarious. Cause he's like catapulted out of the window. He comes out so fast. It's really like Jason Voorhees moves. It's exactly what it is. Uh, and like tackles her through the window. Uh, and it's just made me laugh really hard cause it's just so out of left field. Yeah, that is a, that is an incredible moment. I mean, I think the entire climax is just bananas. Uh, it's, it's a lot of fun. Uh, the reveal that the grandpa is the killer, uh,

[00:32:38] is very fun, even though it is something that like I realized halfway through like, Oh yeah, Darren McGavin's in this movie. So it's probably him. It helps that I had no idea. Like I didn't recognize him or connect anything. Yes. Um, but that is, I did see that a lot in the, uh, review, like the comments on letterbox and stuff where like, it's always the most, like the most recognizable or like the, the biggest wattage name is the killer. Like that's always who it is.

[00:33:01] Yeah. It's like, Oh yeah. Yeah. And it kind of sets up, you know, it sets up the sort of like, it's sort of a murder mystery kind of thing. Like you're trying to figure out who it was that killed the dad. Obviously that's what you want. You want to find out the identity of the hookhanded killer. And it's very clear early on that it's probably someone in the family. The family is acting as if, you know, they're a loving family. We all are get along all that stuff, but it's very clear.

[00:33:21] There's like a lot of like underbelly CD stuff happening among all the members of the family. Uh, very like knives out, you know, whodunit kind of situation. Uh, and the family keeps blaming on the union. There's like a whole like union thing going on. Yeah. Everyone loves a union busting family. Exactly. And there's this like one moment where they, they run like a shipping company at the docks or something, right? Like that's something or something. Yeah. Yeah. Something along those lines. And the, the union has a strike, uh, like the day after,

[00:33:51] uh, the dad has died. Uh, and so the family that goes there and they start attacking the union guys and all that stuff. And Tom Scarra has to break it up. Uh, all, all of that. And, uh, the fight with the union is, is kind of fun too. I liked that. Very funny. Yeah. Um, where, where they're like, you just, I forget exactly what he yells, but yeah, like that they would murder the owner of the company so that they can pick at them. Right. All right. Sure, man. Yeah. I think you're stretching this a little bit much. Um, and I, I did think before I realized it was Aaron McGavin, I thought it was the bald guy.

[00:34:21] Who was like blaming on the union was kind of like, Oh, for sure. Like that really seemed like that was the guy. Yeah. He's the heavy red herring too. Yeah. Cause also you find out, you know, he's got this, like all of his friends from the dad has these friends from college and they're like, you know, share everything or whatever. And, and, and there was like some sort of business document or whatever that like in the event of my death, the company should pass to these people. And that guy was trying to get hit. Like, you know, it keeps claiming he's in that document, which is missing for most of the movie. And yeah. And everyone's like, no, I don't know if you were.

[00:34:51] Like, you know, and so they're definitely setting up that like he killed him to get the, to get control of the company and blah, blah, blah. And then it's like, Oh no, it's the grandpa. Yeah. Grandpa's the killer. Uh, and again, I, I enjoyed, uh, the romance between Joe Williams and Tom Skerritt. I thought it was solid. They got some chemistry together. I thought, I don't know. Uh, what was, what was your, why were you against the romance, Mike?

[00:35:11] Like I wasn't necessarily against the romance. I just was like, not interested in it in the movie. You know, I was kind of just like, I don't know. Why are we here for a murder mystery? Like, all right, let's do, like, I want to do the cop stuff. You know, I don't want to be drinking champagne and eating a duck pate on the boat. Like that, you know, like that, that, that is a pretty fun that he doesn't, I never eat anything. I don't spill or something like that. Uh, but he knows how to spell pate. I don't know. Like it's fine. I mean, they, they're not like bad together. I just wasn't interested in it.

[00:35:37] That's fair enough. It comes down to you. Fair enough. Uh, and then, yeah, I think we, and I think we should just mention one more time. Those Captain Hook flashbacks are insane. Uh, they are, they are. I feel like we haven't put enough emphasis on how weird those scenes are. Yeah. Cause they're also like very, um, you know, soundstagey, right? Like it's very clearly like a painted background and there's lots of fog and the, you know, the, the, whatever that effect is on the rim of the lens and stuff. So like, it's definitely like theatrical. Uh, it's very different and, and, uh, artificial.

[00:36:07] As compared to the rest of the movie. So like, it really stands out and it's just like so weird that they're all just jumping around in tights and stuff. Yeah. I don't know. They're just doing Peter Pan. Elijah Wood is dressed as Peter Pan. They'll have him like tied up to the mast and Captain Hook will be like laughing on this at the steering, at the steering wheel. I don't think it's called the helm. Uh, yeah, yeah. That's, uh, you know, all, all that stuff is very, very funny. Uh, just anytime Captain Hook shows up, movie jumps up a star. It's great.

[00:36:31] And literally, like I said before, she, uh, puts together that there may be a woman involved because he keeps saying shme instead of smee. And I think he's just repressing it. It's like, what the fuck? What are you talking about? It's like, I'm not sure this is how repressed memories work or, you know, whatever. Yeah. Tell me more about this plane crash that definitely happened. It's one of those things like, uh, you know, as far as child psychology goes, like I have to take the movie at its word. It's like that. It's always sunny in Philadelphia thing where it's just like, it's like, this sounds wrong, but I don't know enough about this to dispute it.

[00:37:01] Yeah. Yeah. Multiple hypnosis scenes. Like, okay, sure. Right. Exactly. Uh, yeah. Captain Hook stuff is insane. Oh, and, uh, the only other thing I wanted to mention is that the movie really made me think of, uh, an arrested development bit, uh, over and over again, which is, uh, the, uh, there's a maritime law episode of arrested development where they keep flashing back to a production of Peter Pan that they did when they were in like elementary school that Michael was the star of.

[00:37:25] Uh, and it's like a maritime law version of it. And he's like a lawyer and he's singing your, uh, crook, Captain Hook judge. Won't you throw the book at the pirates? And, uh, and then the hook hand falls on the stage. Uh, and yeah, I, that, that ran through my head like many times while watching this movie.

[00:37:45] Wow. A beautiful glimpse into the mind of Mike Smith. That's yeah. If, if you were ever to just glimpse of the mind, it would be like, uh, Homer Simpson and the monkey crashing symbols. Uh, that kind of thing. That's what's going on up there. Uh, any other things about a child in the night that we should talk about, Mike? Or should we move on to letterbox views? Um, I think we can move. Well, actually there's one more detail where, uh, which is another just like psychotic thing where I forget exactly what the, what's going on before this, but Luke like sprints out of their house.

[00:38:15] And like dives in front of a car. It gets run over by a car. I want to be with my dad. And he just like, it's like, holy shit. What is going on in this? Yeah. I think when they, when they visit him in the hospital, she's like, did you run into that car on purpose? It's like, no, but it'd be better if I did like something like that. Yeah. Yeah. It's ridiculous. I'm glad you mentioned that because I forgot about that and that's insane. So there's just a lot of moments like that, but maybe too far in a few between, you know? Yes.

[00:38:41] For me to be like great movie. Like, yeah, whatever. It's fine. Right. Uh, all right. So that is child in the nights, uh, from, uh, from CBS, I guess the TV movie. Uh, let's move on into letterbox reviews, uh, for this movie.

[00:38:56] I got a two and a half star here review, Mike from 13 beers later, uh, which reads same, which reads a who's who of late night TV, all stars hamming their way through a slightly less than thrilling world of child trauma and murder that somehow doesn't take place on the love boat.

[00:39:13] Neat finding out that Elijah would has pretty much always been a weirdo, even at an early age. There we go. Yeah, there it is. Uh, here's a two star review from spaghetti noir, which reads way more of a soapy nineties cop procedural than the Jalo and almost slasher. I was expecting from vinegar syndrome. Elijah would, in one of his first roles, witnesses his father's hook inflicted murder, then descends into a Peter Pan inspired fantasy world to cope with the trauma. Tom Skerritt and Joe Beth Williams are the cop and the child psychologist who no longer works with children.

[00:39:43] Trying to figure out if the boy can identify the killer when all they really need to do is just read the opening credits. Uh, there's some weird pan imagery like wood watching his mom have sex with captain hook, but you got to sit through 70 minutes worth of Skerritt and Williams is cheesy courtship to get there. Yeah. That's kind of how I feel. Yeah. Fair enough. Uh, and then finally got one more review. It's a three star review from Joe, which is, I don't think I'll ever get over the visual of Elijah would dress as Peter Pan watching captain hook bang his mom.

[00:40:12] And I mean, we don't, I don't, I don't, I don't want to overemphasize that it's like a three second thing that happens in the movie, but it is, it casts a specter for the rest of the movie for sure. Yeah. Yes. Uh, and then yeah. End of the movie, grandpa gets arrested and, uh, roll credits. I mean, basically is how it, how it goes. Uh, but it is fine. Grandpa's about to kill Joe Beth Williams. And that's when Elijah Wood says no grandpa. And grandpa's like, what have I done? Uh,

[00:40:40] the error of my ways. Yeah. And then the police come and they arrest him. And then that's the end of the movie. Uh, and presumably Elijah Wood is fully well adjusted from here, from here on out. Total normal guy. Yeah. Nothing bad about him. This, this will not scar him for the rest of his life. Uh, but all right, that is child in the night. Uh, any last thoughts on this movie, Mike, or should we move or should we, uh, close it out? No. Yeah. I guess, um, I, I feel like it, something like this, I wish was more bananas. Yeah.

[00:41:09] You know, it's got, it's got the moments where like I, where like I'm laughing at stuff. I'm not supposed to, it's got crazy stuff, but it's, it is the, you have to sit through the 70 other minutes. Uh, that makes it be like, ah, man, so close almost. Yeah. But, uh, in any case, where can we find you online this week? Mike, you can find me at MD film blog on letterboxd and blue sky. You can also donate to support the show on our Kofi page, Kofi.com slash Mike and Mike pods, where you can donate $50 to make us watch a movie.

[00:41:39] on, uh, Mike and Mike go to the movies. You got whatever you want. You want us to watch a Tom, a Tom's Garrett movie, I guess. I don't know. What else is he in? I mean, he's an alien. Watch alien. We've seen alien. Yeah. Whatever. You can make us watch anything you want. Speaking of actually, uh, we have a donation coming up soon. Uh, actually no podcast time travel. Nevermind that happened already. We'd love that movie. Yeah. Unless we delay that episode by like three months. Uh, no, but anyway, you can do that on our Kofi page, Kofi.com slash Mike and Mike pods. And if you want merch, we have merch available on our red bubble.

[00:42:09] Mike and Mike pods. Red bubble.com. A couple of other Tom Scarec movies that, uh, he's been in by the way, uh, up in smoke, the teaching Sean movie. He's in that, uh, the dead zone. Uh, man, I haven't seen that in so long. Neither I, but, uh, the ice is going to break is a great line from the dead zone. Uh, river runs through it. He's in, which, uh, I've actually never seen. And, uh, I should, because it takes place in Missoula and it's a big thing out here. Uh, it is played at the Roxy, like maybe 15 times

[00:42:36] since I've lived in Missoula. Like they play it a lot. Uh, and often for like a week long run because it always draws a crowd. And every time I'm like, this is going to be the time I'm going to go see river runs through it. And I never do. Uh, and so next time it plays, uh, unless you want to donate $50 and make us watch through it. Uh, but I got, I got to say that at some point, it just feels like a, a Missoula thing. Plus it's Redford, you know? Yeah. They're going to run you out of that town. If they, if anybody finds out, um, I guess if there was one way to describe Missoula, it is that a river runs through it. So.

[00:43:06] There is in fact a river that runs through Missoula. The titular river. No, I have no idea. Um, as a total side note, one of my very favorite, uh, Bojack Horseman jokes is, uh, there's an episode where I think it's, uh, Mr. Peanutbutter is hosting the Oscars and you see all the nominees and one of them is called a rivers runs through it. The, the Weezer story. Like a rivers. Incredible. Good stuff. Uh, in any case, we already covered your plugs, right? Mike, that's, uh,

[00:43:35] we did. That's all the places. Kofi, Redbubble, uh, my, my, you know, my MD film blog. There we go. Do it. Uh, and you can find me online at a Emma Smith film blog on Twitter and blue sky, Mike Smith. I'm a letterbox radio, Mike sandwich, Instagram. Thank you so much for listening to the complete works. I'm Mike Smith. It's my decree show. Don't forget to break and view the show on Apple podcasts or any other podcast app. And if you want to contact us, go to blue sky at complete works pod. You can find the rest of our podcasts and Rapture press alongside many other podcasts, all kinds of comic books and movie news and all that good stuff. Our theme song was created by Kyle Cullen, who you can reach for your own podcast themes.

[00:44:05] It's a Kyle's podcast themes at email.com. And our logo is designed by Mac V or at fearless guard. I'm blue sky next week. We are talking about Elijah woods role in Barry Levinson's Avalon, uh, which is a movie I have not seen. Uh, it was nominated for a few Oscars when it came out. Uh, you know, got some critical acclaim, uh, bear Levinson, of course, director of rain man. I think this was his followup to rain man. Uh, so I am very curious to check it out. This is not going to be a leading Elijah wood role, but I think he's like, uh, I think it's a supporting

[00:44:35] role much bigger than the ones he had in that part two and internal affairs. So I think there's two lines in the middle. Yeah, exactly. So we'll see how it goes. And remember to check out other podcasts. Mike might go to the movies for all kinds of other movie related stuff, including recent releases, ranks lists, general discussions, and a lot more. Thanks so much for listening guys. Join us next time. Would you?