Further Reflections on Scenes Cut From the Film Version of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," Or Films You Wish You Had Seen, and Some You Wish You Had Not

So being a diehard Cormac McCarthy fan (and more than just a little bit suspicious), I feel the hand of God or Fate or Providence in the fact that one of my students this semester was an actor (Baby Eater No. 3! he notes) in John Hillcoat’s film of The Road (2009), and he has directed my attention to an article published in Penn State’s campus newspaper The Daily Collegian that gives a bit more information about his role, and includes some humorous inside dope, such as his mother (like, Thanks, Mom!) drawing his attention to the casting call, which asks for “very pale, skinny bearded men.” Here’s the url:
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2009/02/09/student_takes_road_trip_appear.aspx
The only sad part of that story is that the scene was cut from the film in the editing process. I’m sure Andy was bummed. I would have been. It’s like you were going to be on “Who Wants to Be a Famous Cannibal?” and they canceled the show. I’ve already written how I wasn’t surprised to hear that scene was excised from the film, considering it comes late in the novel and, in my phrasing, “seemed a bit much.” But still I’m going to ask Andy if he has a copy of the cut scenes, and if possible, post it here. I’ve seen a lot of bad movies lately . . . . I bet it’s better than Jeepers Creepers (now showing on Netflix) or The A-Team (via DirecTV). Of the two, The A-Team (2010) is really the big-budget stinker, with Liam Neeson slumming in the role of Hannibal and (The World’s Most Sexiest Man) Bradley Cooper as “Face.” I actually kind of liked the original trashy TV show, which was making fun of itself and having fun with the absurdity of its premise, but this overdone remake actually takes the idiotic premise seriously, and ruins all the fun. I would have been better off staying home and washing my hair, which really needs it.
George Peppard played the original Hannibal on the TV show, and did a great job in the role full of comic bluster and machismo, vanquishing bad guys each week, somehow managing not to kill anyone, because everyone knows that’s kind of a downer on network TV shows. For cineastes Peppard is probably now most famous for playing (the heterosexual version of) Paul Varjak opposite Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961): During the filming, he was reportedly despised by other cast members and Hepburn herself, gossip revealed by a recent biography of Hepburn.

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