Eric Roth

Made films the shows talk about.

Counted as writer, the making department they hold the most credits in. The films the hosts said they wrote, which the two lists below run through too: Forrest Gump (1994); The Insider (1999); The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008); A Star Is Born (2018); Mank (2020); Killers of the Flower Moon (2023). Count them as producer (1 film) instead.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Goodfellas (1990): 3 lines

  1. craft (opening style) · through Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), which they wrote: Goodfellas ⇒ Killers of the Flower Moon (the host's read). The opening tracking shot echoes the Copacabana shot before the film rejects that mode.
    “It was a very long tracking shot through Leo's arrival, which is, you know, gesturing to Copacabana”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 0:14:19 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. contrast (inverts) · through Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), which they wrote: Goodfellas ⇒ Killers of the Flower Moon (the host's read). Same crimes by white men but with no romance or good life, a deliberate answer to Goodfellas' seductiveness.
    “there's a romance to Goodfellas that does not exist here.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 0:28:46 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (narration trick) · through Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), which they wrote: Goodfellas ⇒ Killers of the Flower Moon (the host's read). Molly's voiceover recalls Karen taking over narration in Goodfellas.
    “Goodfellas does this. There's a moment when Karen takes over the narration.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:08:58 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

Citizen Kane (1941): 2 lines

  1. lineage (visual influence) · through Mank (2020), which they wrote: Citizen Kane ⇒ Mank (the maker said so: David's interview with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt). Messerschmidt told the interviewer he wanted low, deep-focus photography evoking Citizen Kane, not noir.
    “He's like, no, I want to do it low to the ground, lots of deep focus, evoking citizen Kane.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 1:13:08 · David Sims (0.80 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (subject / source) · through Mank (2020), which they wrote: Citizen Kane ⇒ Mank (the host's read). Mank is partly inspired by Pauline Kael's essay on who truly authored Citizen Kane.
    “it's in part inspired by that very famous Pauline Kale, story raising Kane, about the true authorship of Citizen Kane”
    The Big Picture · Emergency Mailbag: The Oscars Are Streaming and Hollywood Is Fighting Over Trolls | The Big Picture · 0:58:09 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)

F. Scott Fitzgerald: 2 lines

  1. lineage (adaptation) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they wrote: F. Scott Fitzgerald ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the host's read). The film is adapted from Fitzgerald's short story, though the speakers say it shares little with it.
    “It's quite, it's, it doesn't have too much in common with the film, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:01:30 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (adaptation distance) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they wrote: F. Scott Fitzgerald ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the host's read). By the time Roth finished, the film resembles the story in name only.
    “By the time he's done with it, the movie has no resemblance to Benjamin Button apart from, it's called Benjamin Button.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:42:01 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Forrest Gump (1994): 2 lines, within their own work

  1. unmapped (anti-Gump answer) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they wrote: Forrest Gump ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the host's read). Griffin reads Benjamin Button as a pointed answer to Gump, showing the death behind the Americana.
    “But I think it's almost like pointedly an anti-gump.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:22:50 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (attempt at a Gump) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they wrote: Forrest Gump ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the host's read). The speaker says the cultural narrative is that Benjamin Button is Fincher trying to do Gump.
    “but I do think this is like the cultural narrative of this movie is he's trying to do Gump, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:10:05 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Jack Fincher: 2 lines

  1. lineage (script origin) · through Mank (2020), which they wrote: Jack Fincher ⇒ Mank (the maker said so: Fincher's own account as read from the dossier (outlet not named)). Fincher's father wrote the original Mank script, which David set aside until years later.
    “I'm handed this script that my dad wrote about all powerful directors ruining storytelling”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:48:09 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (script rewrite) · them, directly: Jack Fincher ⇒ Eric Roth (the host's read). The speaker says Roth rewrote Jack Fincher's script into the version that was made, adding nuance.
    “he came in and put a lot more nuance into it, I think.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:46:43 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)

All the President's Men (1976): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through The Insider (1999), which they wrote: All the President's Men ⇒ The Insider (the host's read). The Insider is hoped to capture the same wave of reaction that All the President's Men did.
    “they're hoping to capture that same kind of that wave that people have when they saw all the president's men.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Insider’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:21:08 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)

Love Is Strong (Rolling Stones video): 1 line

  1. lineage (technique precursor) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they wrote: Love Is Strong (Rolling Stones video) ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the host's read). A host guesses the Stones' giant-scale effects helped Fincher on Benjamin Button.
    “Well, and I bet this helped for Benjamin Button eventually.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · David Fincher Music Videos · 1:59:12 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Mike Wallace Is Here (2019): 1 line

  1. industry (industry) · through The Insider (1999), which they wrote: Mike Wallace Is Here ⇒ The Insider (the host's read). The documentary on Wallace informs the Plummer scenes.
    “And I think it actually informs this scene a lot”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Insider’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:37:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.45 sure it was them)

Orville Redenbacher commercial (Fincher, Digital Domain): 1 line

  1. unmapped (proof of concept) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they wrote: Orville Redenbacher commercial (Fincher, Digital Domain) ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the maker said so). Fincher used a Redenbacher commercial to test whether the film was makeable.
    “I'm basically stealing money from Orvell Redbocker to figure out whether this film is makeable or not.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:52:07 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Robin Swicord: 1 line

  1. unmapped (rewrite) · them, directly: Robin Swicord ⇒ Eric Roth (the host's read). Roth was the first to start over after Swicord's draft; everyone else built on it.
    “Eric Roth is the 1st person post-Swyker to do like a full page one, go back to the adaptation start over, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:41:16 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Starman (1984): 1 line

  1. people (performance lineage) · through Forrest Gump (1994), which they wrote: Starman ⇒ Forrest Gump (the host's read). Bridges' hat, check shirt, strange speech and not-quite-a-person quality read as a proto-Forrest Gump.
    “there's like a proto-Forrest Gump vibe in this performance in the hat and in the check shirt”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 1:57:23 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

The Lost Weekend (1945): 1 line

  1. craft (visual echo) · through Mank (2020), which they wrote: The Lost Weekend ⇒ Mank (the host's read). The election-night drunk sequence in Mank is called self-consciously reminiscent of The Lost Weekend.
    “almost self-consciously reminiscent of the last the lost weekend”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 2:03:48 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

Titanic (1997): 1 line

  1. lineage (callback) · through Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), which they wrote: Titanic ⇒ Killers of the Flower Moon (the host's read). The car make-out scene is a funny Titanic callback.
    “I thought there was a really funny callback to Titanic when they're making out in the car.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 0:35:48 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)

earlier Vietnam films: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Forrest Gump (1994), which they wrote: earlier Vietnam films ⇒ Forrest Gump (the host's read). Gump's Vietnam section riffs on the earlier Vietnam films: music, combat, drill instructor.
    “A journey that riffs on all the Vietnam films that came before.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:44:07 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): 2 lines, within their own work

  1. unmapped (anti-Gump answer) · through Forrest Gump (1994), which they wrote: Forrest Gump ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the host's read). Griffin reads Benjamin Button as a pointed answer to Gump, showing the death behind the Americana.
    “But I think it's almost like pointedly an anti-gump.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:22:50 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (attempt at a Gump) · through Forrest Gump (1994), which they wrote: Forrest Gump ⇒ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the host's read). The speaker says the cultural narrative is that Benjamin Button is Fincher trying to do Gump.
    “but I do think this is like the cultural narrative of this movie is he's trying to do Gump, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:10:05 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013): 2 lines

  1. unmapped (attempt at a Gump) · through Forrest Gump (1994), which they wrote: Forrest Gump ⇒ The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (the host's read). Walter Mitty is another attempt at a Gump a couple of years after Button.
    “A couple years after this, Walter Middy's an attempt at a gump.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:10:34 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (parody) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they wrote: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ⇒ The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (the host's read). The speaker says Walter Mitty parodies Benjamin Button, as if to say Button got the Gump wrong.
    “And Walter Mitty parodies Benjamin Button, almost as if to say, they fucked up.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:10:46 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Big Fish (2003): 1 line

  1. unmapped (attempt at a Gump) · through Forrest Gump (1994), which they wrote: Forrest Gump ⇒ Big Fish (the host's read). Studios kept trying to replicate Gump; Big Fish was one attempt.
    “And Big Fish is an attempt at a gump.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:10:34 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fighting with My Family (2019): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through A Star Is Born (2018), which they wrote: A Star Is Born ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant says he thought about A Star Is Born, the rags to riches story, as much as the sports side.
    “I was thinking as much about films like, you know, like a Star is Born”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:27:47 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

House of Cards (TV series): 1 line

  1. career (career step) · through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which they wrote: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ⇒ House of Cards (TV series) (the host's read). Fincher moved Mahershala Ali from Button into House of Cards.
    “But I mean, look, Fincher puts him from this into House of Cards, which is one of the things that definitely levels him up.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:05:36 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Great Gatsby (2013): 1 line

  1. unmapped (tribute) · them, directly: Eric Roth ⇒ The Great Gatsby (the host's read). Roth named the love interest Daisy as a tribute to Gatsby.
    “He calls the love interest daisy as a tribute to the Great Gatsby.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:42:11 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Writing (9) everyone in writing

Other (2) everyone in other

Producing (1) everyone in producing

What was said about them, by kind

people (2)

  1. people (people): Eric Roth → Forrest Gump. Roth is famed for clarifying a movie's problem inside one scene, as in Forrest Gump.
    “Eric Roth, who is a co-writer of this movie, is famed for his ability to clarify the problem of a movie inside of one scene.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Insider’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey · 0:34:49 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. people (script rewritten by the director): Eric Roth → Killers of the Flower Moon. Roth's strict adaptation was torn up and rewritten by Scorsese himself, which Griffin compares to Mank.
    “It's like Scorsese Adam come in, he writes this script.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:47:31 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

unmapped (3)

  1. unmapped (script rewrite): Jack Fincher → Eric Roth. The speaker says Roth rewrote Jack Fincher's script into the version that was made, adding nuance.
    “he came in and put a lot more nuance into it, I think.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:46:43 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (rewrite): Robin Swicord → Eric Roth. Roth was the first to start over after Swicord's draft; everyone else built on it.
    “Eric Roth is the 1st person post-Swyker to do like a full page one, go back to the adaptation start over, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:41:16 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (tribute): Eric Roth → The Great Gatsby. Roth named the love interest Daisy as a tribute to Gatsby.
    “He calls the love interest daisy as a tribute to the Great Gatsby.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:42:11 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

what-if (1)

  1. what-if (what-if): The Butterfly Effect → Eric Roth. Eric Roth writing it would make it a mainstream crowd-pleasing sci-fi movie.
    “what if Eric Roth wrote this movie”
    The Big Picture · 300th Episode Ask-Us-Anything Mailbag Spectacular · 0:36:45 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Eric Roth: Running joke: a man arrives every five minutes with a bag of Gump money for Eric Roth.
    “Every 5 minutes in Eric's Roth life, and a man appears with a bag filled with gump money and just hands it over.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:47:20 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Eric Roth: A running joke: Roth should open a soup restaurant called Eric Broth.
    “Eric Roth should open a soup restaurant called Eric Broth.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:26:53 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)