Wassermann also recalled a producer’s concern about Aniston’s late arrival, nearly 30 minutes later. Bogdanovich and Wassermann worked on the film in New York, but when the production set up a parallel editing room in Los Angeles, with editor Nick Moore (“Love Actually”) taking the film, Wassermann stopped, he said, so Bogdanovich could attend. for the assembly on the west coast and wouldn’t feel pressured to stay with his son-in-law.
Moore, who spent several weeks editing before heading off on a new commitment, remembered working with Bogdanovich as a “fun time” and had no sense of a tumultuous production. “It was as hard as ever,” he said, “but it wasn’t monstrous.” About Bogdanovich, he said: “I can’t remember ever being upset. Frankly, there were sometimes fireworks, but I always got the impression that he enjoyed them. He loved to fight for what he wanted.”
Peter Tonguette, who is an occasional contributor to The Times and is the author of ‘Picturing Peter Bogdanovich’, which features extensive interviews with the director, corresponded with the filmmaker during the making of the film and watched a total of 10 parts. He characterized what happened during the editing as a “committee approach” in which Bogdanovich chose to “be part of that committee”, participating in the re-shooting and reshaping process, even if he regretted the changes.
It had been many years since Bogdanovich, who also made documentaries, had a fiction film in the cinema that he wrote and directed, Tonguette noted. “Peter had gone to war with studios before,” he said, “and I think he felt like it really hurt him in the industry.” Tonguette recalled that as late as May 2014, Bogdanovich sent him a detailed note suggesting changes, proving his determination to improve even a watered-down film on a grainy level. “A compromised hit is better than no hit at all, so he wasn’t going to argue with the movie,” even though it wasn’t the movie he wrote and shot, Tonguette said.
Kenney said it was clear when he saw the “Squirrels” cut that it was different from the start — and better. “Whether it’s a four-star movie or a three-star movie, it’s a four-star talent that is running at full throttle,” he said.
