I find it hard to believe that James Spader and RDJ were ever friends... I say this before watching "Tuff Turf" on YouTube... and oddly enough, this friendship applies in real life as well.
A comment Jon Cryer made on "Live with Kelly & Michael" got me thinking. Either go with me on it or bail because my points will get very exaggerated and crazy.
He said that he and Molly Ringwald didn't end up together at the end of "Pretty in Pink" because she was holding out for Robert Downey Jr. to play Duckie. And didn't see the two of them ending up together and that's why the ending changed.
Personally, I heard it was because test audiences didn't like it. That Andy (Molly Ringwald) not ending up with Blaine (Andrew McCarthy) would send a bad message-- poor people can't end up with rich folks.
Either way, the original ending was in play where RDJ was. Once they cast Jon Cryer instead, the new ending came in. John Hughes later wrote "Some Kind of Wonderful" to get his original ending back, but with Eric Stoltz being in a love triangle with two girls. Another good John Hughes movie with a very handsome Eric Stoltz, but it was so obvious he was ending up with Watts instead of Lea Thompson's character. The chemistry wasn't quite there.
Back on topic...
This has been an utmost debated topic in the blogsphere, long before Team Edward and Team Jacob were in vitro.
Team Blaine or Team Duckie?
If I were to go by looks alone, of course Andrew McCarthy would win hands down. But personality-wise, I'm more favorable to Duckie. Why not be with a guy that makes you laugh and has undying loyalty to you?
Blaine, meanwhile, doesn't have much of a backbone. Hemming and hawing about whether to follow his heart or following what his preppy friends tell him to do. Because of this, the third act of "Pretty in Pink" was terrible. The plot just stops when Blaine doesn't call on Andy again. Then when Duckie takes her to prom, Blaine shows up and everything's magically okay between them? Sorry, I just don't buy it.
James Spader, of course, originated the role he was typecast in during the 80's- the jerkface villain. A lot of people say that he's just jealous that Andy didn't feel that way about him... I just think he's a coldhearted bastard... pardon my language... that gets off on messing with people.
I find it a little too coincidental that James Spader was the villain to Andrew McCarthy's protagonist on THREE occasions.
The second occasion was "Mannequin"...
which I will probably have to revisit to fully make my case & point. Other than the obvious:McCarthy: 2 Spader: 0
Then "Less Than Zero" happened... anyone who read my review knows how I feel about it... if you were to follow the logic in this conspiracy, James Spader got RDJ hooked on drugs to punish Andrew McCarthy and Julian's death at the end of the movie was his revenge.
Translation: I can't beat/punish you so I'll take it out on your best friend.
So I got to thinking... would this series of events have happened if RDJ was in "Pretty in Pink?"
Probably not... "Mannequin" would have happened regardless and James Spader would be forever a loser in the Brat Pack universe... if I were to assume RDJ would be so brilliant in "Pretty in Pink" that he would have gotten attention so many other films that he wouldn't be able to commit to "Less than Zero"... no matter how perfectly tragic he was as Julian.
Supposing Duckie read the same no matter which actor played the role, Jon Cryer was easily the better choice. Robert was a real weirdo in the 80's, particularly in "Back to School" and "Johnny Be Good," so I doubt I would have found the role as endearing under his tutelage.
Molly Ringwald would eventually get her wish in "The Pick-Up Artist," which I'm willing to bet she signed on for because of him.
...so what's the point of all this?
I probably have none to speak of :shrug: but James Spader and RDJ do have quite the history and it'll be interesting, to say the least, how it'll play out in this new Avengers movie. There's no gurantee as of yet that Ultron will not survive this movie, but there IS one that Tony Stark will, since RDJ signed up for a "Captain America" sequel after this.
I just find it laughable on James Spader's IMDB trivia page, he says despite being cast as the bad guy, he's really nice in real life...
I'd never really seen in him a "good" role. Good meaning not evil.
As of this moment, if I saw him on the street, I'll probably get up in his face and scream "You killed Julian!" and he'd have to get a restraining order against me.
To paraphrase a "Scott Pilgrim" quote, if his 80's self had a face, I would punch it.
With Ultron, that'll be quite a bit more difficult. We just get his voice in that scenario and punching his metal face would break my head.
It's still not gonna stop me from pointing kill shots at his promos for "The Blacklist"
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