The Big Picture · Review · Interview
November 10, 2023/ 91 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda, joined first by Chris Ryan and then by Adam Nayman, spend the full episode on David Fincher's The Killer, arguing over how much feeling is actually hiding inside all that control.
2 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
The Killerwith Chris Ryan
Michael Fassbender's assassin botches a Paris hit, then works his way down the list of people responsible for the fallout. Andrew Kevin Walker wrote the voiceover-heavy script; Fincher scores nearly every kill to the Smiths off an iPod Nano work playlist. Sean and Amanda call it their favorite movie of the year and read it as a confession dressed up as a thriller; Chris pushes back that it's really about failure, not love.
In conversation
Nayman, who's written a book on Fincher, argues the movie keeps undercutting its own myth of total control. Charles Parnell's character dies before the six to seven minutes Fassbender calculated, and the dog gets the wrong dose. He compares the Tilda Swinton dinner scene to Benjamin Button and calls Fight Club the closest sibling: two movies about sociopaths whose narration insists you're on their side.
Also mentioned raised along the way
David Fincher's filmography Fight ClubSe7enGone GirlMankAlien 3The Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Social NetworkThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Netflix's prestige run The IrishmanThe Ballad of Buster ScruggsRomaKillers of the Flower MoonMarriage Story
In passing Rear WindowTop Gun: MaverickMission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part OneJohn Wick: Chapter 4The Iron ClawPrivate BenjaminRoom 237The Pigeon TunnelThe Cable GuyFerrari
Coming up The Marvels
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV House of CardsMindhunterLokiThe Curse
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