Brian De Palma’s big regret and the movie he wished he’d never made: “I should have taken my money and walked”
The career of Brian De Palma is as wild and unpredictable as any of his best movies. A pivotal force in the industry-shaking New Hollywood movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, De Palma produced some of the most beloved movies of the era, most notably the 1976 adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie. His commercial success continued into the ’80s and ’90s, with features like Mission: Impossible, The Untouchables, and his version of Scarface. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.
As the new millennium crept into view, De Palma’s career began a slow, painful decline. His films became less and less relevant, not always due to a drop in quality. While movies like The Black Dahlia and Mission to Mars were flops, 2002’s Femme Fatale has a certain B-movie charm to it. However, he sealed his fate with 2007’s Redacted, a semi-biographical exposé of American war crimes in Iraq. This put him on a blacklist he never managed to escape from, condemning him to a future of mediocrity.
Even before this, things didn’t always run smoothly for the so-called ‘American Godard’. His debut feature, Murder a la Mod, was a complete disaster. Even in his pomp, he wasn’t immune to criticism. His 1980 movie Dressed to Kill features a performance from Nancy Allen (De Palma’s wife at the time), which earned her a nomination for the first ever Golden Raspberry Award for ‘Worst Actress’.
Then there’s a film he made in the ’80s that continues to haunt him to this day, as he explained in an interview with Business Insider. “A movie I wish I hadn’t done was Wise Guys,” he noted. “The studio changed their minds and didn’t want to make it. They just wanted us to go away. I should have just taken my money and walked instead of dealing with a studio that didn’t want to make the movie.”
Wise Guys, which sadly has nothing to do with Goodfellas, was released in 1986. Danny DeVito and Joe Piscopo play two mafia dogsbodies who, after losing a substantial amount of money, are forced to kill each other. Before they can pull their respective triggers, however, our heroes steal a car and flee to Atlantic City. It’s a crime comedy caper with a stellar cast, also featuring Harvey Keitel, Patti DuPone, and, if you can believe it, both of Martin Scorsese’s parents. Sadly, the critics weren’t so keen.
While some in the media were fans, including the great Gene Siskel, others slammed De Palma’s latest offering. The most critical reviews lamented the absence of the director’s usual flair, especially within the gangster subgenre. Scarface had only come out three years earlier, and now here was the same filmmaker churning out what was essentially a bad parody of his work. De Palma also fought with MGM during production, refusing their request to allow Happy Days creator Garry Marshall to help edit the film. To make matters worse, the director had turned down the chance to make Fatal Attraction in order to fulfil his Wise Guys commitments, which, ironically, wasn’t very wise at all.
When your film career spans over 60 years, you’re entitled to a few duds. If only De Palma would admit that to himself, as the failure of this caper clearly still weighs heavy on his mind.
