The X-rated movie Danny Boyle will defend to the death: “It was a disaster when it was released”
It’s easy to forget just how varied a filmmaker Danny Boyle is. He is perhaps most commonly associated with the gritty, slice-of-life, intangibly British films from early in his career, like Shallow Grave and the all-conquering Trainspotting. However, remember his efforts based on real-life figures, like Steve Jobs or 127 Hours? How about his underrated sci-fi adventure Sunshine? Or his iconic horror movie and franchise-starter, 28 Days Later? That’s a lot of different boxes ticked.
Though some have commented that his career isn’t what it used to be, Boyle is still constantly at work, churning out even more varied projects for screens big and small. Considering how many different ponds he’s dipped his toe into over the years, it shouldn’t come as a massive shock that he’s a fan of a range of movies across many genres. One such example was included in an interview he did with Rotten Tomatoes, where he listed some of his favourite ever films.
“I can guarantee you this film isn’t on anyone else’s list,” he said, rather magnanimously. The super obscure hipster-fest he is referring to is Eureka, a 1983 psychological drama. “It stars Gene Hackman, and it’s made by my favourite British film director,” he continued. “He’s a guy named Nick [Nicholas] Roeg, and he’s most famous, probably, for Don’t Look Now. Eureka is the film that probably ended his American career. I think it was a disaster when it was released.”
Boyle isn’t wrong in his assessment. The story, which is about a man who makes an outrageous fortune, only to worry that his daughter is exploiting him for it, was slapped with the dreaded ‘X’ rating for its depictions of graphic violence. This severely limited the number of people who could see the film and spooked the studio, which did almost zero promotion. As a result, it bombed at the box office. barely making a quarter of a million dollars. This was a devastating result for a film with an $11million budget and stars including Rutger Hauer, Mickey Rourke, Joe Pesci, and, of course, Hackman.
Critics weren’t fond of it either, but Boyle has something to say about that. “The first half of this movie is as good as you’ll ever get in a movie,” the Scotsman asserted. “The second half of the film is a trial and takes place in a courtroom, and that part doesn’t work as well, which is what probably led to it being a flop, but the first half is as good as it gets.” He was also full of praise for Gene Hackman, who plays the paranoid millionaire Jack McCann. “People say ‘Hackman’ and think of The Conversation, but he’s never better than he is in Eureka. If you can imagine a man who has everything, and he just plays it as a guy who has nothing.”
Through the efforts of the Slumdog Millionaire director and critic and director Mark Cousins, who included the film in his Sight & Sound poll in 2012, Eureka now has more eyes on it than ever before. When Danny Boyle says something is one of his favourite films, people tend to listen.
It’s been long enough that a remake of Eureka would probably do quite well. So, if he’s looking for a new project, maybe it’s time for Boyle to step up and right the wrongs of all those years ago.
