Quotessence
Home / Authors / Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson

Barry Levinson Quotes

Screenwriter

Filter quotes by topic

AllThinkingFilmAudienceTelevisionCertainKindPeopleShowsSometimesTryingActorsChanceDoneInterestingPalinProducersSituationBehaviourCamerasCrazy

Famous Barry Levinson Quotes

“If you test Iron Man and that audience doesn't respond well, you can be damn sure that there is something wrong with the movie that you have to address. Because they're expecting a certain amount of action, right? They want a hero. There are certain things that have to be compatible with the way the audience is thinking about it. If you take some other film, like No Country for Old Men, you can end up with all kinds of crazy reactions.”

ThinkingMenKindCountryActionFilmAudienceCrazyHeroAll KindsOld ManExpectingIron Man
Author:Barry Levinson
Create image

“Different reactions while film test screening doesn't mean even the audience thinks ambiguity is a bad thing. But if you're asking them right away to start checking things off, they don't know what to do. I think at their best, it applies to when the audience knows what it is. Then, when they say, "Oh, well, I thought it was too boring in blah-blah-blah part," then you better pay attention to it. It's like going for the hamburger. Better be the good hamburger I went for.”

ThinkingMeanDifferentFilmAttentionAudienceBoringPay AttentionAmbiguityOh Well
Author:Barry Levinson
Create image

“Rain Man certainly didn't test really well. If you look at it carefully, you have a disease autism they didn't understand back then, they didn't know in the test audience whether it's okay to laugh or not laugh, because it's a film that's done in a way where, "Well, maybe I'm not supposed to laugh." At the end of the film, Dustin Hoffman gets on the train and doesn't even acknowledge his brother. Not even a glance, nothing. That's why the studio said, "Can't you just have him look at Tom Cruise at the end of the film?"”

MenDoneFilmAudienceLaughingBrotherRainOkayTrainAcknowledgeAutismCruise
Author:Barry Levinson
Create image

“Sarah Palin kept talking and talking, and the more she talks, the less compelling she can be. People say, "She's a very good politician, very deft at what she does," and whatever. And I hear that sometimes and go, "I don't know much about this stuff, but I would say no." Because the really good politician expands the audience, not contracts it. She may be getting a very vocal crowd, but it's a very specific group.”

PeopleSometimesAudiencePoliticianVery GoodPalin
Author:Barry Levinson
Create image