James Foley

We decided to come back and talk about 1996's Fear.

This was directed by James Foley.

This stars Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, Alyssa Milano.

This is pure mid-90s eroticism on a little bit of a more like a little bit of more like tempered of, of the genre while it still is rated R.

So, yeah, I mean, this is...

This is definitely, I mean, you've kind of seen such a progression in both of their careers as time has gone on.

One thing I did want to note was director James Foley.

He did At Close Range.

But despite its success, especially on non-commercial airwaves, the track's true entry into pop culture mythology wouldn't arrive for another four years.

Actually, in 1996, director James Foley selected The Sundays' cover for a highly provocative sequence in his psychological thriller Fear, starring Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon.

Foley placed the hypnotic recording over a suspenseful scene aboard a moving roller coaster.

Wheeler's tender delivery against a visual backdrop of the mounting thrill ride tension burned the performance deep into '90s pop culture.

He is defending his own grandfather, who is an imprisoned former Ku Klux Klan member facing imminent execution on death row, and this grandfather is played by Gene Hackman.

The film also stars Faye Dunaway and Robert Prosky, with James Foley directing.

If we connect this to the bigger picture, notice the recurring thematic elements the studios are now comfortable exploring.

We have another young, idealistic lawyer facing down an incredibly dark, morally complex situation.

This film came out in 1992.

It was directed by James Foley.

And as we've said a couple of times now, it was written by David Mamet.

He was adapting his own 1984 play of the same name.

And obviously the attraction to this movie is the language.

It's the script.

But it means that even though the director, James Foley, does some cinematic things with the lighting, the rain, the exaggerated red and blue hues, and a few of the outdoor scenes, the fundamental experience remains, you know, two characters walking into a space and verbally attacking each other for several minutes, and then another configuration of actors in the ensemble does the same thing.

So I'm kind of admiring the writing while also feeling the machinery of the stage production at the same time, if that makes any sense.