Tricks of the Trade: Making 'Matchstick Men' (2004) (V)

Director:

Charles de Lauzirika

Release Date:

24 February 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot Keywords:

Making Of

Cast

Debra Zane	...	Herself - Casting Director
Ridley Scott	...	Himself - Director / Producer
Melora Walters	...	Herself - 'Heather' (Audition Tape)
Sheila Kelley	...	Herself - 'Kathy' (Audition Tape) (as Sheila Kelly)
Bruce McGill	...	Himself - 'Chuck Frechette' (Audition Tape)
Sean Bailey	...	Himself - Producer
Michael Kaplan	...	Himself - Costume Designer
John Mathieson	...	Himself
Dody Dorn	...	Herself - Editor
Nicolas Cage	...	Himself - 'Roy'
Ted Griffin	...	Himself - Writer / Producer
Jack Rapke	...	Himself - Producer
Charles J.D. Schlissel	...	Himself - Co-Producer
K.C. Hodenfield	...	Himself - Assistant Director
Tom Foden	...	Himself - Production Designer

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Filming Locations:

Anaheim Convention Center - 800 W. Katella Avenue, Anaheim, California, USA

Company:

Warner Home Video

Trivia:

This documentary is featured on all 3 DVD releases (Fullscreen, Widescreen & 2-Disc soundtrack edition) for Matchstick Men (2003), released in February 2004 in Region 1 (USA and Canada).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Instead of saying "July 2, 2002 - 12 Days until principal photography", it stated "June 2, 2002" instead.

Quotes:

[6:30 A.M. - Ridley Scott arrives for the first day of shooting]
Ridley Scott: Jesus Christ! We're being filmed already.

Movie Connections:

References Gladiator (2000)

Terrific Documentary About Moving Making

If you are at all a fan of DVD commentaries, then this documentary is definitely for you. This documentary ALONE is worth the price of the DVD.

This documentary was made by Charles de Lauzirika, who has produced the DVDs for many of Ridley Scott's films, including Alien, the Duellists, and Hannibal. I actually was watching the small "retrospective" short (Duelling Directors) on the DVD "The Duellists" (Ridley Scott's first film), and I was amazed that the producer of that DVD was none other than Charles de Lauzirika. He does terrific work.

The documentary neatly splits up the "Matchstick Men" movie making process into pre-production, production, and post-production. Charles gives equal weight to both, highlighting some of the key decisions that were made at each step in the movie-making process. For pre-production, we saw Ridley at a casting meeting and costume reviews. For production, we saw Ridley's first shooting day, and last shooting day, as well as a necessary re-shoot. You even got to see the author of the book Matchstick Men, Eric Garcia. For post-production, we heard from Hans Zimmer (composer) and Dody Dorn (editor), and the decisions they made in their roles.

This was a long documentary but it was hardly a marketing-driven fluff piece. This was clearly a documentary from a fan of the "behind-the-scenes" genre, for fans of the "behind-the-scenes" genre.

I wish the documentary could have been longer! I wish there could have been more about the budget process, and some more from the principal actors (a la the reality TV show about movie making, Project Greenlight).

That little bit aside, this documentary is a wonderful testimony to Ridley Scott, the legendary director. He's the star of the documentary as he should be. You got a sense of his style. You got a sense of his desire to be prepared for all aspects of the production.

For all fans of movie-making, this documentary is a superb addition to your collection.