When I was in film school in the mid-90s, one of my editing instructors was Sonya Polonsky. I had immediate respect for her since she served on the editing team for Woody Allen’s Annie Hall and Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull. She then became editor on John Sayles’ Baby It’s You and Matewan. One day during her lecture, she broke out a videotape for The Linguini Incident. While I knew about the movie since it starred David Bowie and indie sweetheart Eszter Balint from Stranger Than Paradise, I’d never seen the film. It hadn’t played my local art house and I’d never spotted the tape on the shelf at Video Plaza. Because I was knee deep in editing my school project, I didn’t beg Sonya to loan me her tape. And I regretted it for a while. Although now I’m kind of relieved that I hadn’t seen it until the new Blu-ray arrived. Director Richard Shepard (The Matador) has recut the comedy after the producer took off with the film and cut it for the original release version. I don’t think Sonya helped the producer in his heist. The Linguini Incident: Director’s Cut tightens up the quirky and humorous downtown New York City tale.
Lucy (Pulp Fiction‘s Rosanna Arquette) is a waitress at the ultra-hip restaurant Dali. The super successful place is decorated to resemble the artist’s work including oddly shaped huge bread sticks to go with the Italian menu. Like so many wait staff members in New York City, Lucy has bigger dreams than serving up sauce, pasta and meat balls to trendy patrons. She wants to get back to her childhood success as an escape artist. Puberty had screwed up her once natural talent to allude handcuffs and straitjackets as Lucy The Ethereal. Her family has a connection to Houdini. This has turned into an obsession as she bases her routine around being Houdini’s wife. She even collects personal items from the woman. When Mrs. Houdini’s wedding ring is offered at an antique store, she needs cash fast. She’s ready to rob Dali. The person that will get in her way is the new English bartender Monte (David Bowie). He actually has two major things to do: rob Dali and marry a waitress to qualify for a green card. This can get done since cashier Jeanatte (Children of a Lesser God‘s Marlee Matlin) has offered to be his wife for a price. After fighting over who needs to rob the restaurant more, Lucy and Monte agree to cooperate in a crime scheme and get her friend Vivian (Stranger Than Paradise‘s Eszter Balint) to be the gunwoman in the robbery. Making the heist exciting is Vivian using her self-defense bra as a weapon in the plot. Can the trio rob the restaurant or will people think it’s a surrealistic floor show?
While normally we associate Director’s Cuts with adding previously deleted scenes, most of Richard Shepard’s recut involves trimming moments and a reorganizing a few existing scenes to slightly adjust the comic timing. Shepard explains on the bonus features how this all came together. The film is now five minutes shorter. The opening has been changed to give viewers the setup of the movie that lets us know that the employees are all plotting ways to rob Dali. It gives us an immediate sense of direction instead of wondering “what’s going to happen here?” The original cut is also featured on the disc so you should see both versions. I’m happy that I first experienced the film as the Director’s Cut since it does elevate the film. Bowie is hilarious especially when he when he suggests a threesome with the ladies and Eszter Balint’s reaction.
The Linguini Incident is the final part of the Rosanna Arquette’s Downtown NYC trilogy with Martin Scorsese’s After Hours and Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan. I’m not sure if this is officially a trilogy, but it would make a great night of programming on Turner Classic Movies. If anyone wonders why they’d want to move into a tiny apartment on the Southern tip of the island of Manhattan; the chance to flirt with Rosanna Arquette would be a top reason. Speaking of the downtown experience, having Andre Gregory (My Dinner with Andre) and Buck Henry (The Graduate) as the owners of Dali is a stroke of genius. Now Andre serves you dinner. Buck Henry gets to reunite with Bowie after playing the patent lawyer in Bowie‘s Man Who Fell To Earth. I swear they are the basis for the Fischoeder brothers on Bob’s Burgers.
The Linguini Incident: Director’s Cut is an adorable movie about quirky people you’d imagine inhabit downtown New York City during this era. This is David Bowie’s only major comedy role which is a shame since he’s so good here. Eszter Balint shines in color since her other major indie role had her only in black and white. Rosanna Arquette is believable as both a frustrated waitress and escape artist. This is a perfect indie film to rediscover after over 30 years. The Linguini Incident improves on its quirky charming downtown vibe with Richard Shepard’s fresh cut.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 4K transfer is taken off an interpositive. This looks so much better than the VHS tape that Sonya Polonsky showed our class. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 Mono. Things sound great when Lucy practices her escapes. You can hear the struggle inside the bag. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentaries include a Director’s Commentary with Richard Shepard. There is a Director and Cast Commentary that includes Rosanna Arquette, Eszter Balint, co-producer Sarah Jackson, co-writer Tamar Brott and moderator Heath Holland. They are getting a chance to see the new director’s cut. They tell why Tony Randall turned down a part.
Making of the Linguini Incident (104:26) has Richard Shepard talks with so much of his cast and crew about the making of the original film. He worked with Tamar Brott on the script after they worked on a Roman Coppola film. They went to Reno and Las Vegas to crank out the script. They got picked up by producer Arnold Orgolini after Sarah Jackson (Richard’s old roommate) showed to him. Richard was excited because Arnold would let him direct. The funding was rather suspect. There’s a clip of David Bowie talking about the film talking to Bryant Gumble on the Today Show. Rosanna Arquette, Eszter Balint and Marlee Matlin talk about the joy of working with David Bowie. Rosanna Arquette says Bowie turned her onto Sonic Youth. There’s also a lot about Shelley Winter’s short time on the set.
Original Theatrical Version (98:22) is the standard definition home video American release in 1.33:1 full frame. You can feel how Shepard altered the film from the very start. It is 5 minutes longer than his director’s cut.
Photo Gallery (5:55) has him narrate a montage of production photos from his collection. He has great cast photos. We hear tales of things his producer did to him ending with recutting the film before release. He talks of going with David Bowie to see Grant Hart of Husker Du.
Introduction by Richard Shepard (2:26) has explain how badly he wanted to remake the film since the original released cut was not his version. He mostly wanted to tighten up the film. He appears to have a Shelley Winters biography on his bookcase which is interesting since he had to fire Winters from the film. He also has Marlee Matlin’s book on the stack.
2024 Theatrical Trailer (1:42) might be shown at a cinema near you.
Original Theatrical Trailer (2:18) is from when Academy Entertainment released the film. They give away a lot in the trailer. Don’t watch it until after you see the film.
Booklet has writings by Graham Rinaldi and Richard Shepard
MVD Marquee Collection presents The Linguini Incident: Director’s Cut. Directed by Richard Shepard. Screenplay by Tamar Brott and Richard Shepard. Starring Rosanna Arquette, David Bowie, Eszter Balint, Andre Gregory, Buck Henry and Marlee Matlin. Running Time: 93 minutes. Release Date: July 23, 2024.
