Back when I worked on film projects in Hollywood, the only one that ever made it onto the screen was "Rollover" with Jane Fonda and Kris Kristofferson in 1981.
The lead actor in the film was supposed to have been Robert Redford, according to the plans dawn up by Fonda's production company, IPC Films, which hired Howard Kohn and me to write the story.
Accordingly, the story we had submitted had two main characters named "Fonda" and "Redford."
But they were two of the biggest stars of that era, in their thirties at the time, and it proved impossible to join their schedules to our movie's shooting schedule.
So Kristofferson was subbed in for Redford, which was a disaster and the movie bombed. He was and is a great songwriter but he can't act. Had Redford played the part as we wrote it, who knows what might have happened.
The other day, I watched Fonda and Redford star in the 2017 film "Our Souls at Night." By now the stars in their eighties, and arguably better than ever.
I remember how much the pair had wanted to act in a film together when they were young (they actually did once in "The Electric Horseman.") Knowing that history, it was satisfying to see them finally together again in their later years.
"Souls" a sweet film about two elderly neighbors who get together romantically, which causes a bit of a stir in their town but they really don't care about that. I suppose you could say the story celebrates what happens when you reach the point where be you can do what you want to do regardless of public opinion.
***
Recently, a group of friends who are all of my age range met up and agreed that none of them cared all that much what people thought of them any longer either. At least not as much as when they were younger.
It is kind of a relief to reach this stage, they said. Every one of them had led a relatively successful career and those who had had marriages and children felt pretty much okay about how all of that turned out too.
They all seemed to be saying that while perception mattered more in the past, now reality is all they have time for.
Just like in the movie.
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THE HEADLINES:
* Think all politics are local? The California recall says most politics are now national. (WP)
* Senate GOP says it will allow debt default; Democrats rush to avert crisis (WP)
* Fearful U.S. residents in Afghanistan hiding out from Taliban (AP)
* As an Afghan newspaper struggles to survive, a brutal beating — and a Taliban apology (WP)
* Afghanistan’s Economic Meltdown Leaves Citizens Scrambling (WSJ)
* Taliban Seize Women’s Ministry Building for Use by Religious Police -- Taliban leaders have turned the Kabul building that housed Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs into the offices for the religious police, an ominous portent for women’s rights. (NYT)
* Amid COVID surge, states that cut benefits still see no hiring boost (Reuters)
* Covid Hospitalizations Hit Crisis Levels in Southern I.C.U.s (NYT)
* Fast-food customers are back, but workers are not. It’s triggering major change. (WP)
* Moderna Leads The Authorized COVID Vaccines In Lasting Effectiveness (NPR)
* Amid COVID surge, states that cut benefits still see no hiring boost (Reuters)
* The Facebook Files: A Wall Street Journal Investigation (WSJ)
* India antitrust probe finds Google abused Android dominance, report shows (Reuters)
* Why the Empire State Building, and New York, May Never Be the Same (NYT)
* How the deliberately different SF Giants built a surprise Major League powerHow the deliberately different Giants built a surprise Major League power (WP)
* Antidepressant Medication Label Reminds Users That Pill Should Never Be Mixed With Long Look In Mirror (The Onion)
***
"Let Them Talk" (excerpt)
If they want to
Talk, don't bother me
I want the whole wide world to know
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