When Aniston arrived nearly 30 minutes late, a producer was worried, according to Wassermann. With Nick Moore (Love Actually) taking a stab at the film’s editing in Los Angeles, Bogdanovich and Wassermann worked together in New York, but Wassermann said he quit so that Bogdanovich could be in Los Angeles for the cutting and not feel pressured to stay with his son-in-law.
Moore, who worked on the edit with Bogdanovich for a few weeks before leaving for another engagement, described the experience as a “wonderful time” and said she had no idea the production was chaotic.
However, “it wasn’t monstrous as difficult as they typically are,” he noted. “I don’t remember him ever being distressed at all,” Bogdanovich added. To be honest, there were occasions when it seemed like there were pyrotechnics, but he seemed to like them. For him, it was a joy to battle for what he desired.”
While working on Peter Bogdanovich, Peter Tonguette, an occasional contributor to The Times who is the author of “Picturing Peter Bogdanovich,” viewed 10 edits of the film and communicated with the director during the film’s production.
It was a “committee method,” he said, that resulted in Bogdanovich participating in the reshooting and reworking of the film even though he despised the modifications.
According to Tonguette, it had been a long time since Bogdanovich, a filmmaker who also directed documentaries, had released a screenplay and directed a feature in theatres. As he explained, “Peter had gone to war with studios before,” and he thought it had “harmed him in the industry.” That Bogdanovich sent Tonguette a long message in May 2014 recommending adjustments shows just how dedicated he was in trying to make even the most watered-down film better.
Although Tonguette didn’t write or direct the film, she stated, “a compromised hit is better than no hit at all,” therefore she wasn’t going to oppose it.
The “Squirrels” cut was distinct from the beginning, and better, according to Kenney. As he put it, “a four-star talent operating at full capacity is in every movie, even if it’s a three-star film.”
