I thought it was common knowledge that Slater, deliberately or not, had a Nicholson vibe going on from way back. The Bueller connection I never thought about but I can see a similarity.
Here are couple of reviews from 1989 mentioning Slater’s imitation of Nicholson:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/heathersrkempley_a09fb6.htm
So, yes, a lot of people immediately noticed the resemblance.
Just read the start of the NY Times review, and was reminded that the high school is Westerberg High School. I’m pretty sure that is a reference to Replacements front man Paul Westerberg.
I remember an interview on the Arsenio Hall show where Slater talks about getting drunk on a date and calling Nicholson to impress the girl. He says he based the character on Nicholson.
It was interesting that in calling the character JD the script had him as a James Dean type but then Slater chose to go with Nicholson and it worked so well.
I felt bad for liking the movie so much after Columbine happened, but I found out that the killers did not seem to be aware of the movie and got inspiration from Natural Born Killers.
All the quotes from it are so very.
“My teen angst b-s now has a body count.”
You’re welcome. Glad you enjoyed it.
I came to post this; I couldn’t remember the interviewer but what I remember is that as a prank, he called Nicholson and did his Nicholson impersonation. Silence on the other end. Slater slightly freaked and was about to hang up when he hears, “Well well well…”
And yes, he’s said he did that on purpose in Heathers.
Yes, it is, but in the movie it’s spelled “Westerburg High School.” Winona Ryder was a big fan of The Replacements.
Regular or BQ?
BQ!
Well yes, that was the whole point of the movie. You’ll live. Want some pate?
So you admit you were calling me an idiot.
You are missing the whole subtext to the quotes in this thread and the appreciation for the themes of Heathers in general. I didn’t call you anything personally. I would respond back with some more quotes but you aren’t getting them and taking it personally when it is warranted so I won’t. Everyone in this thread has been lighthearted about a quotable movie they really love and it has nothing to do with you.
Other posters were quoting from the movie, but they weren’t using the quotes to attach other posters. You were.
I wasn’t attacking you either even although that would have been in the Heathers’ spirit. We have been on this board a long time together and I both like you and respect you. I truly didn’t mean any offense. Any inadvertent offense I caused was just theme oriented and I apologize if I didn’t make that clear enough in advance.
Heathers is a blatantly offensive movie and meant to be. That is part of the reason it is so funny. I can see why someone reading quotes out of context would find them offensive but that was never my intention.
BTW, I know that my gay cops theory isn’t supported anywhere in the script and other people have a right to disagree with it but it is my personal interpretation. I don’t expect anyone else to believe it or even care very much. I do have strong evidence for my other theories however.
He was also in Very Bad Things where his character was a lot like J.D. in Heathers.
It’s funny this thread came up - I was in the drugstore last week spending entirely too much time scrutinizing the lip gloss selection, and suddenly thought, “Heh - I’m literally using grand IQ to decide which color lip gloss to wear.”
I was 16 when the movie came out and I loved it. I’m half excited and half scared to watch it again, but I think I’ll still like it. How can you not maintain affection for a movie with the line, “I love my dead gay son!”?
And now the Heather she was addressing (Heather Duke) has one.
I can barely remember the movie now, Somewhere since then someone said something about the director pushing Slater to put more Nicholson into his performance. Reading the thread I guess I didn’t appreciate it at the time. But next time I’m looking for a movie to watch I’ll watch it again. I do remember the plot wasn’t the typical predictable sort that I expected.
I know it’s nine years later, but I’ve just re-read this thread and I think I can answer this:
The difference between JD and Ferris is that while both are essentially amoral agents of chaos, Ferris is a Trickster figure, while JD is a Satan figure. Ferris wants to free Cameron (whether he wants it or not), but JD wants to corrupt Veronica. You can accuse Ferris of many things, but you can’t say he’s intentionally malicious. JD, on the other hand, is malice personified.