# Spielberg's Next Film Will Be a Remake of "Harvey" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146 "2009-08-03T07:31:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/41 "2009-08-03T23:06:24Z")
Well, you know who I meant. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/42 "2009-08-03T23:16:20Z")
**Elwood P. Dowd:** \*Years ago my mother used to say to me, she’d say, “In this world, Elwood, you must be” - she always called me Elwood - “In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.” Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me. \* ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/43 "2009-08-03T23:45:25Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > What happened to his plans to film Tintin? IMDB reports that Spielberg already shot the Principal photography of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) The film is now in post-production. [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000229/](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000229/) ---
**Author:** ![Jerseyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Jerseyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerseyman)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/44 "2009-08-04T00:25:29Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, except in that painting. > > Personally, I thought the whole point of the story was pissed away when it was established that Harvey, though invisible, was in fact real and could open doors and change dictionaries and whatnot. > > I thought it worked better when it was never firmly established if Elmer was nuts or not. The whole “He wasn’t crazy after all, just gifted!” trope annoys me. Don’t mind that as long as it’s revelatory _fooled you_ stuff. It’s so long since I saw it that I forget when it becomes obvious that Harvey is real. It could be a serious piece of course and the BBC is running a dramatised story very vaguely of that sort at the moment: a disturbed girl keeps predicting future disasters - but are they real predictions, has she been lucky so far, is she just good with _google_ or is she actually _causing_ them? Social Welfare refuses to believe any of it and so far her case worker has been suspended (here we are: [BBC Radio 4 - Book at Bedtime](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qtlx) ) I don’t see why Harvey needs a girlfriend! It’s a bloody spirit and surely the whole point is that Elmer sees only only one of him-her-it! Who’s she going to be, the Caramac bunny? I can’t get a google of her but she is a very laid-back creature with a southern (English) drawl and a pink ribbon round her neck used to advertise one of the most astonishingly sickly chocolate bars filled with hyper-sweet runny toffee gunge ever devised by dentists looking for trade - wave it at an enemy and watch their teeth fall out. I no see work. I do see Jim Carrey goofing it up in yet another overdone flop of the _look at me I’m being so funny_ embarrassing failure to understand that Jerry Lewis was just _too_ stupid to be funny, not _not stupid enough_. (The French like Jerry Lewis - but then nobody else has ever understood French humor either) ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/45 "2009-08-04T00:55:27Z")
> [@Jerseyman](#): > > I no see work. I do see Jim Carrey goofing it up in yet another overdone flop of the _look at me I’m being so funny_ embarrassing failure to understand that Jerry Lewis was just _too_ stupid to be funny, not _not stupid enough_. (The French like Jerry Lewis - but then nobody else has ever understood French humor either) Jim Carrey can be calm, and actually pretty good. See Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which I’m still somewhat baffled is considered a romantic comedy of all things). While Yes Man had the usual Carrey stuff, it was still a lot more relaxed than “smash your face in a toilet” Liar Liar stuff, and he came off a bit better in that one. So he can definitely play a more subtle character. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/46 "2009-08-04T01:21:32Z")
How about an anime short? **Pooka, man!** ---
**Author:** ![Jerseyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Jerseyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerseyman)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/47 "2009-08-04T01:32:04Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Jim Carrey can be calm, and actually pretty good. See Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which I’m still somewhat baffled is considered a romantic comedy of all things). While Yes Man had the usual Carrey stuff, it was still a lot more relaxed than “smash your face in a toilet” Liar Liar stuff, and he came off a bit better in that one. So he can definitely play a more subtle character. I reckon he’d be good in the more British \*Monty Python[/i]tradition just as over-the-top but without feeling the need to draw attention to it all the time. And let’s not forget that Monty Python is 40 years old now and if you really wanted to trace it back to ancestral origins you’d end up with Spike Jones. (Where do think Spike Milligan who inspired the Pythons got his nickname from?) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/48 "2009-08-04T07:39:40Z")
…and Harvey’s gonna have an attitude now. An extreme pooka for extreme times. Make fun of Elwood too many times or doubt his existence and he’ll kick your ass. And Elwood will just laugh at you: “OOOH. It’s just a wee imaginary bunny!!!” It’s Gold, Stevie baby. Gold I tells ya!!! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/49 "2009-08-04T08:13:15Z")
I don’t see it working for much the same reason as I don’t see War of the Worlds working, even if he doesn’t do anything stupid. Psychiatry and mental illness is something we see on TV every day. It’s not something that only exists somewhere else and doesn’t make sense to the average man. When you watch a movie from the 50s with 50s styling you get the impression of a quaint time where people might honestly be uncertain about how to treat Elwood. Modern sensibilities don’t lead into that quaint feeling. Everyone will just see a crazy guy, or sense that it’s being particularly hamhanded of the director to treat it like people might be mystified about the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/50 "2009-08-04T08:18:35Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > And _Lincoln_ gets postponed yet again for this?!? The original was cute but completely inconsequential, and the play has such limited potential for modern resonance that a hardcore reimagining is hard to conceive of. > > Grrrr. :mad: I’m actually quite fine with _Lincoln_ being postponed ever since I saw an interview (by Henry Gates, incidentally) with Tony “Angels in America” Kushner who’s written the screenplay. He was explaining his take on Lincoln and I was almost screaming at the TV “NOOOO!!!” He’s trying to psychoanalyze him by the standards of a modern day southern-raised New York City-native self proclaimed “non-historian and non-biographer” and… well… it shows. Presentism and pop psychology just don’t work in trying to capture one of the most complicated men ever to hold that office, and I especially hope that they don’t concentrate any more than absolutely essential on his sex life. (Since he had 4 sons we can be pretty sure he _had_ a sex life and per Herndon we can be pretty sure he wasn’t a virgin groom, but anything beyond that is conjecture and is almost the least interesting part of his existence.) ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/51 "2009-08-04T11:53:06Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > That and hallucinating 6 foot talking rabbits. > [@Contrapuntal](#): > > I don’t know. Didn’t Harvey open the gate to the hospital in the final scene? Could an hallucination do that? Exactly. The movie provided ample evidence that Harvey existed. Besides opening the gate, he changed the words in a book, and some other things which I cannot recall at the moment. The point is that Elwood P. Dowd was not insane. Harvey was real. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/52 "2009-08-04T12:03:23Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Elwood was insane not because he saw a 6 foot tall talking rabbit, but because he considered seeing a 6 foot tall talking rabbit perfectly normal. If I had seen Harvey, I would have assumed I was crazy, which would have proved that I wasn’t. > > Bit of a Catch-22, actually. This is an argument I can buy. I think you’re wrong, though. I think Harvey had a calming effect on everyone who could see him. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/53 "2009-08-04T14:16:55Z")
Why would it be abnormal to talk to Harvey? I’d consider such things a bit odd (though, knowing about furry fandom, not all that strange). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/54 "2009-08-04T14:29:03Z")
I don’t know - if you were approached by a talking anthropomorphic rabbit that no-one else can see, would you just take it in stride? I mean, consider the two options: 1. You’ve befriended an obscure creature from Celtic legend. 2. You’re insane. Now, apply Occam’s Razor. Which is more likely? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/55 "2009-08-04T14:38:52Z")
This strikes me as something Ron Howard might butcher (I haven’t forgiven him yet for The Grinch) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/56 "2009-08-04T14:58:44Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I don’t know - if you were approached by a talking anthropomorphic rabbit that no-one else can see, would you just take it in stride? > > I mean, consider the two options: > > 1. You’ve befriended an obscure creature from Celtic legend. > > 2. You’re insane. > > Now, apply Occam’s Razor. Which is more likely? The most likely would be an extremely delayed flashback from some dodgy acid taken back in my college days. But after that, the rabbit! After all, I meet both criteria to be befriended by one. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/57 "2009-08-04T15:07:50Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I don’t know - if you were approached by a talking anthropomorphic rabbit that no-one else can see, would you just take it in stride? > > I mean, consider the two options: > > 1. You’ve befriended an obscure creature from Celtic legend. > > 2. You’re insane. > > Now, apply Occam’s Razor. Which is more likely? But if I were insane, would I be able to apply Occam’s Razor? IIRC, Elwood P. Dowd actually mentioned that he thought he might be insane. ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/58 "2009-08-05T02:10:14Z")
In Elwood’s defense, he never realized that Harvey was invisible. > [@Elwood P. Dowd](#): > > And they come over… and they sit with us… and they drink with us… and they talk to us. They tell about the big terrible things they’ve done and the big wonderful things they’ll do. Their hopes, and their regrets, and their loves, and their hates. All very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar. And then I introduce them to Harvey… and he’s bigger and grander than anything they offer me. And when they leave, they leave impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/59 "2009-08-05T03:44:47Z")
I, too, am annoyed that _Lincoln_ will be pushed back yet again. Liam Neeson and Sally Field aren’t getting any younger. Maybe, **Sampiro** , this will give them more time to iron the kinks out of Kushner’s (awful-sounding) screenplay. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146/60 "2009-08-05T08:37:57Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I don’t know - if you were approached by a talking anthropomorphic rabbit that no-one else can see, would you just take it in stride? > > I mean, consider the two options: > > 1. You’ve befriended an obscure creature from Celtic legend. > > 2. You’re insane. > > Now, apply Occam’s Razor. Which is more likely? It’s been a while, but doesn’t Elwood already have a relationship with Harvey at the time the movie opens? Maybe he’s way past the freaking out stage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spielbergs-next-film-will-be-a-remake-of-harvey/505146.md?page=4)