"The Comeback Trail" — Robert De Niro's Circle of Trust
Who’s in and who’s out?
Synopsis: Indebted to his mobster financier, a Hollywood producer stages a fake movie in a plot to “accidentally” kill his lead actor for the insurance money. The problem is, his fake film ends up becoming a masterpiece.
Who is Max Barber?
Hollywood. 1974. A landmark year. Francis Ford Coppola releases two instant classics in The Conversation and The Godfather Part II; Pam Grier is dubbed the first female action hero in Foxy Brown; and Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre redefines the horror genre.
All the while, a lowly producer named Max Barber has just put together another box office flop.
Max just wants to make a good movie. To be fair, his latest failure, an exploitation film called Killer Nuns, seems destined for a Letterboxd cult following. But that doesn’t matter to his impatient mob boss investor Reggie Fontaine, who wants his $350,000 back. Now.
Like any stubborn filmmaker, Max believes that the only way to recoup lost money from one failed picture is to produce another. Only this time, it’s going to be a little different, because he has no intention of actually making a picture at all. Instead, he plans to accidentally kill his lead in a stunt so he can claim millions in insurance money. I mean, say what you want about his schlocky movies, but the man is a capital P Producer.
Unscrupulous, conniving, and squirrelly, yet endlessly optimistic, Max embodies the worst of 70s L.A. studio head stereotypes. Honestly, there’s little else to say about a man who, in his words, only considers himself “a producer.” But there is something to be said about the speed at which he can cobble together movies like Killer Nuns, and his stalling to produce Paradise, a script he swears is the greatest ever written—a bona fide Oscar-winner that is guaranteed to elevate his status in the industry.
For a man so used to being a laughing stock, he’s terrified of what success might mean. Has he been wasting the past 60 or so years of his career producing junk? Is he a fraud? Whatever the case is, he’s willing to kill not to find out.
Who’s in the Circle of Trust?
His nephew and business partner, Walter, but only just. Max trusts Walter to take over Miracle Pictures once he retires, but keeps his nephew in the dark regarding his shady business dealings. He just doesn’t think Walter would approve of all the murder plots, mob money, etc.
He also trusts his investor Reggie Fontaine, to continue funding his projects, despite their poor box office performances.
Who’s out of the Circle of Trust?
Fellow producer Jimmy Moore, who offers Max $1 million for the Paradise script. Max initially accepts out of desperation, then reneges on the deal as he doesn’t trust Jimmy to produce such a rich text. He also hates Jimmy’s guts for being more successful.
Does anyone move in or out of the Circle of Trust?
Their lead actor, Duke Montana. Max doesn’t trust Duke to die, as he keeps somehow escaping his traps. That all changes when he realizes that Duke’s (truly) death-defying stunts look incredible on film. Then Max realizes his star is helping them put together a real Oscar contender.
Join us next week for Arthur and the Minimoys (2006).
Check out the Robert De Niro Circle of Trust spreadsheet here.
What is this project?
I wanna see Killer Nuns