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Sometimes, Ahab gets his whale.
But lets back up.
In 2000 Ratliff was cast onBand of Brothers, the critically acclaimed HBO miniseries.
Yet he never ended up appearing on the show.
As the story goes, he was called back in to reaudition for Tom Hanks personally.
Ratliff lost the part after that reaudition.
And what does having dead eyes actually mean?
There are ways thatDead Eyescould have been … shall we say, saltier.
Ratliff is not such a person, andDead Eyeswas always a significantly more interesting project from the start.
It could be kind of interesting to explore show business from this very specific angle.
And that he did.
Oddly enough, theres a bit ofThe X-Filesin the structure ofDead Eyes.
Well, sort of.
There are things to learn, surely.
(No Chet, though.)
This was all on me, Hanks assured, his voice fatherly in its gravel.
Dont for a minute think that someone else got in there.
We also learn that, perfectly understandably, Hanks doesnt remember exactly why Ratliff lost out on the role.
Im flummoxed as to why I even bothered.
Theres a compelling tension that has always stood out to me aboutDead Eyes.
Was there anything Ratliff could have done differently?
Dont pull those threads, man.
Its a delicate knit, the whole thing that got us from there to here, Hanks responds.
Its more or less the very same thing Marc Maron gleaned from his interview with Lorne Michaels.
As the listening bystander, we benefit tremendously.
So where doesDead Eyesgo from here?
If this is indeed the end, Ill miss Ratliffs voice and the glorious melancholia of his adventure.
