I recently purchased two newly-released Al Pacinco movies: THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK and AUTHOR! AUTHOR! I hadn't seen AUTHOR! AUTHOR! for a long time - - maybe 10 years or more - - but I suspect that the DVD is cut and is missing the final scene. The movie's running time is listed (in several sources) as 110 minutes. The DVD, however, lists a running time of only 107 minutes. The final scene on the DVD shows Pacino and his kids standing on the streets of New York City. The picture freezes awkwardly just as Pacino finishes a line of dialogue and the credits start rolling. I am certain that in the full version, this scene dissolves to a scene at Pacino's apartment where he has a final "feel good" moment with his kids before the credits roll. Can anyone confirm that this final scene was cut from the DVD? I did not see any notes on the DVD case indicating that it was altered from its original version.
This DVD release was announced and canceled several times over the past 2 or 3 years. I'm wondering if there was some sort of legal dispute about something in the final scene and it ended up getting cut. Or perhaps I just imagined this final scene and it never really existed? I don't think so because the way the DVD ends with the picture freezing and the credits rolling is very awkward.
I thought I saw this movie with a feel-good ending. I will definitely keep an eye out for the ending of AUTHOR! AUTHOR! but, it may be many years before I'm certain if you're right... :question:
I seem to remember his kids bringing a cake into his bedroom while he is sleeping and throwing it on his face. Then they all laugh and the credits start rolling. Maybe Pacino was embarrassed by this "sit-com" ending and demanded that it be cut from the DVD. Although, the entire movie is pretty much a sit-com . . .