There’s an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” where Larry
David – in hopes of winning back his wife Cheryl – agrees to do a reunion show
for “Seinfeld.” While filming the show, Michael Richards is waiting to hear
back from his doctor on whether or not he has Groats Disease, and he complains
to Larry that he just doesn’t think he can be funny with this diagnosis hanging
over his head. Larry tells him he knows a guy that has beaten Groats, and he’ll
get him to talk to Richards about it. When Larry’s sidekick/moocher-that-won’t-leave
Leon does Larry a favor by pretending to be that someone, he convinces Richards
that all he needs to do is wear his lucky hat, and the Groats will go away. So,
the next scene they rehearse for the reunion show, Richards (as Kramer) is
wearing this ridiculous hat. Jerry Seinfeld and Julia Louis-Dreyfus break
character and laugh hysterically because of how ridiculous it looks, advising
him that he can’t wear the hat because people don’t want to see this version of Kramer, they want to see
the guy they remember; the guy with the wacky hair.
Why did I just start a review of Sydney Pollack’s downer (in more ways than one) of a movie Random Hearts with this example from David’s show? Because Harrison Ford has this earring that he wears throughout Random Hearts that is so incredibly distracting that it reminded me of the conversation Seinfeld and Dreyfus have with Richards about his hat. This is not the Harrison Ford I remember. I know a silly little thing like an earring shouldn’t take me out of the movie, but I just couldn’t help myself: scene after scene I found myself paying more attention to Ford’s ear than the other stuff happening on the screen.
