AppleTV+’s new satirical comedy series The Studio created quite a buzz with its first two episodes, both because of its unique and interesting premise and also because real-life actors and directors are directly part of the plot in each episode. This appealing style continues in episode 3, as popular American director and producer Ron Howard is made a part of the story this week as the protagonist, Matt Remick, struggles to find a balance between his professional responsibilities and personal inhibitions once again. The Studio episode 3 is entirely focused on just one problem at hand, Matt Remick’s attempt to save the studio’s finances by giving Howard the right suggestion regarding his new film.
Spoiler Alert
What is the new dilemma in Matt’s life?
The Studio episode 3 begins with the three central characters, Matt Remick, Sal Seperstein, and Quinn Hackett, walking into one of the screening theaters at Continental Studios to watch the final cut of a film that is about to be released. Matt’s studio has produced the film, and he simply cannot keep his excitement in check, for it is the work of the popular Hollywood director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13). Being a cinephile, Matt has obviously watched all of Howard’s work, and so he expects the new film to not just be a great success among critics but also to bring good business to his struggling studio. Like with Martin Scorsese in episode 1, Matt is a devoted fan of Howard, and at present all he is concerned about is enjoying the latest work of one of his most favorite filmmakers.
As Sal mentions that the best part about final cut screenings is that producers usually don’t have to give any notes to the directors at this late stage, Matt confidently states that Howard is too good a director to require any notes from them, obviously unaware of what is coming their way. The trio is soon joined by Maya Mason, the head of the marketing department, who is equally pumped for the screening, for Ron Howard’s films are generally easy to market and sell, especially since his new project stars Anthony Mackie (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Twisted Metal), a popular face among younger audiences. She is also quite excited about Dave Franco (Now You See Me, The Afterparty) being in the cast, as he too has his own set of fans, particularly women, and Maya herself seems to feel a certain level of attraction for the actor.
The screening of the film, titled “Alphabet City,” begins, and a gripping scene enthralls the four audience members as Franco’s character gets into a cab and orders the driver, played by Mackie, to drive away quickly. The driver, who was lost in thoughts of his wife and son, whom he has evidently not met in some time, initially hesitates, but then follows the order when some goons start to shoot at his car. Matt and his friends are amused by this thrilling start and are equally impressed by the bits of comedy and humor the film presents thirty minutes into its duration. Perhaps like most of Ron Howard’s films, there is a slight touch of personal drama about an hour into “Alphabet City” as well, as the taxi driver and his customer realize how similar they are to each other. The plot has seen the two of them spend hours together in an effort to evade the goons who are still looking for them, which makes the two of them ultimately turn into friends. Therefore, when Franco’s character dies, Mackie’s taxi driver decides to avenge him, and the film turns into a full-fledged action thriller.
Matt and his colleagues are absolutely blown away by the film’s ending, in which Mackie’s character gets away with all the money and successfully escapes the goons, and the studio head is now totally confident that “Alphabet City” is going to do brilliant business, along with winning a few Oscars. However, contrary to their expectation and understanding, the film is not yet over, and shows the taxi driver arriving at a motel, which is actually his home, and he is seen spending some quiet time with his young son. In a final twist, it is revealed that the son is actually dead, for his reflection cannot be seen in a puddle in front of the motel. It is this final sequence that confuses the protagonist and his friends, along with taking the duration of the film to two hours forty-five minutes, which is far too long in their opinion.
As Matt and his team walk out of the theater after the screening is over, they cannot get over the fact that this overly contemplative and boring ending will only confuse audiences and make them hate the film. Therefore, they want it to be changed, or rather cut completely from the final film, so that it ends on a triumphant and conventional note, with Mackie’s character getting away with all the money. While conveying this information to Ron Howard himself seems like a huge task because nobody wants to do it, the team also learns that Howard has actually included the motel sequence in his film as a tribute to his cousin, whom he had lost at a young age. Therefore, the sequence is clearly very personal for the filmmaker, and the production team fears that asking him to cut it will be too disrespectful. This situation quickly brings a new dilemma into Matt’s life, as he wonders how to tell the distinguished director that his new film is a bit too stretched.
What are the efforts taken by the others at Continental Studios?
As the team returns to the studio office, it is established that their next step must be to give a producer’s note to Ron Howard and tell him to cut the final section of his new film so that it does not lose money for Continental Studios. Despite being the studio head, Matt Remick refuses to give this tough advice to the director, for he fears that Howard might not take it very well. Although they all agree that Howard is generally quite open to advice and suggestions and is not a tough person to deal with, nobody is willing to jeopardize their relations with the director, however slight those relations might be, and take the note to him. Matt initially seems to make an attempt but quickly runs back up to his office when he is unable to get the tough words out and decides to greenlight the film in its current state, with the last sequence intact.
This is when Quinn decides to step up and speak her mind for the sake of art and cinema, for she believes that a certain level of toughness is definitely required of them as studio executives. Therefore, Quinn accompanies Matt downstairs to have a conversation with Howard, but then the pair see that the film’s protagonist, Anthony Mackie, has also joined the director in this meeting. Mackie’s presence undoes all of Quinn’s determination, for she is not only a fan of his acting but is also clearly infatuated by him. Hence, Quinn completely fails to utter the words she had prepared to speak out and keeps talking about Mackie’s brilliant acting, as if in a complete daze. She refuses to talk about the motel sequence because she fears that it would end up hurting or disrespecting Mackie, since the actor also greatly praises the sequence and its significance.
The next scapegoat that Matt moves onto is his other colleague and friend, Sal, and his plan is to convince Ron Howard that putting a boring, contemplative sequence in a film is not the right way to honor his dead cousin. In order to convince the director of this, Sal pretends to have had a cousin who had passed away a few weeks earlier, and he acts distressed and saddened by this loss. His intention is to prove to the director that he too is in the same boat as him and then gradually state that the motel sequence might actually be disrespectful towards his cousin’s memory, convincing him to cut it out of the film. However, this plan also fails, almost immediately, as Sal tells his fake story of having lost his cousin, only for Howard to console him and emphatically talk about the need to honor the memories of such lost ones. Howard’s speech is so rousing and affective that it makes Sal break down and cry for a cousin whom he never had and had just made up before coming to the director’s office.
Thus, the note to the director remains undelivered, much to the dismay of Matt and his team, especially Maya, who predicts that the film will be an absolute disaster in its current form. The Studio episode 3 gets even funnier when the lead actor of “Alphabet City,” Anthony Mackie, rushes to the studio head’s room and reveals that he too absolutely hates the motel sequence because it is too confusing and personal. Just like everyone else, Mackie too has been unable to tell his director about his real opinion and has simply been praising Howard whenever the sequence has been mentioned. However, he too has now had too much, but like everyone else, once again, Anthony Mackie refuses to tell Howard about any of this and wants someone from the production team to carry out the risky job.
Why does Matt avoid giving Ron Howard his honest opinion?
When pressed by his team members, Matt Remick reveals that there is a very specific reason behind his unwillingness to communicate the message to Howard, as the two had once had a public argument many years back. When Ron Howard had just completed his film A Beautiful Mind in 2001, he’d held a private screening of it for friends and family, and Matt had somehow managed to attend this event. While the film would go on to be one of Howard’s most celebrated works, Matt somewhat disagreed with its story and style, because of which he made a suggestion after the screening. The biggest shock, or twist, in the film was about certain characters being imagined by the protagonist, including a character being played by Christopher Bettany. However, Matt was of the opinion that the film would be better if audiences were told from the beginning that Bettany’s character was imaginary.
This suggestion had absolutely infuriated Howard, and the director had belittled Matt in front of everyone at the gathering, which included quite a few other famous directors, all of whom Matt respected and revered. The trauma of being laughed at and being booed by everyone at a private screening, along with facing the humiliation of Howard’s reaction to his suggestion, still feels fresh in the protagonist’s mind, and it is because of this that he wants to avoid any confrontation with Howard. Matt also currently believes that Howard does not remember this odd interaction that they had had in the past, or at least, he does not know that the member of the audience who had made the silly suggestion is Matt. Therefore, the studio head believes that Howard holds him in high regard and so wants to avoid any confrontation with him.
What happens to Howard’s film in the end?
Despite all his efforts to avoid the confrontation, Matt has to ultimately open up about his opinion during a meeting with Ron Howard and many other subordinates of his studio. This is because Howard reveals that he very much remembers the interaction back from 2001 and recognizes Matt as the man who had made the silly suggestion. The director then starts berating the studio head once again, just like before, which angers Matt tremendously, and he finally decides to make use of the position that he now has, in contrast to the situation from the past. This is when he refuses to take the humiliation anymore and tells Howard what he feels about his new film, specifically the last sequence in it. Quite naturally, this leads to a fight between the two sides, and Matt himself has to spend some contemplative time at the studio building, just like Mackie’s character in “Alphabet City.” But at the very end of The Studio episode 3, Ron Howard calls up Matt and apologizes for his behavior, with the protagonist also doing the same, meaning that the film will be released without the final motel sequence. The ending also signifies that irrespective of everything else, Matt Remick himself will have to take the tough decisions, being the head executive of the studio.
