The cutting room is where you discover the optimal length of the movie.

I always claim that the writer has done 90 percent of the director's work.

At a certain point, you have to convince the actors that you've done the right thing. The way I work, if I can't convince them, I've got to move on. I can't coerce them or browbeat them.

I'm not a believer in the pratfall. I don't think it's funny just to have someone fall down.

I've got to find a compromise where I don't feel compromised. I've got to find something equally good that they don't feel uncomfortable with. At a certain point, it's no longer about what I thought was right, but it's about this new discovery that happens with the actors. It's nice when the actor is also a writer.

I think of myself as a real writer, not just someone who dabbles in it, so I deserve some credit.

We tell our kids that policemen are good and God protects us and our country is noble, and at a certain point - and for some it comes quite early, five or six years old - we start to realize that it's all a facade.