The hot movie of the week is Good Time, a tense and uncomfortable crime drama starring Robert Pattinson in a performance that shatters his Twilight-image. The film follows Pattinson as he tries to free his brother from jail after he is arrested for a bank robbery the two pulled off together. Set in New York City, a key scene in Good Time takes place in a Domino's Pizza restaurant. It's a great scene, but during filming, the creative team didn't actually shut down the Domino's, so hungry customers would walk in, disregard what was happening around them, and order a pizza.
Near the beginning of the movie, Connie (Robert Pattinson) and his brother Nick (co-director Ben Safdie) have just robbed a bank and are trying to escape capture from the police. However, the bag is rigged with a dye-pack and after getting blasted with red dust, they need to wash off (being covered in gunk isn't inconspicuous). The two duck into a Domino's and demand to use the bathroom. They try to wash off while the owner pounds on the door. While the Domino's was full of film extras, they didn't close the restaurant, so customers kept coming in. As directors Ben and Josh Safdie recall, not a lot of people seemed to mind all the cameras and commotion.
It's like people just accept it. They don't even look to see the cameras, because the way that we approach [our production] is like a construction site, not a movie set. So, people don't really think twice about what's actually going on.
Ben and Josh Safdie told Uproxx that they filmed the Domino's scene during regular store hours and to avoid paparazzi or attracting attention to Robert Pattinson, they kept the store open. The Domino's was filled with extras and the entire staff was all cast, except for the manager. However, some of the real kitchen staff remained on-duty and kept making pizzas. If you cook them then people will eat them, so regular customers still came in.
The shoot itself was quick -- it only took 15 minutes -- because the Safdie brothers wanted the scene to feel as genuine as possible. Perhaps nothing is more genuine than people ignoring their surroundings to eat pizza. The suddenness of filming helped make everything "feel alive" and only added to the energy and urgency that was seen in the movie.
You can watch this scene for yourself in Good Time, which is out in theaters right now. For more movie news, make sure to keep it right here at CinemaBlend and we'll keep you updated with all the latest information. Stay up to date with everything hitting theaters for the rest of the year with our 2017 upcoming movie release guide.
