MovieChat Forums > El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019) Discussion > Having Todd appear on screen is just emb...

Having Todd appear on screen is just embarrassing from the makers of the movie

posted 4 years ago by abigolcwock (517)
18 replies | jump to latest

They tried to have their cake and eat it too by having the actor, now overweight and I don't know how many years older, play the exact same character at the exact same period within the movie world. It worked reasonably well for Aaron Paul, because even though he was noticably older, at least he wasn't overweight.

Of course there's no excuse for the flash-flashback scenes in the diner with Walter and car with Jane. They did the same thing in the show in the last season, and it was just as awful. But at least you could just skip those scenes because they weren't integral to the plot like the Todd scenes.

Otherwise the movie was pretty decent, not necessary or anything special, but still an alright sendoff to Jesse. I think it would have been a lot better if it weren't tied to Breaking Bad though, but then they'd have to change quite a few things to make it work

[–] Cranmer (139) 4 years ago

Yes fatter/older Todd was very noticeable. I liked the way they tried to hide it in the first scene by showing Todd's face partially obscured by iron bars. Maybe they have a slimming effect as they only show half his face, LOL.

[–] tanstuff (57) 4 years ago

I agree, it would've been much better to at least put the guy on a diet before filming - other actors like Christian Bale, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron have lost weight for roles.

Or recast. Which I actually thought they did until I read your post.

[–] LockardTheGOAT (342) 4 years ago

Um, no. Recasting is always shitty

[–] mtxmind (2983) 3 years ago

I agree, it would've been much better to at least put the guy on a diet before filming - other actors like Christian Bale, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron have lost weight for roles.

They could've also done CGI like they did with De Niro, Pacino, Pesci etc for The Irishman. Not sure how that would've worked for "De-Weighting" as opposed to the "De-Aging " in that film.

[–] KBiker (766) 4 years ago

To me, Todd's appearance being changed didn't take anything away form this film.

[–] AP (5258) 4 years ago

Agreed. It was noticeable but it didn't take me out of the film. If they had a flashback to the original series footage and we saw a younger/thinner version that was supposed to co-exist with the fatter version we saw, it would be different.

[–] modica (4169) 4 years ago

I have been rewatching the show and am up to where Todd is introduced and I have to say it was more jarring to see him all slim and young after seeing him all fat and older in El Camino.

[–] brux (14666) 4 years ago

I'm OK with Todd being a fat slob ... look at his character and his consumption of junk stuff. You know who he is, who cares what his weight is, the story is the issue and it was good.

[–] Geiri (844) 3 years ago

You can't gain that much weight overnight by eating junk food.

[–] moviechatterer (13276) 3 years ago

you could do it in a week or two though
Actors do it for roles.
Although presumably the Todd didnt feel like slimming back down for this role ...

[–] beermonkey70 (275) 2 years ago

it wasn't a week later , the flashbacks occurred in the time between the final 2 episodes of BB. Todd is skinny again in the finale when he dies

[–] redban (5184) 3 years ago

I didn’t even notice that he was fatter ...

[–] KingsRule (884) 3 years ago

Do your eyes work?

[–] Theeboon (97) 3 years ago

Are you a dumbass?

[–] KingsRule (884) 3 years ago

Excuse me?

[–] LeWildPlatypus (765) 2 years ago

I went into this thinking all of the changes in the appearances of the cast is going to put me off but the movie is so well written, directed and paced it managed to overcome all those perceived slights. Don't let these things put you off watching it. A solid 7/10.

Vince Gilligan can do no wrong.

[–] abigolcwock (517) 2 years ago

eh, would've said the same till the latest BCS episode.

[–] Seperatrix (1087) 2 years ago

Todd's appearance was decidedly distracting for me, a necessary character to be sure for this film, I would have thought a mandatory diet would have been imposed before filming.

I didn't mind the flash-back scene with Walt and Jesse. Was it necessary? No. Was it fan service? Yes. But it worked.