On James Caan: "As a director you're trying to shape everybody else's work into your vision. And Jimmy saw that I was having difficulty making that transition, and during one scene, he pulled me aside, and said, 'Every actor, including myself, wants to be directed. This is your movie whether you like it or not, so quit fucking around and go back in there and tell those people what to do.' And that was the day I really started directing." (On taking the plunge from writing to directing): "It was easy taking the plunge, just as it's easy to fall from any height in the dark. It was the landing that was hard. But I would imagine the next time I take the plunge it will be tougher." (When asked about his stylish dialouge originated from): "I don't know where the dialogue comes from, to be honest. I just pick things up as I go along, little things that people say in conversations that I find interesting. My belief is that if you can't find an interesting way to say it, don't say it. Allude to it, beat around it. That seems to be where a lot of my dialogue comes from, the indirect answer. The real answer to your question would have been yes or no, but answering questions with questions and with evasive answers always seems to be a lot more interesting. I'm a big fan of John Boorman's Deliverance. I think that's a great film, a masterpiece in terms of sparse dialogue. But at the same time every line of dialogue means so many different things, every time you watch it you can extrapolate new meanings. Actually before becoming a screenwriter I had worked for a detective agency for a number of years, and part of my work there - a very small part of my work - was as a bodyguard. My boss at the detective agency was named Joe Sarno, he was very much reminiscent of the character with that name in the movie. He was certainly not as dark and foreboding as James Caan portrays the character in the film, but Joe was the guy you would call in the middle of the night if you were ever in a jam."