Six Degrees of Leonard. (or... 'Maybe None of this Shit Matters. It's a Daydream')

Earlier today, I was watching Marvel's Daredevil on Netflix. (again. judge me.) It was the episode where Matt Murdock briefly mentions how became blind in the first place. Every time I think of Matt's accident, I think of the origin of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Why? Because they are connected. The same canister of radioactive material that created Daredevil, spawned the Ninja Turtles. See that? Crossover. Shared Universe. Sorta. These crossovers can be really fun, (i.e. The Marvel Cinematic Universe) or they can be really confusing, and damning.
(i.e. The Tommy Westphall Universe- You know, that one where they pretty much discover that 90% of TV is the dream of an autistic kid.)

Either way you look at it, Crossovers are intriguing. Especially when it comes to the big screen. See comics are easy. Just stick to what's written. If you retcon, respect the history. The same can be said for TV. Hell, it could be argued that TV should be easier. There's no reading involved, and less studios to work deals out with. Small screen and all that. Crossovers happen all the time on TV. Nobody realizes, or believes that the once acclaimed, and short-lived New York Undercover is in the EXACT same universe as The X-Files, Law and Order, Arrested Development, Luther, and The Wire. Especially when you remind them that New York Undercover was destroyed, and cancelled because FOX felt there weren't enough white folk on the show. However, both statements are true.

Movies have that same obstacle, but on a much larger and difficult scope. The kind of obstacle that Hollywood repeatedly pisses off fanboys with all the time, when it comes to superhero films (before Marvel squashed that) In order for a film to crossover into another film, it takes some serious office negotiating, lots of handshakes, money grabbing, soul selling, promises that characters won't do this or that. Despite all of that, crossovers can happen.

Some, are the running joke of a writer that has a certain studio that LOVES working work with him...

And then there are others that require maybe even a sharp eye, or a keen ear. (Some writers LOVE to drop little hints and things that point you in the right direction.) I'm talking about the kind of observation that tells you that two unrelated movies are actually about the exact same guy. Like for example these two completely unrelated films, both about a career criminal named Parker.

(Although in the Gibson film his name is Porter. There are other films about the dude too, If you're curious.) 

Movies constantly run into this 'problem' because of those politics of making films, studios wanting the rights to all the characters in a story. However since about 80% of movies that we enjoy come from books, It's often you'll come across films that share the same universe, but have various actors playing the same damn roles. One of the most notorious examples of this quagmire is the series (if you will) of books by a guy named Elmore Leonard. He wrote A LOT of stories. Three of his books, Rum Punch, Out of Sight, & The Switch are probably better known this way:

Jackie Brown (1997,Quentin Tarintino) and Life of Crime (2013, Daniel Schechter) are totally unrelated films, released almost two decades apart, yet both are focused on the same career criminal, Ordell Robbie and his attempts at making it big. In Jackie Brown, Ordell is played by Samuel Jackson. Here we see him at the end of his life of crime, weathered, mature, confident, and smarter, than his younger self; just starting out, played in Life of Crime, played by Yasiin Bey (Mos Def). Oddly enough, in both films Ordell's arrogance still falls victim to the wiles of a beautiful woman, while willing to betray on his own cohorts. In Jackie Brown, one of the women in question whispering in Ordell's ear is the 'surfer girl', Melanie, played by Bridget Fonda; the cohort that he is willing to screw over is Louis Gara, played by Robert DeNiro. In Life of Crime, both characters are played by Isla Fisher and John Hawkes respectively. What's interesting to note, in Jackie Brown, Louis isn't too fond of Melanie, he winds up killing her, much to Ordell's temporary disappointment. (Which, now that I think about it... that mistrust in the van scene after Melanie's demise is a little more understood if you see Life of Crime)

If you watch the film alone, it makes you believe Louis is just an impatient, ornery, old man that isn't putting up with Melanie's unfiltered trouble making bullshit. After viewing Life of Crime however, we learn that this broad has been a thorn in Louis side for quite some time. Although, in both films she offers Louis sex with that "Wanna Fuck?" line. Watching LoC made me see she's been deserving that death for quite some time. Another interesting thing to note when watching both films, you see that Ordell's own arrogance possibly keeps him from ever hitting big- even when the people that worked for him, now surpass him. (Re: Mr. Walker) Ambition and follow through is a bitch. 

In fact, the whole film Life of Crime can be seen as a prologue, or origin story to Jackie, but again... unless you're sharp, (or you read this blog first) you probably wouldn't even notice the relation between the two movies. 

And then almost never, you have those special crossovers where the same actor plays the same role in different movies made by totally different studios. Usually this kind of thing is reserved for comedic purposes, like when the T-1000 Terminator appeared in Wayne's World still searching for John Conner. In Jackie Brown, Federal Agent Ray Nicolette, is played by Michael Keaton. Nicolette plays a major role in the film, the tritagonist if you will, eventually killing Ordell. A couple months later, he appears in Out of Sight (1998, Soderbergh) as the initial love interest of Jennifer Lopez' character, U.S. Marshall Karen Sisco. He even displayed the same quirky mannerisms, and similar clothing, This little display of fun was only allowed to happen because both films were being made at roughly the same time, and Universal Pictures cast Keaton as a cameo in Out of Sight, since he was already cast in Jackie Brown, Tarantino found out about it, and urged it to happen. Since all three works are based on novels by Elmore Leonard this connects all three movies, and establish that they exist within the same universe. 

Speaking of Karen Sisco, she would go on after Out of Sight to have her own adventures and short lived self-titled 2003 television show, this time played by Carla Gugino. (Ray Nicolette also appeared in an episode, played by Peter Horton.) Though her show was canceled, it didn't stop her from appearing in the TV show, Justified. (She was played by Gugino there as well) Justified is based on the character U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant. But before that, he was portrayed by Tony Horton in the 1997 film, Pronto. 

So those two television shows, and another movie are now a part of the Jackie Brown universe as well. 

If you really wanna have fun with the Leonard Universe, then you may consider two more of his works, Get Shorty & Be Cool. But if you add those to this shared universe, you're also gonna add 3:10 to Yuma and a slew of other works as well. It's enough to make your head spin. Leonard's universe can arguably rival any other shared universe in entertainment. Especially the most notorious one lately, The Tarintino Universe. The saving grace to this crossover madness though, is Elmore Leonard himself as an author was mentioned in the show, Homicide: Life on the Street which safely removes him from this fate:

...Or does it?

*throws self off a ravine*

P.S.

By the way, earlier I mentioned the majorly urban New York Undercover was in the same universe as Law and Order, well here's how. Besides both being creations of Dick Wolf, the shows often shared random cops, attorneys, and forensic experts. One character in particular is  Dr. Elizabeth Olivet, (played by Carolyn McCormick) a clinical psychologist who is appeared in many episodes of the Law and Order universe. Here she is consulting Det. Stabler on L&O: SVU (forward to the 22:27 mark)

and here she is in New York Undercover treating Det. Moreno for PTSD (forward to the 8:17 mark)

(...in the clips I provided she doesn't say her name- but if you watch the full episodes they reveal it.)