Hal Ashby’s 1979 tale of a simpleminded gardener who somehow becomes a political influencer is the movie Apatow says affected him the most as a kid. “I thought, ‘This is film at its best,’” he recalls. “Words can't even express how good that movie is. It was riotously funny, very deep, and [now] in the era of Trump, [seems] prophetic — except now we have a more demonic version of Chauncey Gardiner.
"When it comes to filmmakers, Apatow points to Crowe as one of his biggest influences, particularly the 1989 teen rom-com classic“It captured everything I was feeling,” shares Apatow. “I really felt like a friend had made a movie.” He adds of Crowe: "I aspire to tell stories that deep and funny. I fail most of the time, but that's really the bar for me.