Paul Thomas Anderson put John Krasinski in his place after he bashed a movie

It’s considered in poor taste to slam a movie if you’re in a position where your opinion might matter. We don’t mean critics here but rather stars and directors – it’s why someone like Quentin Tarantino purposely avoids giving his take on new releases, so as not to cast a shadow on an aspiring filmmaker. John Krasinski found this out when he quietly ripped apart a film back in 2019, with none other than Paul Thomas Anderson straightening him out – and it wasn’t even one of his own movies!

Paul Thomas Anderson – who was a big enough fan of Krasinski’s third film, A Quiet Place, to host an awards season screening of it – gave The Office star a bit of advice on the matter, lest he end up saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. “I’ll tell you a big life lesson. Paul was over at my house, I think it was my 30th birthday party, and I had just seen a movie I didn’t love. I said to him over a drink, ‘It’s not a good movie,’ and he so sweetly took me aside and said very quietly, ‘Don’t say that. Don’t say that it’s not a good movie. If it wasn’t for you, that’s fine, but in our business, we’ve all got to support each other.’ The movie was very artsy, and he said, ‘You’ve got to support the big swing. If you put it out there that the movie’s not good, they won’t let us make more movies like that.’” While Krasinski didn’t say which film he slammed, since this would have been 2019, we’ll just assume he was talking about Cats, which of course is both “artsy” and a “big swing.”

Krasinski elaborated on just why PTA’s wisdom was so important, adding, “Dude, Paul Thomas Anderson is out there on the wall for us! He’s defending the value of the artistic experience. He’s so good that maybe you project onto him that he’s allowed to be snarky, but he’s the exact opposite: He wants to love everything because that’s why he got into moviemaking. And ever since then, I’ve never said that I hate a movie.”

That’s probably a good move, as hearing someone in the industry – especially of prominence, as John Krasinski is known as both a director and an actor – publicly bash your movie can hold a weight that no filmmaker wants. It’s hard enough with critics and internet trolls, so who needs a contemporary within the business trashing your efforts in front of a crowd?

Krasinski most recently directed IF, while Paul Thomas Anderson is currently working on The Battle of Baktan Cross.