"My sense is, I think it's okay for directors to do movies that speak to other work in their career"
About this Quote
The phrase "okay" is the tell. It implies an invisible jury: critics who accuse filmmakers of repeating themselves, studios that want reliable formulas but bristle at anything that looks too personal, and viewers who demand novelty while rewarding familiarity. Reitman’s line slips between those pressures by reframing repetition as conversation. "Speak to other work" is almost modestly literary, a way of saying: themes, tonal signatures, even running gags and moral preoccupations are not creative stagnation; they’re continuity.
Contextually, Reitman is a good messenger for this argument. His films sit in that popular sweet spot where auteurism is rarely granted, even when it’s earned. Comedy directors especially get treated like hired hands unless they’re loudly stylized. Reitman’s intent is to normalize the idea that mainstream entertainment can have an internal logic and evolving concerns - that a director’s filmography can be a long-form statement, even when it arrives packaged as a Friday-night crowd-pleaser.
Quote Details
| Topic | Movie |
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| Source | Help us find the source |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Reitman, Ivan. (2026, January 17). My sense is, I think it's okay for directors to do movies that speak to other work in their career. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-sense-is-i-think-its-okay-for-directors-to-do-60002/
Chicago Style
Reitman, Ivan. "My sense is, I think it's okay for directors to do movies that speak to other work in their career." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-sense-is-i-think-its-okay-for-directors-to-do-60002/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My sense is, I think it's okay for directors to do movies that speak to other work in their career." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-sense-is-i-think-its-okay-for-directors-to-do-60002/. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.


