 Producer Art Linson (qv) and David Mamet (qv) were having lunch  when Linson informed Mamet that he could not get anything more than  a no frills budget for the movie. Val Kilmer (qv) was literally at  the next table. Linson knew Kilmer and asked him to come over, and  they talked about the production. Kilmer was so impressed with the  story and Mamets vision that he agreed to the role giving a  significant discount to facilitate Franchise Pictures giving a  green