Catherine Keener

Interview: ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ Director Spike Jonze With Stars Max Records, Catherine Keener

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:22:01 -0600

CHICAGO – From the looks of things, you’d think “Where the Wild Things Are” director Spike Jonze is more than just Max Records’ director. You’d think Jonze was his 12-year-old star’s father, too.

Max Records, who briefly appeared in 2008’s “The Brothers Bloom” with Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo, sat cuddled up beside Jonze in our interview. Chock full of pride, Jonze kissed Records on his cheek as the boy spoke surprisingly intelligently about his breakout role.

Director Spike Zonze (front) and Max Records on the set of “Where the Wild Things Are”.
Image credit: Sonny Geras

Rating: 4.0/5.0

In the HollywoodChicago.com interview with Jonze (“Adaptation,” “Being John Malkovich”), Records and star Catherine Keener, we discussed the film’s deft ability as one of the best films for how imagination can be used for more than escape. While fantasy films often have kids bouncing off walls and escaping reality, “Where the Wild Things Are” goes much deeper.

This film, which also features voice work from James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, Michael Berry Jr., Chris Cooper and Lauren Ambrose, finds a way to allow real healing and coping to be byproducts of imagination.

We also discussed the various interpretations and metaphorical explanations of the creatures. While I viewed two creatures in particular to be father (Carol, voiced by James Gandolfini) and mother (KW, voiced by Lauren Ambrose) figures for Max Records’ Max character, Records had a different viewpoint from a child’s perspective.

“I always viewed all of the wild things as sort of like individual emotions that are isolated into these big, furry creatures. It can be taken so many different ways,” Max Records said.

Max Records as Max in “Where the Wild Things Are”.
Image credit: Matt Nettheim

Records added: “One of the weird things about doing that is you’re not sure which is which. Probably if you were going to map it out, Carol is sort of love, you know? He’s shaky and unstable and about to lash out and eat your head off. But he’s so sweet. They’re all sort of parts of Max.”

“We never did a one on one like ‘this is this’ or ‘that is that’. It’s more feelings and emotions than a specific ‘this is that person’. It’s a little more like a dream in that the emotion is what you connect with,” director Spike Jonze said.

“I agree with you,” Catherine Keener said. “I think I had my own feelings about Carol and KW, but we all sort of projected our own experiences.”

As the three discussed their different interpretations, it became clear that Jonze’s intention was to leave these questions up to the moviegoer to answer.

Max Records as Max in “Where the Wild Things Are”.
Image credit: Matt Nettheim

“I don’t find life to be that simple. I’m more interested in trying to capture what life is like. Life isn’t simple. Life has a lot of grays. Things can be contradictory. Relationships have a lot of different sides to them,” Jonze said. “You’re just trying to put in everything you can. If you’re exploring a theme, you’re going to try to approach it from all sides of that theme as opposed to just ‘it’s like this’.”

The film “Where the Wild Things Are” is Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s children’s book of the same name. While family films often “talk down” to their audiences, this film doesn’t. The film, which opened everywhere on Oct. 16, 2009, was initially slated to open in 2008 and was pushed back due to challenges with the studio.

“It starts with Maurice [Sendak] and his work. His work doesn’t talk down to kids. That’s why I loved it as a kid. When I see something that felt like [blank] … I recognize that feeling,” Jonze said. “Those were the things I was attracted to. It wasn’t a book that was like: ‘If you behave this way, then…’ Those were the ‘easy-lesson books’. They didn’t stick in my head at all.”

He added: “The ones that had some strange feeling that I recognized … those are the ones that stuck in my head. Like the first Willy Wonka movie with Gene Wilder. He’s compelling. I want him to like me, but I’m also scared of him. I want to be Charlie. I want him to give me the factory, but I’m also really scared of him and charmed by him. He’s mysterious.”

Max Records as Max in “Where the Wild Things Are”.
Image credit: Matt Nettheim

As the film was pushed back to 2009, Jonze and his crew were given more time to make changes until their budget ran out. But that doesn’t mean he made the film less dark.

“It was my goal just to make it better and use the time. We pushed it back one year. It was really frustrating and difficult because I had been working on it so long already, but I just tried to stay productive. I used the time and money to make the movie better. In the end, I feel like we did use that time to discover things,” Jonze said.

He added: “We never made the movie less dark. We never changed our intention. I feel like the movie is the same movie we started making. It’s the same movie we screened that the studio was anxious about.”

Jonze continued: “In the end, the studio came to accept the movie. They realized I wasn’t going to work on something for five years and then – because they were anxious – change it and go against what I set out to do. I would never do that. Why would I? Why would I spend that much time on something I cared so deeply about and then – out of their anxiety – question that?”

James Gandolfini as Carol in “Where the Wild Things Are”.
Image credit: Ben King

Max Records recalls this story being read to him when he was an even a younger kid. In a paternal frame of mind, Jonze launched into interviewing Records inside our interview with the cast. Jonze said: “Do you remember it being read to you when you were young?”

Records said: “My parents read it to me. It was probably read to me first when I was a year-and-a-half old or something. Possibly younger. It’s just different. As Spike says, it’s not a moralistic, easy-to-follow thing where you do something and there are consequences and that’s that.”

Jonze continued to Records: “Do you remember being three or four?”

Records said: “Not at all. I’m guessing at what I felt.”

Jonze said: “What is the earliest age you remember?”

Records said: “Mostly, I just remember brief memories and a couple of images from when I was like three or something. Then I start remembering stuff in detail when I was probably six.”

Jonze said: “When you were six, do you remember reading the book still?”

Records said: “I probably still did. Yeah.”

Max Records as Max in “Where the Wild Things Are”.
Image credit: Warner Bros.

Now Records, who clearly has been entrenched in this Max character since he was a kid and then in the film when he played him, only said he “related to Max just as much as any kid does” without being completely consumed by him.

“We all get pissed off and stand on the counter and yell at our mother,” Records said. “‘Feed me, woman!’ It’s just different instances of stuff like that. One of the things that makes the film so great is that Max (the character) embodies a child between the ages of six and 10 or even beyond that.”

Because the film took so long to come to fruition, Jonze and Keener commented on how the film ran like a well-oiled machine.

“The group that Spike works with – all of the friends and I’m part of it, too – would kind of burn out and take their day and hit the wall. There was always somebody there,” Keener said.

“We don’t work that departmentally,” Jonze said. “If I was faded one day, then Lance (Acord, the cinematographer) would jump in and take over. Or Keener. It was everybody.”

“It was such a long time that everybody got very real. If you were just sort of done, people would understand it and pick up for you,” Keener said.

James Gandolfini as Carol (back) and Max Records as Max in “Where the Wild Things Are”.
Image credit: Warner Bros.

“They wouldn’t just stop,” Records said.

“No. They wouldn’t stop. You couldn’t stop. We could not afford to stop,” Keener said.

Max Records also commented on how “Where the Wild Things Are” director Spike Jonze filmed as compared to “The Brothers Bloom” director Rian Johnson.

“Rian Johnson knew exactly what he wanted whereas Spike knew exactly what he wanted … and 50 other things he wanted, too,” Records said.

“But that’s what it was like with the range of emotions in these characters. It was a range of everything on this movie within each person. There was so much scope,” Keener said. “Spike went out to make this movie and Max went out to do his journey. And they come back and there’s acceptance at the end.”

Records concluded: “My job was to go to Australia and help make a movie and then come back to make sure these two don’t make up lies about me.”

“Where the Wild Things Are,” which is directed by Spike Jonze and writte by Jonze and Dave Eggers based on the book by Maurice Sendak, stars Max Records, Catherine Keener and Mark Ruffalo with voice work by James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, Michael Berry Jr., Chris Cooper and Lauren Ambrose.

The film, which is rated “PG” for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language, has a running time of 101 minutes. “Where the Wild Things Are” opened everywhere on oct. 16, 2009.

See more “Where the Wild Things Are” production stills.
Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O pens “Where the Wild Things Are” music.
Warner Bros. to finally let “Where the Wild Things” out in Oct. 2009.
Lauren Ambrose in for Michelle Williams in “Where the Wild Things Are”.
$75 million “Where the Wild Things Are” reshoot.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Soloist’ Wastes Powerful Story, Great Actors

BrianTT — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:22:32 -0600

CHICAGO – Stars Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. do absolutely nothing wrong in Joe Wright’s “The Soloist,” now on Blu-Ray and DVD, and there’s more than enough inherent power in the story of a musical genius lost to mental illness and the horrible way we treat the homeless in this country for a quality drama, but this cinematic solo misses too many notes to have the impact that it should have with this much talent involved.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0

The cast & crew list for “The Soloist” is remarkable enough that the film almost opened the AFI Film Festival last year based on pedigree alone. Then someone saw the movie and Joe Wright’s third drama (after “Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement”) was pushed from Oscar season to April. We should have known something was wrong then.

The Soloist was released on Blu-Ray on August 4th, 2009.
Photo credit: Paramount

But back to that list of cast and crew that had most awards season pundits drooling - Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr., Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, Oscar nominee Catherine Keener, director Joe Wright (who helmed the Best Picture-nominated “Atonement), Oscar-nominated writer Susannah Grant (“Erin Brockovich”), and a crew of some of the most talented people in Hollywood (composer Dario Marianelli, cinematography Seamus McGarvey, and more).

The Soloist was released on Blu-Ray on August 4th, 2009.
Photo credit: Paramount

Downey Jr. stars in “The Soloist” as LA Times journalist Steve Lopez, a reporter who stumbled across the story of his life when he heard a homeless man playing a two-string violin in a Los Angeles park. The man turned out to be Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a former Juilliard student whose pschizophrenia sent him all the way to skid row. Lopez wrote a series of stories about Ayers that touched an emotional chord with his readers, giving a face to the homeless problem in the city of angels.

Nathaniel Ayers had a gift. He also had a curse. His gift allowed him to both hear and play music in ways that most of us will never understand. His curse forced him to hear voices and have hallucinations that made living on the street his only option.

There is so much dramatic potential in the life of Nathaniel Ayers that it’s easy to see why a screenwriter thought it would make an interesting film. And it could have if Joe Wright and Susannah Grant had trusted Jamie Foxx to deliver what he’s clearly capable of delivering. The only way that “The Soloist” works is as realism, but Grant and Wright clutter the portrayal of Ayers by audibly portraying the voices that Ayers reportedly heard and trying to visually represent the way that he heard music. Big mistakes. When you have an actor as talented as Foxx, you should trust him to deliver the complexities of a character like Ayers without being so on-the-nose that we actually hear his auditory hallucinations. It takes the viewer out of the film and reminds them that they’re watching a movie.

Foxx, Downey, Keener, and the production values of “The Soloist” warrant a rental, but, ultimately, this is just a decent movie that should have been great.

Except for a slightly mediocre audio track when one considers the subject matter of the film, the Paramount Blu-Ray release for “The Soloist” delivers exactly what renters or buyers would expect from it.

The film is presented in 1080p High Definition and the transfer is pretty flawless but the English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track is a bit average for a film about the passion of music.

The special features are well-divided between the true story of Lopez and Ayers and the fictional recounting of it. Lopez, Ayers, Downey, Foxx, Wright, and more are included on the featurettes, the most detailed of which is called “An Unlikely Friendship: Making The Soloist”. Deleted scenes and a commentary by Wright round out a quality package for an interesting film that just misses the power of its true story.

‘The Soloist’ is released by Paramount Home Video and stars Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., Catherine Keener, Tom Hollander, Lisa Gay Hamilton, and Nelsan Ellis. It was written by Susannah Grant and directed by Joe Wright. The Blu-Ray and DVD were released on August 4th, 2009. It is rated PG-13.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Slideshow: 29-Image Gallery From ‘The Soloist’ With Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr.

BrianTT — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:30:00 -0600

CHICAGO – This 29-image slideshow contains the official images from Paramount’s “The Soloist,” starring Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., Caherine Keener, and Lisa Gay Hamilton. The film, directed by Joe Wright, opens on April 24th, 2009.

Synopsis:

“From the director of the Academy Award®-nominated “Atonement,” Joe Wright, and starring Oscar® winner Jamie Foxx and Oscar® nominee Robert Downey Jr., comes this poignant and ultimately soaring tale. It is based on an incredible true story of a disenchanted journalist’s transformative odyssey through the hidden streets of Los Angeles, where he discovers and builds a most unlikely friendship with a man from those same streets, bonding through the redemptive power of music.

Columnist Steve Lopez (Downey) is at a dead end. The newspaper business is in an uproar, his marriage to a fellow journalist has fallen apart and he can’t entirely remember what he loved about his job in the first place. Then, one day, while walking through Los Angeles’ Skid Row, he sees the mysterious bedraggled figure Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx), pouring his soul into a two-stringed violin. At first, Lopez approaches Ayers as just another story idea in a city of millions. But as he begins to unearth the mystery of how this alternately brilliant and distracted street musician, once a dynamic prodigy headed for fame, wound up living in tunnels and doorways, it sparks an unexpected quest. Imagining he can change Ayers’ life, Lopez embarks on a quixotic mission to get him off the streets and back to the world of music. But even as he fights to save Ayers’ life, he begins to see that it is Ayers – with his unsinkable passion, his freedom-loving obstinacy and his valiant attempts at connection and love – who is profoundly changing Lopez.”

You can click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through this slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All photos credited to François Duhamel and courtesy of Paramount. All Rights Reserved.

soloist_01: Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_02: Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_03: Robert Downey Jr. and Catherine Keener
soloist_04: Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_05: Robert Downey Jr. and Director Joe Wright
soloist_06: Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_07: Jamie Foxx
soloist_08: Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx
soloist_09: Jamie Foxx, Joe Wright, and Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_10: Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_11: Jamie Foxx
soloist_12: Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_13: Director Joe Wright
soloist_14: Director Joe Wright and Jamie Foxx
soloist_15: Lisa Gay Hamilton and Jamie Foxx
soloist_16: Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_17: Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_18: Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_19: Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_20: Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_21: Justin Martin
soloist_22: Jamie Foxx
soloist_23: Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_24: Catherine Keener
soloist_25: Jamie Foxx
soloist_26: Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
soloist_27: Jamie Foxx
soloist_28: Jamie Foxx
soloist_29: Jamie Foxx

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ensemble Make Trip to ‘Synecdoche, New York’ Worthwhile

BrianTT — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:41:13 -0600

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – With one of the most ambitious screenplays of 2008 and one of the most talented ensembles in years, “Synecdoche, New York,” now on Blu-Ray, is a must-see for fans of Charlie Kaufman’s earlier screenwriting work (“Adaptation,” “Being John Malkovich,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) and the incredible ensemble, including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, and Michelle Williams.

The brilliant Kaufman’s directorial debut produces, believe it or not, his least easy-to-define film, a movie that turns in on itself repeatedly until it somewhat loses its way. I was told that I needed to see it twice to really “get it,” but a Blu-Ray viewing after seeing it in theaters didn’t really change my opinion of this ambitious, well-performed, but deeply flawed motion picture.

Synecdoche, New York was released on Blu-Ray on March 10th, 2009.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Video

The concept of “Synecdoche, New York” is so original and the cast is pitch-perfect (they won an ensemble award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards last month), but I think Kaufman’s writing requires truly masterful direction to truly come to life. “Synecdoche” is a film so overflowing with ideas about age, art, and identity that the weight of its concepts cause it to sink more than it would under someone else’s direction.

Synecdoche, New York was released on Blu-Ray on March 10th, 2009.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Video

It’s clever, but not nearly as much fun as it should be. Kaufman and his talented team have crafted a great mental workout, but don’t be surprised if it gives you a headache.

Philip Seymour Hoffman shines as Caden Cotard, a theatre director with increasingly troubling health problems and a distant marriage to wife Adele (Catherine Keener). Caden feels uninspired in every way, both professionally and personally. After Adele takes his daughter and moves to Berlin to become a celebrated painter, Caden gets the MacArthur grant and stages a play about (and this is my interpretation, you could have a different one) the futility of trying to recreate reality through theater.

Caden rents a warehouse, builds what becomes a city, and casts people to go about their lives, with director’s notes, of course. The director tries to find love again with Hazel (Samantha Morton) and then Claire (Michelle Williams). He tries therapy but the shrink (Hope Davis) is more obsessed with her own writing than Caden’s work and he hates the influence that Adele’s friend Maria (Jennifer Jason Leigh) has on his growing daughter.

Of course, all of this makes it into the “play,” with Caden eventually having to cast someone to play himself (Tom Noonan) and even Hazel (Emily Watson). The line between theater and reality dissolves and you start to wonder if Caden isn’t experiencing a dream sequence or perhaps you are.

Synecdoche, New York was released on Blu-Ray on March 10th, 2009.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Video

The only way to enjoy “Synecdoche, New York” is to give in to the fact that it’s not meant to be traditionally understood. I think if you try to figure out how it all fits together or if it does at all, then you’ll merely be frustrated. “Synecdoche” is poetry, not prose. Take in the ideas and the themes and make of them what you will.

The Blu-Ray release of “Synecdoche, New York” is presented in 1080p High Definition with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. Sony rarely fails to deliver with Blu-Ray and “Synecdoche” is no exception. It’s crystal clear, a great transfer.

“Synecdoche, New York” is one of those rare films where I think special features almost hurt more than help. No one can explain this piece in simple terms like you would find on a commentary track, so why bother? The conversation with Philip Seymour Hoffman in “The Story of Caden Cotard” certainly doesn’t illuminate anything. Other special features include “In and Around Synecdoche, New York,” “Infectious Diseases in Cattle: Bloggers’ Roundtable,” Screen Animations and “NFTS/Script Factory Masterclass with Charlie Kaufman”.

‘Synecdoche, New York’ is released by Sony Pictures Home Video and stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis, and Tom Noonan. It was written and directed by Charlie Kaufman. It was released on March 10th, 2009. It is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: Barry Levinson Wastes Great Ensemble in ‘What Just Happened’

BrianTT — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:02:59 -0700

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – They made a movie about Bruce Willis’ beard. “What Just Happened” is yet another head-scratcher from one of the more acclaimed directors of the ’80s and ’90s, Barry Levinson. Like “Envy” and “Man of the Year” before it, Levinson has spit out yet another inert comedy with a great ensemble but no passion, creativity or life to it. A mediocre Blu-Ray presentation does nothing to enhance the film.

Art Linson is one of the most successful and notorious producers in Hollywood. His name is on “Into the Wild,” “Spartan,” “Fight Club,” “Heat,” “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” and more. He wrote a memoir about his complicated times in Hollywood and adapted his own book into the screenplay for “What Just Happened”.

What Just Happened was released on Blu-Ray on February 24th, 2009.
Photo credit: Magnolia

Linson has been turned into Ben (Robert De Niro), a producer trying to keep two troubled projects together while juggling a problematic personal life at the same time. One of his projects, “Fiercely,” stars Sean Penn (playing himself) in a dark drama with a downbeat ending that the financiers (headed by the great Catherine Keener) want radically changed. Ben has to convince the hothead director (Michael Wincott) to play along or see their movie shelved forever.

Meanwhile, Ben has to convince Bruce Willis (playing himself) that his weight gain and bushy beard could completely derail his about-to-shoot project. Willis was hired for his looks and Ben has to work with him and his agent (John Turturro) to keep the film from shutting down before it even begins. Robin Wright Penn, Kristen Stewart, and Stanley Tucci co-star.

What Just Happened was released on Blu-Ray on February 24th, 2009.
Photo credit: Magnolia

In one of the few interesting special features on “What Just Happened,” Levinson speaks about giving a rather anecdotal book without much action “pace” and how “you have to work it out”. The funny thing is that they didn’t. We never get to know anyone in “Happened” and the “insight” into Hollywood feels a few years behind the times.

The problem with making a movie about tinseltown is that it’s been done SO well before. It’s impossible not to think of “The Player” or “Entourage” when you’re watching “What Just Happened” and the script by Linson simply isn’t sharp enough to be in the same satirical knife drawer as those great behind-the-scenes looks at Hollywood. “Happened” wants to be a “bitingly sharp comedy” but we’ve seen all these personalities before. It’s going behind-the-scenes on something that has become the scene itself.

To be fair, there are elements of “What Just Happened” that works. The hilariously simple quote on the front of the case that advertises “priceless, laugh-out loud lines” isn’t that far off. Yes, there are a few funny lines, and De Niro looks more awake than in recent junk like “Righteous Kill”. It’s also impossible to be completely bored by an ensemble that includes both Penns, Tucci, Turturro, and Wincott. They’re all having fun. The problem is that they’re having more fun than you probably will.

The Blu-Ray release from Magnolia is average to mediocre. The 1080P High Definition 16x9 (2.40:1) picture is surprisingly flat. The colors are distinct and there’s not an excessive amount of grain or visual noise, but the picture looks about the same as an average upconverted standard DVD. The audio in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is similarly never distractingly bad but also unimpressive.

The special features continue the mediocrity of “What Just Happened”. The commentary with Levinson and Linson is shockingly dull. The two take long, regular pauses and spend way too much time describing the action. There needs to be a class or a book to guide commentary participants away from simply talking about what we’re watching. The deleted scenes are the most interesting special feature, especially a nauseating epilogue in which each character gets a happy ending that was very thankfully cut.

What’s most annoying about the special features for “What Just Happened” are mini-docs that run about 2 minutes long. There really needs to be a law that anything that throws you back to a menu after two minutes can not legally be called a “special feature”. The only featurette with anything interesting (and the only one that should have been included) is the roughly 23 minute “Making of What Just Happened: From Book to Screen”.

A few years ago, a Barry Levinson movie with Robert De Niro, Catherine Keener, John Turturro, Sean Penn, and Bruce Willis would have been a major, major event. Perhaps the most insightful thing that “What Just Happened” has to say about the ups and downs of Hollywood is that the movie so clearly was not.

‘What Just Happened’ is released by Magnolia Home Video and stars Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, John Turturro, Robin Wright penn, Stanley Tucci, Kristen Stewart, Michael Wincott, and Bruce Willis. It was written by Art Linson and directed by Barry Levinson. It was released on February 24th, 2009. It is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Robert De Niro, Director Barry Levinson Wade Through Hollywood’s Mud in ‘What Just Happened?’

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:57:58 -0600

CHICAGO – In his long and distinguished career, Robert De Niro has probably seen it all when it comes to Hollywood excesses and quagmires. Given that experience, he seems the perfect choice to portray an aging film producer and power broker whose influence is on the decline.

“What Just Happened?” teams De Niro with veteran director Barry Levinson (“Rain Man,” “Good Morning, Vietnam,” “The Natural”) in a provocative inside look at the current film business. De Niro is a producer named Ben whose latest film (starring Sean Penn) is in major trouble.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

His director (Michael Wincott) refuses to cut a scene that makes preview audiences squeamish.

Meanwhile, Ben’s other film (which is about to go into production) is also experiencing problems because star Bruce Willis (playing himself) is rejecting all the physical requirements necessary for the leading male role.

Read Patrick McDonald’s full review of “What Just Happened?” in our reviews section.

View our full “What Just Happened?” image gallery.

Ben is now a producer on the brink.

The drug-addled director requires constant reassurance, the studio executives are depending on his delivery of the latest Bruce Willis film and his estranged wife wants him in therapy so they can learn to live apart.

As an answer to the question of the movie’s title, it seems that everything can collapse to nothing in Tinseltown.

The film is based on a memoir by producer Art Linson (who also wrote the screenplay). Proving that truth is stranger than fiction, the farcical narrative delves into how egos essentially run Hollywood and how those egos are largely attached to dysfunctional human beings.

“What Just Happened?,” which is directed by Barry Levinson and features Robert De Niro, Stanley Tucci, John Turturro, Catherine Keener, Sean Penn, Robin Wright Penn, Michael Wincott and Bruce Willis, opened on Oct. 17, 2008.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full “What Just Happened?” review.

Bruce Willis in “What Just Happened?”.
Photo credit: Magnolia Pictures

Robert De Niro in “What Just Happened?”.
Photo credit: Magnolia Pictures

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full “What Just Happened?” review.

Interview: British Comedian Steve Coogan Rocks Sexy Jesus Character in ‘Hamlet 2’

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:10:50 -0600

CHICAGO – Steve Coogan is a British comedy icon. Forging a career from creating an array of characters, though, he’s not as well known in America (except to BBC cultists).

He brings this talent for characterization to the lead role of an American high school drama teacher in the new film “Hamlet 2”. Coogan adds some peculiar quirks to the depiction of the clueless soul who seemingly will do anything to project his dramatic “vision”.

“Hamlet 2” star Steve Coogan in Chicago on July 30, 2008.
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

Steve Coogan stars in Andy Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2”.
Photo credit: Cathy Kanavy

In a recent HollywoodChicago.com interview with Coogan, he philosophized about the nature of his comedy and how he hopes it can translate both in “Hamlet 2” and within the larger entertainment scope as his career progresses.

Describing the roots of his basis in developing characters, Coogan went back to his childhood in Manchester, England.

“As a kid before cable or VCRs, I used to use an audio cassette recorder to tape TV shows,” Coogan recalled.

He added: “[I did it] just to get the audio tracks. Also there was a lot of comedy on records. I would listen to Monty Python and older British comedy like Tony Hancock and The Goon Show.”

Steve Coogan (center) and Skylar Astin (right) star in Andy Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2”.
Photo credit: Cathy Kanavy

Rating: 2.5/5.0

“Often people would describe their favorite moments on the TV shows or records,” he continued. “I would say: ‘No. You’ve got it wrong.’ I would start to mimic what was accurate on those shows. I would enjoy the retelling of the stuff. I would enjoy people’s reaction to it once I did it.”

“Hamlet 2” is a bit of a departure from the British scene. It depicts Coogan as Dana Marschz: a down and out American actor forced to teach bad drama in a high school in Tucson, Ariz. His student body consists of two worshipful pupils who do stage recreations of movies like “Erin Brockovich”.

When Dana is forced to take some rougher students into his classes, it’s within the context that the school system is about to cut the drama department entirely. What is necessary is a big production. It must be something the bureaucracy can’t ignore.

Dana Marschz will come up with the sequel to one of Shakespeare’s best. He’ll call it “Hamlet 2”. Coogan added: “What attracted me to the character of Dana was that it’s a funny part.”

Steve Coogan (left), Elisabeth Shue (center) and Amy Poehler (right) star in Andy Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2”.
Photo credit: Focus Features

Melonie Diaz (left), Steve Coogan (center) and Phoebe Strole (right) star in Andy Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2”.
Photo credit: Cathy Kanavy

He continued: “He is vulnerable, which was a departure from characters I’ve played who are unlikable. I am attracted toward dysfunctional people because I find them more interesting. It’s a challenge to play someone odd or dysfunctional and still make the audience care about them.”

While Dana plots his masterpiece, his marriage dissolves around him. Still, the plucky and gullible dramatist forges on.

His play will revolve around a time machine (so the dead characters in the first “Hamlet” can be revived), musical numbers and the character of “Sexy Jesus” for the big finish.

“We talked about how to make Jesus sexy,” Coogan explained. “That’s why we settled on the jeans and T-shirt. The hair was always kind of cool.”

“It did make me a little nervous to play Jesus,” he admitted. “I did wonder whether (writer/director) Andy (Fleming) was just trying to be provocative to annoy Christians in a certain way or if it was just funny. I wasn’t quite sure, but in the end, I just did it.”

Coogan also talked about playing Dana as an American and the differences between that freedom and the more repressed British psychology.

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“As a generalization, I think Americans are less repressed than British people,” he said. “Culturally, people from America come from somewhere else, so there’s the risk factor within the personality that makes them more free.”

“There is no subtext with Dana,” Coogan added. “The challenge was how to make it interesting when he’s so big and demonstrative – without making it over the top – especially in contrast with the other characters in the film who are more grounded.”

In his final thoughts, Coogan mentioned why he sometimes has trouble being pigeonholed in the way he’s cast in movies.

“I like variety. I don’t like to repeat myself,” he said. “In this marketplace, that is difficult because representatives sometimes don’t know how to sell me. I do so many different things. But it satisfies me creatively.”

“Hamlet 2,” which is written and directed by Andrew Fleming, features Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, David Arquette, Elisabeth Shue, Amy Poehler, Melonie Diaz, Phoebe Strole and Skylar Astin. The film opened on Aug. 22, 2008.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com