|
|
| around the bend
FATHER AND SON (2)
Christopher Walken as Turner Lair and Michael Caine, aged to look 85, as his father, Henry. |
|
“Henry’s the pivotal character of the family,” explains Caine. “The role is only about 20 minutes in the picture, but it’s an extremely important one. The family is a tree; Henry’s the trunk and all the branches come out of him. The film is not about Henry, but you’ve got to see the tree in order to appreciate the branches.”
The cross-country trip certainly throws up a lot of humour, but the Griswold family vacation it isn’t. “There are no jokes in my movie,” insists Roberts. “I’m attracted to comedy that comes out of workaday reality and human behaviour. It was intentional from the very beginning that we combine high drama with comedy. In the film, the comedy and the drama rise out of the same earth.” “It’s a comedy of discomfort,” adds Lewitt. “It’s a very honest, moving piece of work. Jordan’s work doesn’t have a false beat in it.”
The New Mexico setting was something of a compromise, because the script was originally based round a cross-country trip from New York to LA - a route which it proved financially and logistically impossible for the production to take. But since the real setting of the film was the road and those fast-food joints which line America’s highways (no less than six Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants are featured in the film), the space and light of New Mexico proved ideal.
“This movie is a road movie, and New Mexico has provided stunning backdrops and unique, constantly varying landscapes to play with,” says Lucas. “The light is astonishing, just mesmerising.” The tax incentives offered by the Land of Enchantment came in kind of handy, too.
It must, however, have been a daunting moment for Roberts, who had written a screenplay drawn from his own deeply felt experience, had nurtured it for a decade, and was now about to call ‘Action!’ with a cast that contained two Oscar-winners.
He needn’t have worried. “I imagine it’s terrifying,” agrees Lucas. “You’ve written a script that is your life blood and then, without ever having directed before, you get a cast like this. But Jordan’s a man who’s fully realising his vision, and he knows exactly what he wants. He’s given me extraordinary direction as an actor.”
“All of Jordan’s scripts have an incredible blend of drama and humour, and his characters don’t speak with the arch, flip rhythms of Hollywood,” concludes Kirkham. “I am always on the look out for new voices, and finding someone who doesn’t shy away from emotion, or equate feeling with sentiment, is rare in this city and in this business.”
|
AROUND THE BEND
Warner Independent Pictures presents a Kirkham-Lewitt production
|
|
Prod: Elliott Lewitt, Julie Kirkham; Exec prod: Ronald G Smith; Dir/Scr: Jordan Roberts; Ph: Michael Grady; Prod des: Sarah Knowles; Cost des: Alix Friedberg; Ed: Françoise Bonnot; Casting: Mali Finn; Mus: David Baerwald.
With Christopher Walken (Turner Lair), Josh Lucas (Jason Lair), Michael Caine (Henry Lair), Glenne Headly (Katrina), Jonah Bobo (Zach Lair).
International distribution: Warner Bros Entertainment
|
|
|
|
