Movies are triggered by lots of things: by books, by something someone says, by other movies, by a sudden flash of inspiration. Adam Rifkin’s latest film, however, was inspired by a spaghetti dinner. A fast-talking, pony-tailed writer/director seemingly happy in the heart of Hollywood - he wrote Small Soldiers and Mouse Hunt, directed a Charlie Sheen car-chase movie called, quite simply, The Chase and, more recently, Detroit Rock City, the 1999 Kiss revival movie - Rifkin has always had a hankering to make the kind of movies he grew up with.

“I love all kinds of movies: I always have,” he says. “But, as much as I love comedy and action, I’ve always wanted to make movies about people. A lot of the kinds of movies that inspired me in the first place were films like The Last Picture Show or Midnight Cowboy, Five Easy Pieces, Taxi Driver… gritty, urban character dramas that were really inspiring. I’ve always been fascinated by urban stories, and that really was the inspiration for wanting to make this movie.”

‘This movie’ is an ultra-urban, ultra-independent film called Night at the Golden Eagle, which Rifkin shot earlier this year with - wait for it - his own money. Or rather his own money and that of his producer, Steve Bing. Set over one sweltering night in a rundown hotel in downtown LA - a grittier, far less romanticised version of the one Wim Wenders chose for Million Dollar Hotel - it focuses on two small-time crooks on the wrong side of the hill. The secondary characters are whores, pimps, porn-shop owners and dying men clinging onto their dreams. By the end of the night, three of them are dead and most of them have been changed for ever. Night at the Golden Eagle has a strong streak of humanity and deals in powerfully true emotions. But it is not, repeat not, a feelgood movie.

“You know what?” asks Rifkin rhetorically. “Here’s the thing: we didn’t even approach the studios to see if they would make it. I mean, they might have. But I have to say I thank the studios: it’s because of their generosity that Steve and I were able to afford to finance this movie. I wrote a film called Mouse Hunt and a movie called Small Soldiers and Steve just wrote the Jerry Bruckheimer movie that’s shooting right now, Down and Under. With the money that we made off those screenplays, we were able to afford to finance this movie. So it really is entirely thanks to the studio system that we were able to get it made!”

In point of fact, Rifkin wrote the screenplay for Night at the Golden Eagle about 12 years ago, but shelved it for a whole variety of reasons. And then, a year or so ago, Bing invited him to a Monday night football party at a friend’s condo to watch the game and eat Italian food. It is an evening which has passed into Rifkin’s personal mythology, and he has written it up into a brief statement to preface Golden Eagle, explaining how the film came to be made.

“The hosts and cooks were Donnie Montemarano and Vinny Argiro, lifelong pals from New York’s ‘old neighbourhood’,” he explains. “In fact, they were born on the same street in Brooklyn more than 60 years ago. They had recently reunited in LA after a long absence due to Donnie’s lengthy sentence in prison.

Checking in: Adam Rifkin (right) with cinematographer Checco Varese of Night at the Golden Eagle, which Rifkin wrote, directed and financed.

“While incarcerated, Donnie developed terminal cancer and was paroled in order to die at home. But, as luck would have it, he beat the disease and found himself a free man. Knowing he had a second chance, he packed up and moved to LA to be near his old buddy and start a new life. I quickly became a member of their Monday night pasta parties, not for the football, but because I was absorbed by Donnie and Vinny’s colourful stories of the old days and their yin-yang banter.

“Slowly an idea began to hatch. Night at the Golden Eagle had always been a favourite script of mine, but my vision for the film was dependent on finding the perfect performers to play the lead roles. Several times, I had the opportunity to make it with young, hip stars and other people’s money, but it never felt right. After getting to know Donnie and Vinny, I asked Steve what he thought about them starring in Night at the Golden Eagle. He loved the idea.”

But Rifkin was pragmatic enough to recognise that, with two almost complete newcomers in the lead roles (Vinny had done a little acting, Donnie had never even considered it before), he and fellow producer Bing would need to surround the central duo with seasoned performers.