To preserve the atmosphere of the book, Obst was determined to shoot Someone Like You in New York - not Toronto-pretending-to-be-New York, and not a Los Angeles backlot dressed as how New York used to look. “We wanted a real look, something that doesn’t look like a TV movie,” she insists. “We had to sell the idea that we could shoot the movie like a studio independent movie and use practical locations. We wanted this movie to be mainstream downtown New York.”
“I thought New York should be a character in the movie,” adds director Goldwyn, who was hired immediately after Chandler. Obst had loved the actor-turned-director’s behind-the-camera debut, A Walk on the Moon (which, incidentally, was featured in Preview 30 some two-and-a-half years ago under its in-production title of Over the Moon). “There is a kind of pressure on people’s lives in New York both to find success and to find love, and the stakes tend to be higher.”
The film was shot almost entirely below 14th Street, in fashionable and borderline fashionable areas that show what production designer Dan Leigh describes as “an insider New York”. Thus Jane’s moves through Manhattan - a kind of modern-day rake’s progress from lonely to trendy to distinctly unfashionable - are reflected in the three apartments: her own tiny Chinatown studio; the fabulous Greenwich Village terrace she moves into with Ray; and the dingy loft where Eddie lives, just down the street from notorious singles bar Hogs & Heifers.
Marisa Tomei as Liz
|
“When she meets Ray,” explains Leigh, “not only does she find Mr Right, but she’s also found the ultimate New York apartment. And when Ray is not interested in her any longer, not only does she lose the guy, but she loses this incredible apartment. She ends up with Mr Wrong in this horrible loft in the meatpacking district.”
Leigh’s use of ‘Mr Right’ and ‘Mr Wrong’ is, of course, ironical: Goldwyn was determined that both Ray and Eddie should be human beings, casting the charming Greg Kinnear as Ray, a man struggling to balance his private with his professional life; and the soon-to-be-star Jackman (X-Men had yet to be released at the time, and the actor was best known for starring in the successful London stage production of Oklahoma!) as a romantic rather than a predatory Eddie. “He came into my office and sang ‘Oklahoma’ a capella, so I fell madly in love with him,” says Obst. “Any time you see a great new guy who’s that hot, you want to see him in a romantic comedy.”
But the real key to the casting was Judd, who wasn’t initially anyone’s first choice for the role of Diane, mainly because she had long been associated with feisty action thrillers like Kiss the Girls, Heat and Double Jeopardy.
Ellen Barkin as talkshow host Diane Roberts
|
“I was surprised because I never thought of Ashley as a New York journalist type,” says Obst. “But she walked into my office like a PhD in anthropology, sat down and really impressed me. She was astonishingly intellectual, incredibly verbal and totally New York: cool and smart.
“I decided at that point if Ashley was willing to put her heart and soul on the line and do this film, I could see that this was the piece that would help her define a new range for herself. She has that elusive quality that makes a great movie star. She is your girlfriend, she could be you. You root for her and you genuinely like her.
“I think the movie is about the bravery of taking another swing at bat,” she concludes, “whether it be writing another article, trying another boyfriend or getting another job - just getting out there and doing again what once broke your heart.”
