By Paul Soter
When I was asked to write a piece for Moving Pictures Magazine [for its special pre-Tribeca coverage], I was shocked. Shocked that there's an entire magazine devoted to Rush's most popular album. I mean, I love Rush, but really...
YES! Always open with a joke. Although you probably get that a lot, don't you? Or am I the only Prog-Rock dork ever asked to contribute to this website?
Alright, enough about Moving Pictures. Let's talk about me. When I first read the script for Watching the Detectives, I thought, "Finally! Somebody wrote a script that speaks to me." Then I looked at the title page and realized that I, in fact, had written the script.
TWO IN A ROW!
As you can see, I'm not really comfortable talking about myself and my project, so I cover it all with a fine veneer of bad jokes. But I'll try to put my hang-ups aside for a minute.
I'm not really a romantic comedy guy, so I set out to make a non-romantic (and possibly non-comedic) romantic comedy for other guys out there who are not romantic comedy guys. I'm probably shooting myself in the foot by admitting this; I may have just alienated the entire female demographic. (Somewhere, right now, my investor must be feeling a chill running up his spine.)
But what can I do? The market is flooded with traditional, sweet, gooey romantic comedies where the biggest joke is the girl tripping on a carpet, and the guy chases her down in the last five minutes screaming down the street or across a crowded room about how he knows this is crazy and will never work but let's give it a shot.
In my mind, I thought that people would be thrilled to see something other than those tired old conventions. But then I asked my wife, and she pointed out that people love those conventions, which is why they get used over and over and over.
But I still contend that there are enough of us cranky weirdos out there to support a movie that sidesteps these well-worn clichés. I certainly am not going to guarantee that everything in this movie is radically fresh and revolutionary. But I promise that Lucy Liu is not going to trip on a carpet and Cillian Murphy is not going to chase her down, screaming, at the end. He screams a little; I mean, you can't have a movie without a little screaming. But I can assure you he screams out of anger and frustration, not out of love. I mean, who in the real world screams out of love?
And no kissing in the rain. I'm a real stickler about this. I remember we were shooting a kissy scene in Douglaston Manor, and it started to rain, and I shut down production until it stopped raining. (There may have also been a small matter of safety and equipment getting wet and stuff.)
And no dog covering his eyes with his paws. I don't know that this qualifies as a romantic comedy cliché, but it infuriates me when I see that in a movie.
All this makes me wonder if maybe I didn't make a romantic comedy after all. I mean, if it doesn't look like a duck and it doesn't quack like a duck, maybe it's not a duck. Boy does meet Girl. Boy does lose Girl at some point. And I think I'm not ruining anything by admitting that Boy gets Girl back.
So, judge for yourself. If nothing else, it's been an interesting experiment. Can a movie be romantic and comedic and still avoid the trappings of the romantic comedy?
Write down your response on a piece of paper and stuff it in a Coke bottle and chuck it in the ocean. Maybe years from now, it will wash up on the shore where I will pick it up and read it and track you down and we will fall in love, even though we don't hit it off at the beginning because I think you're a maddening dingbat and you find me an insufferable jerk.
-Paul Soter
April 15, 2007
Los Angeles, California Paul Soter lives in Los Angeles with his wife, infant son and a pit-bull named The Captain. He is one of the five members of comedy group Broken Lizard, responsible for writing and starring in the films Puddle Cruiser, Super Troopers, Club Drea and Beerfest. Watching The Detectives is his first directorial effort.
Watching the Detectives synopsis:
Neil (Cillian Murphy) is a quirky cinephile who runs a vintage video store and wishes his life were more like his favorite film noirs. Enter Violet (Lucy Liu), a real-life femme fatale who really does turn life into the movies. Sometimes love is stranger than fiction, and Neil is about to discover just how strange it can be. Directed and written by Paul Soter, the film also stars Jason Sudeikis and Michael Panes. |
