From Rags to Riches

To lighten the mood, I offer up my own theory that Dying Young failed because the film was sold as a Julia Roberts movie when, in the truest sense, it wasn't "her" story. It was, rather, the story of the dying man she cares for and who then comes to love life again. Such as it is, the script follows "his" changes, the arc of his character--not hers.

"You may have hit upon the problem," Schumacher says, "and that's something that none of the executives or story editors or agents saw. But as the director, it was my job to know that, and the painful truth is, I would have known it if Julia had not been involved. If it had been just a piece of material, I would have said, 'This is about Victor. His arc is more interesting.'

"Movies are like my children," says Schumacher with a sigh. "And often older parents will agonize over whether one of the children didn't get enough attention. They worry that they failed that child. I will go to my grave feeling that way about Dying Young."

Schumacher didn't have much better luck with his next project, a TV series called "2000 Malibu Road," which followed the problems of ex-hooker Lisa Hartman and her gorgeous roommates Drew Barrymore and Jennifer Beals. How did it come about? "[CBS executive] Jeff Sagansky asked me to create a series," says Schumacher, "so I did it--on a lark." Schumacher says he can't abide film people who look down their noses at television. "People in features should be in awe of people who do TV, where you have little time, little money and no luxuries. It's no-frills filmmaking."

I know that the series--of which Schumacher directed all six episodes--might have made the grade, had CBS not found the stars' salaries too high to underwrite future episodes, and I'm joking when I tell Schumacher that perhaps the show would have lasted if it had had "better" family values--but he's not kidding when he replies, "Who is to say what family values are? If George Bush and Bill Clinton are the arbiters of family values in America, then I'll take the hookers on 'Malibu Road.' At least they're honest about what they do."

Schumacher's most recent movie, Falling Down, again reunited the director with Michael Douglas, who this time was part of the cast. "I was thrilled when he said he'd do Falling Down," Schumacher says. "He not only came in with character ideas--for instance, he wanted to carry a gift, crosstown, to his daughter--but as a producer, he has a good overview, and he made suggestions on things like coverage and setups."

I ask if there's any truth to the story that Michael Douglas was given his choice of the two major roles in the film. "You know that was written in Premiere magazine, and I called the writer and said, 'Where did you get that information?' and she said, 'From an agent at ICM.' I said, 'Why didn't you call me and check it, because it's not true.' Michael was always going to play the man who walks across the city and disintegrates."

At the time of our meeting, Falling Down has not yet been released, and when I ask Schumacher--whose next film will be The Client, from John Grisham's novel--whether he ever knows if a movie is destined to be a hit, he shrugs: who knows?

"I do feel that, in many cases, I've failed miserably," Schumacher says. "I admire great movies and feel I fall very short of that, but I try. Maybe that's a strength in a way, the desire to do better, to make a better film each time out. And if I want to do that, I just have to take a project and do better. I can't sit around and analyze my life all the time.

"I was in EST in 1974, and what I took from that program was the fact that I'm responsible for my life," Schumacher says. "And if I'm not enjoying this [he motions to the room, but is referring, no doubt, to the career that made the luxurious lifestyle possible] then I'm a tragic person. I'm surrounded by tragedy all day long. There are so many people who have everything and are discontent. They see themselves as victims. I see people go thought violent reactions to articles written about them. It's all part of the insecurity and megalomania that seem to waltz together in this narcissistic tango. Isn't it enough that we work in a glamorous business and make lots of money and get all the perks? Do we have to be written about as though we were Jonas Salk or Albert Schweitzer? You always know when you're talking to a victim. It doesn't mean you can't love them, but you can't help them. They spend their days worrying if they're with the right person or if they're watching the right self-help tapes. This is why we're so fucking neurotic.

"In the past, just to survive and have a job and enjoy the children was enough. It was a life! Survival is still a goal for 90 percent of the people on the planet. And here I am, this American who makes movies. I would do this for nothing. My agent will kill me for saying that, but it's true. I'm doing what I've always wanted to do. I'm one of the luckiest people I've ever met. I've survived the fashion business, the movie business and sex, drugs and rock'n'roll."

Jeffrey Lantos interviewed Lara Flynn Boyle for the January/February Movieline.

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