The warm months of summer aren't just a time when stars can break out in front of the camera; there are up and comers behind the camera looking to push through as well. Like directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who land their second feature film, the Steve Carell-led ensemble comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love, right smack dab in the middle of July.
Successful screenwriters (Bad Santa), Ficarra (above right) and Requa (above left) made their feature directing debut with I Love You Phillip Morris, which finally found its way to theaters last year after having five different release dates. Getting Crazy, Stupid, Love to the multiplex will prove to be a decidedly easier task for the duo, and not just because they have a cast of stars any director would give their right arm for: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon and Marisa Tomei.
As part of our 2011 Summer Preview, Movieline caught up with Ficarra and Requa on the phone to discuss how directing Crazy, Stupid, Love came about, what makes their bit of summer fun stand out among the superheroes, and just which films they're looking forward to most this season.
You guys obviously had quite the tortured experience getting I Love You Phillip Morris into theaters. Were you champing at the bit to get behind the camera for Crazy, Stupid, Love?
John Requa: It depends on when you talk to us. Right after we finished I Love You Phillip Morris, we weren't that excited about [directing], but as time went by, we began to miss it.
Then how did Crazy, Stupid, Love come about?
Glenn Ficarra: We had done some work for Steve Carell's company as writers -- some punch-ups and stuff for scripts of his. We were actually at the Palm Springs Film Festival with I Love You Phillip Morris, and they sent us the script to consider for directing. We weren't even expecting it. Next thing you know, we fell in love with it right then and there. We didn't even have a release yet on Phillip Morris.
JR: Steve, his company and Warner Bros. sent it to us. They all got together and decided [we'd be a good fit].
You guys directed your own script for I Love You Phillip Morris, and you're successful screenwriters in your own right. Were you concerned about directing material that wasn't your own?
JR: It was great. We were a little nervous -- hopefully we were going to get along with the writer [Dan Fogelman], but he has turned out to be one of our best friends in the business. We talk to each other almost every day. It was really fortunate because we really got along, and we always wanted to be a good director to his script. Because it was a really smartly written script, and we really respected his ability. And that always helps. When the director respects the writer. [Laughs]
Have you encountered directors that don't respect the writer?
JR: None of the films we got made. We love all our directors.
GF: A lot of the less experienced directors [long pause] -- they just don't trust writers or they don't know how to talk to them. I don't know what it is.
Do you think you have an advantage as directors because of the writing background?
GF: I think it's really helpful.
JR: I think it's great when it's a character piece like this one. I think it's good to be a writer. Having the writer there, and us being able to speak to him in a shorthand as we kind of adjust to the story and the characters as we went along [was beneficial]. Actors come in, and they have their own take on things, and you have to adjust on the fly to make sure everything still works structurally and dramatically. It's nice to be able to speak to the writer in a shorthand where you can say, "We need to rewrite something." You don't have to have a long conversation. You're kind of already there.
You mention the actors, and you've assembled quite a roster of talent for Crazy, Stupid, Love. Was casting this one just a total bear?
GF: We had a pretty tight schedule because Steve had a break in filming of The Office. So we actually went out right away for all parts, and some of the family -- we wanted people to look alike, like the little kids we wanted to look like Steve. So it was important to find out who the mother was going to be.
JR: Julie came up in the conversation really early. Julianne Moore. She was just -- we all just thought, "Oh, wouldn't it be great if she said yes?" Boy, were we surprised when she did. [Laughs] We had to be really conscious of Steve, because Steve had to coordinate all these people, and we wanted to make sure he was happy with everything. So, a lot of it was us just talking to Steve and Steve's partners over at his company about who was exactly a good fit for Steve.
Which is why it's kind of surprising to see an actor like Ryan Gosling as Steve's co-star; he's not the first person you'd think of for a summer comedy. How did you decide to hire him?
GF: It's our sheer genius! [Laughs]
JR: It's actually a great story. The one person in the world that no one would expect who suggested Ryan was the president of the studio. "Do you guys like Ryan Gosling?" We said, "Well, of course we like Ryan Gosling." But we, like everybody else I think, just knew the persona that was out there. We were like, "Really?" Because we know he's a brilliant actor, but this doesn't seem like something he'd be interested in. And he's like, "You might be surprised." So we met with Ryan.
GF: There were no strings attached, they weren't going to force us on him or anything.
JR: We just met, and he was fiercely funny, and we had a great time. He is fiercely smart as well.
GF: He had me at hello. He walks into the room and within five seconds I'm like, "This is our guy." He oozes charm. And he's a very physically imposing guy, too. He's over six feet. He's smart. He's very smart. One of the smartest actors we've ever worked with.
JR: I think he really elevated the character from something that was a bit of an archetype to a real personalized, complex human being.
It's interesting to me because you have Steve known for comedy, but he's adept at drama; and Ryan known for drama, but here he is co-starring in a comedy.
GF: Yeah, there's something very inviting about them on the surface, and then you get so much more. It's not a typical romantic comedy. It's bigger than that, it's more complicated than that. Everyone delivers 200 percent on that -- filling out their characters and delivering powerhouse performances. Steve is a really incredible actor, and I'm pretty confident in saying that this is the best he's ever been. I think he's amazing.
You say Crazy, Stupid, Love is an unconventional romantic comedy, but were there any particular movies you were looking at to figure out the tone you wanted to achieve?
JR: I think that a lot of the script is an unsentimental look of things that kind of resembles early James L. Brooks or early Cameron Crowe. And that definitely made it attractive, that it was more smartly written than most material out there. It made you ask the questions that excite actors and create good characters.
I Love You Phillip Morris was obviously an independent film, and here you are with a much larger budget on Crazy, Stupid, Love. As directors, was that overwhelming at all?
GF: When you make a movie with plenty of money, there is no drama. The studio has been unbelievable supporters of us and stood by what we envisioned for the film and what our actors wanted to do, 100 percent.
JR: There was never any drama, nothing. It's not your average movie, as we say, and they were totally supportive of that. They couldn't have been better partners.
GF: You know, it's interesting. When you make a movie -- we didn't have that much money. We made I Love You Phillip Morris for very little money, but ultimately this was just a little bit more money, and it makes a big difference. This is not what would be considered a big budget movie, but it's just having a little more of a cushion. It really just makes your life a lot easier. When you do a low budget movie you want as much of the money the screen -- which is true any time you make a movie -- as possible. When you do a low budget movie, you get a little over-ambitious. But when you make a movie like this, you can fit it more easily. This movie was less ambitious as far as locations. Phillip Morris had over 100 locations. We were doing what they call a "company move," which is packing up all our boxes and bags and moving. We did that every day we shot, and sometimes more than once. It was arduous. This was a movie with longer scenes and fewer locations. Basically, we could settle in for the entire day.
Crazy, Stupid, Love is coming out in the middle of a very competitive summer. Are you guys worried at all about its box office prospects?
JR: We're the antidote.
GF: In a summer of men in capes and tights, running around in outer-space, we're the movie about people; where you get a laugh and fall in love with [the characters]. And with the most talented actors in the business. We're not worried about it; we hope we can push through the background noise, but we feel confident that there's not another movie like this coming out in the summer.
JR: I don't even see movies like this very often. In the past couple of years, there's just not a lot of movies for grown-ups. Even young adults. It's all kind of the same.
GF: It's definitely for all ages, but it's not the same old, same old. I think that cast -- it certainly doesn't speak to our ability to attract people. It speaks to the script and the story, which is so strong, that we attracted really top talent.
The cast is a charm offensive. It's like you have the most likeable actors in Hollywood in one movie.
JR: I have to say that after working with them, that's absolutely true. They're all incredibly likeable people.
GF: The movie is a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun to watch; it's very funny. And that's kind of what it was like to make. It was a joy to go to work every day. Which is not always the case.
You're about three months away from release. Are you all done with the film, or do you have any changes you want to make?
GF: We just have some tweaks. We finished the movie at the beginning of the year, and we asked the studio to give us some time off from the movie. Because often times you just make a movie and you're making it, and -- boom, it's gone. But we thought, "Well we have this time, can we walk away from it for some months, come back to it and revisit it and see if there are any changes want to do?" It's a nice luxury most filmmakers don't get.
JR: We're actually doing that next week, and at the end of next week, we'll be done-done.
GF: Most of the changes we're going to do will be sound. One of the big things is we just want to make sure none of our songs ended up in laxative commercials. Because, we have a lot of popular music in the film.
OK, outside of Crazy, Stupid, Love, what other movies are you looking forward to this summer?
GF: Super 8.
JR: Super 8. Harry Potter. I really liked the last one, the first half of The Deathly Hallows. I thought it was fantastic. So morose and heavy. I loved it.
Everyone is on the Super 8 bandwagon it seems. What specifically about that film excites you?
JR: It's very obviously trying to harken back to the golden age of Spielberg.
GF: I just like lens flares. [Laughs]
JR: It's rare to see a movie from a kids point of view, too. You don't get a lot of movies nowadays like that -- back in the '80s there's a lot of movies about kids doing stuff and being involved in stuff. Like ET and The Goonies. That somehow feels out of fashion, and it's nice to see again.
GF: Also, Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Just because it looks like a more interesting take than trying to remake the original. I don't know if it's going to be a good movie or not, but I'm rooting for it.
JR: And Kung Fu Panda 2. I'm a huge fan of Kung Fu Panda. I honestly think that Jack Black's voice work in Kung Fu Panda is the best voice work that's ever been done. He's so funny, and it's such an endearing character. It really is great. I'm really looking forward to it, I really am.