"The Thing About My Folks" Interview: Paul Reiser
By Kit Bowen, Hollywood.com Staff
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Tuesday, February 14, 2006
The Thing About My Folks Movie Poster |
Paul Reiser is having one of those years.
Driving to meet him for lunch at a lovely Miami resort, I ruminated about all the stuff he's done--playing a weasel in Aliens, being one of two dads in TV's My Two Dads, and his career altering turn as the lovable Paul Buchman on Mad About You. I sat at a table in the resort's restaurant, overlooking the sumptuous swimming pool, with the swaying palm trees and sun-kissed bodies on chaise lounges. Things always seemed more relaxed when there are balmy breezes blowing and people obviously enjoying a nice vacation. Certainly, I was at ease, as I sipped my Evian water with lemon, waiting for Reiser to make his appearance. I let my mind wander a bit, wondering what the talented actor has been up to since Mad About You closed down shop in 1999? Plenty, he'll tell you.
Reiser has been quietly working on various projects--but it's the darling indie The Thing About My Folks, which opened Sept. 30, that has been his true labor of love. Starring Reiser and the venerable Peter Falk, the movie's a very simple and sweet story of a man, Ben, reconnecting with his father after Ben's mother supposedly leaves him. The father and son go on a road trip that changes both their lives. To put it bluntly, it was a story Reiser was desperate to tell.
"I had this idea for the movie in 1982," he explained. "People were asking me how come it took me 20 years to write it, was I that dumb? I wasn't writing it, it was just floating in my head and periodically, I would think about it. But I always wanted to do it. Then a couple of years ago, someone asked me, 'What if you had 12 months to live? What would you do differently?' And I surprised myself and said, 'I'd live the same life but I would have written that Peter Falk movie faster.'"
But Folks isn't the only film with Reiser was in it this year. There's also the hilarious The Aristocrats, a documentary featuring a slew of stand-up comedians, discussing the dirtiest joke ever told. Of course, Reiser, a standup comedian before he hit TV fame, is featured prominently (but discreetly never really tells the joke).
"[Aristocrats director] Paul Provenza calls me up and says, 'We're doing this documentary about this joke, could you help us out?,' Reiser explained. "So I brought him into my office and we laughed our asses off. But that was two years ago. Now its coming out, getting great reviews AND its going up against my movie. So people come over and say, 'I saw that movie of yours,' and I say, 'Isn't it sweet?' and they're like, 'You mean about the fist f***ers?' Oh, you're talking about The Aristocrats!"
And so began my lunch with Paul Reiser.
The Thing About Peter Falk
"Isn't he something in this?," Reiser asked me with true admiration in his eyes.
I pointed out that the relationship between him and Falk was so natural. "Somehow, I knew in my head, we would be good together. I get him, I know him, I love him. My wife met him and said, 'That's so your dad.'"
Reiser always had Falk in mind for The Thing About My Folks. "In fact, I had the idea because of Peter Falk. I saw my dad watching a Peter Falk movie and something clicked in my head. I gotta go make a movie for Peter Falk and me. What would it be? Then I tried writing it with a partner, I thought, 'Maybe if I had a development deal and they were waiting for me to do it.' But no, that didn't work. Then I went to see Peter Falk in a play. Now, I've never told him about this idea before, but when I went backstage, he grabbed me by the shoulders and said [doing a spot-on imitation of Peter Falk], 'Listen to me. I love everything you do and I love how you write.' And I'm thinking, boy, if you ever knew. And then he said, 'Did you hear what I said? I love what you write.' Then it was like, OK, is there a bigger sign you're waiting for? I had to go home and write this stupid thing.
"It was also having kids, too. I was 27 years old when I had the idea and 47 when I wrote it," Reiser continued. "And in that time, I lost my dad and had kids of my own. It was like, OK, I get it now. I know what fatherhood is all about. And you look at your parents differently. So, I wrote it pretty quickly. I mean, it took me 20 years and three weeks, but still it came out really fast and it came pretty much what's on the screen. I looked at it and showed it to [Reiser's wife] Paula, the editor, and I asked her, 'Am I drunk? Too tired? Or is this good?' And she read it, laughed and cried and said, 'It's really good.' So then I called up Peter Falk, but I didn't want to scare him, saying 'I've been thinking about this for 20 years, Mr. Falk.' I dropped the script off at his house, and he called me that night, 'Wellllll, we've gotta make this movie. This is good.'"
I commented it must have been such an experience working with Falk. Along with John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara, Falk could be considered one of the founding members of independent film.
"I'll tell you what I learned," Reiser told me, leaning in. "First of all, he's got the gift. Secondly, he just works really hard. This guy has a work ethic that's unbelievable, first guy on the set. He works and works. He was a little anxious about how much he had to say in the movie. He said, 'Hey, I'm 76. There's a lot of words here. My memory is staring to go. I don't even remember where I live anymore.' But he'd be in his hotel room, working. I don't know what his process is but it turns out so great. Never a false moment. And he makes you get better. You know, like when you play tennis with someone who's better than you, you play better. At least for that game. I was running all over the court."
"Peter also has the greatest BS detector out of anyone I've met," Reiser laughed. "At the slightest sniff of insincerity out of anybody, he'll just call them on it. 'Peter, we're probably going to shoot right after lunch.' [doing Falk again] 'Now wait a second, probably? Or you are? Tell me because I need to prepare.' He is a lot like [Falk's TV alter ego] Columbo. He is disheveled and a bit haphazard, seemingly lost and clueless. He is those things but then underneath is the brightest, sharpest laser brain you've ever met. And a bull. He could just knock you down. And he's passionate. You get him talking about acting, about politics and he's just full of fire."
Reiser also had the great opportunity to work with the Oscar-nominated Olympia Dukakis, who plays Reiser's mother in Folks. "She's in the movie for four minutes but she stamps it," he stated. "Actually, Olympia played my mother in another movie, for Showtime [My Beautiful Son] and worked for two days. She came on this movie and worked for two days. Apparently, the woman can only tolerate being my mother for two days at a time. More than that would break her. But the two of them together, broke my heart. Olympia and Peter, those scenes… When they're kissing in their 20s and then kissing in their 70s, that's what it is. And they had never met five minutes before they shot those scenes. They were in wardrobe, 'How are you? Nice to see you, good coffee this morning?' and action! That's what acting is all about." I also pointed out to Paul how he keeps making these projects for other people to shine--Falk, Helen Hunt. What's up with that? He shrugged, "I set up the shots."
But then he smiled, "Nothing would make me happier if Peter Falk would finally win his Oscar for this. Not just as the writer but as a fan and a friend. It would be so great."
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