When the doorman greets you at the entrance to the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Boston Common, you enter a simple and elegant lobby accented with orchids in crystal vases and shapely leather couches. It's the kind of hotel you'd expect a movie director to stay in, with a concierge awaiting your every whim on the first floor and a formal dining room on the eighth.
I went there three weeks ago to interview Jason Reitman, the second-youngest person ever to be inducted into the Director's Guild of America and the writer-director of the soon-to-be-released "Thank You for Smoking." Based on the novel by Chris Buckley, "Thank You" is the story of Nick Naylor, a fast-talking, ethically bereft tobacco lobbyist, and, after screening this film a week before, I was anxious to meet the man behind what is sure to be the next big indie film success story.
When I finally did, I was surprised to see a young man dressed not in a stuffy designer suit, but faded jeans, a loose fleece sweatshirt and baseball cap. He smiled and led the small college press contingent composed of myself and one other journalist into his hotel, plopped down in a large armchair and introduced himself.
Once we began, Reitman showed an enviable enthusiasm for his work, a dynamism that echoed the energy of "Thank You for Smoking." Reitman seems to love his job as much as his Nick Naylor loves his, and he soon showed that there's nothing typical about his films or his career.
Question: What sort of message did you want to send with the movie?
Jason Reitman: For me, Nick is a guy who doesn't have to apologize for himself; that's an aspect of the book I really liked. I wanted that to stay true in the movie. For me, he was a guy who had to make a decision finally about whether he could be a tobacco lobbyist and a father simultaneously.
It had less to do with whether tobacco in itself was right or wrong - which I don't think there is an answer to that - and more to do with who is he [Nick]?...
Q: That last thing that you said, that Nick believes in what he does... maybe he just had this talent for persuading and convincing people...
JR: I think he's [Nick is] great at what he does. That's what he says at the end of the film: "Michael Jordan plays ball, Charles Manson kills people, I talk." And he loves doing that [talking]. I think it's great to do something that you are brilliant at, and it's wonderful to watch somebody that's brilliant at something...
Q: How much freedom did you give your actors to build their own character?
JR: None. Zero.
Q: So you had complete control over them?
JR: [laughs] No, it depended on them. Robert Duvall I had no control over. Robert Duvall comes up to me, and I say, "Hi, it's really nice to meet you. Can I have your autograph?" You just say action and cut. And I'm joking, but I'm actually half being serious. I really didn't give any direction to Robert Duvall...
Some of the greatest lines were actually come up with by the actors. William H. Macy wrote the line, "The great state of Vermont will not apologize for its cheese." Adam Brody came up with, "Keep on raking, the sand's not gonna rake itself, Hiroshi." Rob Lowe came up with, in talking about the Sultan of Brunei, the Hitler of the South Pacific, "He's fun; you'll like him..."
Q: What do think is more fun? Seeing the finished product of the movie and being able to talk about it and being able to talk about your experiences working on the movie or actually making the movie and being with the actors?
JR: Making the movie sucks. [laughter] It's tough; it's tough work!
I love writing the movie. Writing the movie you kind of do in solace, and you're alone and you're only reliant on your ability to use the English language to lay your ideas onto the page. You really have got two things: your imagination and your ability to use words.
Once you get to shooting, there's a million things; you're managing a circus...Then you get to editing, and you're like, "All right, this is all you got. This is your footage. Can you make a movie out of this?"...
Right now, it's a thrilling process...I'm in Boston, for Christ's sake! I don't live in Boston! And we're talking about the movie in a real way. Two weeks ago, "Newsweek" did an article [about "Thank You for Smoking"], and it wasn't in the entertainment section; it was in the political section where they were talking about the movie in relation to truth in politics. That means, in some little way, it's part of the social consciousness. That's really exciting...
Q: Do you smoke?
JR: No, I don't. I tried smoking when I was 15, and it hurt too much. I was a big pussy; I couldn't. It hurt my lungs, and I just didn't want to do it.
Q: Last question: was there any one great moment that happened on the set that was really funny or pretty great?
JR: Yeah. Sam Elliott was always the guy I wanted to play Lorne Lutch, the original Marlboro Man. I wrote a letter to him and attached it to the screenplay. He was really touched by the letter I wrote and called me back, and we talked about the role. He really liked the screenplay, but he needed to talk to me in person about it.
So I said okay, and I met him for lunch...After three hours, he came around and said he'd do the movie. He said, "There's one thing."
I said, "What's that?"
He said, "Well, in the screenplay, it says I show up at the door with a shotgun."
I said, "Right."
He said, "Seems like a bit much doesn't it?"
I said, "What do have in mind? A handgun or something?"
He said, "Well, maybe a rifle." [laughter]
I said, "Sure we'll make it a rifle. Great."
Anyway, a few months go by. We get to the day of shooting, and I am onset, and my first AD [assistant director] comes over and says, "Oh you have to go over to the art department. They want you to pick the shotgun."
I had totally forgotten about this, and I'm walking over to the art department, and I'm like "Oh f-k." I get there, and Sam is already there; he's at the truck waiting for me. I get there and I look down and laying down on the back of the truck are three guns, two shotguns and there's a rifle.
So, acting like I'm in total control, pointing at the rifle, "This one, you like this one?"
He says, "Yup."
I said, "Do you need the prop guys to show you how it works?"
He says, "No, it's my gun."
He had brought his own rifle. He didn't trust me. He knew I'd forget and he brought his own rifle.
