Movie brothers talk talent

By Nicole Rodriguez

Chris and Paul Weitz, two New Yorker brothers, have been behind the success of many box office hits, including American Pie and Down to Earth (which Paul directed and Chris produced).

Their latest effort, About a Boy, marks the first time the brothers have shared both writing and directing credits. Based on the popular novel by British author Nick Hornby, the film stars Hugh Grant as a thirty-something playboy who eventually finds a sense of meaning in his shallow life.

"I read the book, which I really loved, and we'd been wanting to make a slightly cynical comedy for a while," Chris said. "We immediately felt that this one had a great setting, fantastic characters, amazing dialogue and was a great mix of a dark outlook on human nature with a hopeful outlook on the individual."

However, in a time when movies are rarely considered to be worthy of their written predecessors, the two admit that translating Hornby's book proved to be quite a challenge for them.

"The book itself was really good, and if you had just shot the book it would have made a great movie," Chris said. "I think our biggest challenge was to take a deep breath and change certain stuff from the book to make a better movie. For example, the book is set in 1994 when Kurt Cobain committed suicide, and we thought it would be weird to do a period piece set just eight years ago." (The movie is set in present-day London.)

Although the majority of their resumes are writing-based(they wrote the screenplays for Antz and Madeleine), both brothers agree that writing is not their primary passion.

"Writing is exactly like having an essay due in awhile and really wanting to procrastinate, and I really have incredible powers of procrastination," Chris admits.

"The only fun thing about writing is that you get to live in your own little world and delude yourself that what you're doing is really, really good," Paul said. "Directing, on the other hand, is awesome because you have to make tons and tons of decisions really fast. And if you tend to be neurotic at all, as I am, it's terrific therapy because you can't go 'should I do this or that? Should the camera go here or there?' because if you do that you're literally wasting money."

Boy is also the first time the Weitzes were able to work with a largely well-known cast, including Hugh Grant, Academy Award nominee Toni Colette (The Sixth Sense) and The Mummy's Rachel Weiss.

"The thing about American Pie is that the actors were all essentially first timers, so we seemed really old and established to them so they listened to everything we said," Chris explains. "Whereas [with About a Boy] we found it was much more difficult to order around people who were older than you and who have made more films that you have."

"But at least we got to order around Nicholas (Hoult, the film's young star), because he didn't know any better," Chris adds, a sly grin spreading over his face.

In addition to dealing with well-established actors, the Weitzes also found that directing as a team could pose a challenge.

"We have arguments all the time," Paul admits with a laugh, "But we usually take it outside and don't let people see that we disagree. People think we're always in total harmony, which we mostly are, but there are certain times when we're definitely not."

"When you're shooting a movie," he continues, "you have multiple takes of a given shot or scene, so we usually resolve our problems by saying 'okay this take is for you, and this one is for me.'"

And the system seems to have paid off for the two, whose final product is already garnering rave reviews from critics and viewers alike.

When asked whether the two would like to continue working together in the future, they share an amused glance and burst into laughter.

"Do you think we'd tell you if we didn't?" Chris jokes. "But, seriously, it can be really isolating to direct a movie. First of all, it's like a bank has lent you a huge amount of money and you're really worried about screwing it up, and they're inclined to pressure you to make the kind of movie that they want. And on top of that you have all kinds of conflicting agendas: what an actor wants, what the producer wants, what the director of photography wants, and it really helps to have somebody to talk to when you're going through all this."

"And of course it makes it so much more fun," Paul adds. "We carry each other through the process quite a bit."

Their next project, which they have already begun writing, is set at the Culinary Institute of America.

"It's quite cool because it's the biggest cooking school in America and there's all different kinds of people that go there," Paul explains. "It's a cool melting pot of people who for some reason choose to spend tons of time and a big part of their life cooking."

This currently untitled film, as with their previous projects, will be a part of the comedy genre.

"I personally have a hard time accepting seeing something about serious parts of human life without there being comedy involved, because I think that only a moron could be exposed to the negative aspects of the human condition and not laugh at it," Paul explains.

When asked what else they expect their professional futures to hold, the Weitzes pause to ponder a moment before answering.

"I'd like to win a butt-load of awards," Paul laughs. "I never watch the Academy Awards and I'm always really scornful about it, but I think that's because I'll never be invited to the ceremony, let alone to receive an award."

"Seriously," he adds as his laughter fades off, "I just want to make a bunch of cool films and still be able to have a normal life, which is something most directors don't get to do because making a movie can be so consuming."

"I think that when you work on movies your attention span can alter so that you think about films all the time instead of more contemplative quite things," Chris adds. "I just want to find a way to be able to achieve a sense of serenity in my life."