Talking to a director and his actor during an interview can be a little like stepping inside an inside joke. Having worked together for months on a project, the two can develop a language of their own, making references to things you, the journalist, weren’t there for, and talking about parts of the movie that, after seeing it once, you might not remember.
So sitting down for a roundtable interview with Peter Tolan and Matthew Broderick was tricky for just that reason, but the two are so funny together that you pretty much forgive them. Tolan starts out by promoting his movie as bluntly as he can: “I think it’s brilliant. If anyone disagrees, then really, go fuck yourselves.”
The movie, which he wrote and directed, stars Broderick as a troubled Los Angeles screenwriter who may or may not have something in common with Tolan himself. Asked about his character, Broderick claims he’s “Maybe a little bit Peter,” but Tolan sets the record straight: “This is painfully about me… The inspiration for it actually happened in real life.” What happened to Tolan is a little different from what happens to Broderick’s character, Taylor, but the basics are the same. Taylor’s 20-year-old niece, the titular Amanda, has sought a life as a prostitute in Las Vegas, and since he’s had some gambling trouble in the past, he knows Vegas better than anyone else. Taylor decides that, to make up with his wife after he lies about gambling, he’ll go to Vegas, retrieve Amanda, and bring her to a rehab center back in California.
At least, that’s the plan, but as in any good comedy, it goes awry. And Broderick says that’s what attracted him to the movie to begin with. “I liked the writing. I thought it was very funny, a good story. It was a part I don’t often get to do. In this I really wanted to know what would happen. I wanted to know these people.”
Broderick admits he doesn’t share too much in common with his character—he’s no gambler, and says in the scenes where he places bets on horse races in the casino, “I didn’t know what I was saying half the time.” And when pressed to name his biggest vice—Taylor’s are gambling, drinking and a former drug habit—Broderick can’t really come up with one. “Am I messy? Not really. I’m pretty perfect. I really am. It might be boring—so be it.” Tolan, ever the good friend, steps in with an idea. “You are too nice to be in show business.” Broderick quickly agrees.
Broderick says he wants to try his hand at playing the kind of gruff character who can say a mumbled line like “I’ll be right back. My horse needs me.” But he also admits that, since having his son James Wilkie, “It’s easier to talk me into doing a cartoon voice now.”
As for the future, Broderick will be part of another indie comedy coming out this summer, Diminished Capacity, in which he stars alongside Alan Alda. Tolan suggests that these two movies, back-to-back, “Nearly defies your common feeling that you’re out of the business.” Broderick, ever quiet in the face of Tolan’s Hollywood bluster, replies simply, “No it doesn’t.” Well, unless a good cartoon voice comes along, that is.
