In films like Lovely and Amazing and Please Give, writer-director Nicole Holofcener's characters talk and talk, taking the temperature of the relationships that both provide them emotional support and serve as yardsticks to measure their personal growth or stagnation. Holofcener's sly observational humor helps make her dialogue feel like conversations with an old friend—honest, engagingly gossipy, and studded with thought-provoking insights—and ensures that, while bad things may happen to her flawed but well-meaning protagonists, her films never slide into mawkishness.
Her latest, The Land of Steady Habits, is in many ways a typical Holofcener film. Anders (Ben Mendelsohn) is a middle-aged family man who finds himself living alone, trying to construct a new life and mend a frayed relationship with his adult son (Thomas Mann) after leaving his wife (Edie Falco) and retiring from his lifelong career. The film is also a departure for the director: the first of her six features that isn't based on an original Holofcener script (she adapted the screenplay from Ted Thompson's novel), the first not to center on female characters, and the first that doesn't feature Catherine Keener, Holofcener's fictional alter ego ever since Walking and Talking. I spoke with Holofcener this week about escaping the “chick flick” ghetto, what Mendelsohn has in common with Keener, and her plea for older actors.
I get the feeling this platinum age of TV has been good for you, since you've been tapped to direct a lot of excellent shows, including One Mississippi and Enlightened. Is that your main bread and butter?
Residuals are really great. [laughs] I can say that I've been getting paid more money for my films, which is great. But because I make them so infrequently, I can make a good living directing TV shows that I love—and it's been fun. It's not just a job, as it helps me learn. I'm always learning, meeting new people.
Have you ever thought about doing a TV series of your own?
I tried. I was paid to develop a show and to write a few scripts. But it didn't get made, I believe because there was another show about to be on the air that was pretty similar and was very good. And you know what? I'm a little relieved, because I see what showrunners go through and it's not pretty. I don't know if I want to work that hard every minute of the day.
I'm wondering if making films is getting easier or harder for you. On the one hand, smart indie relationship films with complicated characters and no guns or chase scenes or big character arcs are getting harder to make. On the other hand, you're really good at making them and you've been doing it for a long time, which should make it easier to get your scripts greenlit.
It's all about the cast. I believe my screenplays are appreciated. It's whether I'll be willing to cast who the studio wants me to cast. Sometimes that works out for both of us, but sometimes it doesn't. And that's where Netflix comes in, because they let me cast anyone I wanted. It's getting harder to make movies that are going to play in movie theaters for more than 10 seconds. Movie theaters are going away, which is sad. As long as I can keep making movies, I'm not going to complain about it. I think. [laughs] I mean, so many things are changing that a person of my age is appalled at, right? This is one of them, that we're watching movies on television. And that's what I do too, 99% of the time, so I'm already there. But I hope to continue to make movies that will be theatrically released, if I can. Read the rest in Slant Magazine
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