MAUI FILM FESTIVAL
Life imitates art for director Rob Reiner, who says his phobias, biases and male insecurities are reflected in his romantic comedies, including "When Harry Met Sally," "Sleepless in Seattle," and his latest, "Alex & Emma."
In his honor
Rob Reiner picks up
the first Lights! Camera!
Passion! award on Maui
WAILEA, Maui >> You'll probably never meet Rob Reiner, but if you're at all interested in the real award-winning actor and director, the next best thing is to see his films.
The most telling -- the women he fancies but never catches, personal insecurities, liked and prejudices -- are Reiner's romantic comedies: "The Story of Us" (1999), "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993), "When Harry Met Sally" (1989) and his latest, "Alex & Emma." The formula finds the male characters shallow, egotistical and always foundering while clamoring after some unobtainable fantasy woman when the best woman is standing right in front of them.
"Oh God, those characters and me are pretty much the same," Reiner says, then laughs. "The fact of the matter is, if I didn't have my wife, I would be completely and utterly lost, adrift. She keeps me on course."
Tonight, Reiner will receive the Maui Film Festival's inaugural Lights! Camera! Passion! award given to directors for their body of work. "Alex & Emma" premiered last night at the festival's outdoor Celestial Cinema and opens nationwide June 20.
In the film, Alex (Luke Wilson) plays an author whose writer's block and gambling have gotten him in trouble. To get loan sharks off his back, he must complete a manuscript in 30 days. He hires stenographer Emma (Kate Hudson) to take down his tale of a romantic love triangle, but she challenges his ideas at every turn and it isn't long before life begins to imitate art.
Finding romantic comedies that are original and fresh is difficult, Reiner says. "I really liked this story because it explores the process a creative person goes through in order to make something," he said. "The story keeps folding back in on itself: What happens in this guy's life forms his art, and then his art forms what happens to his life.
"I've found that what happens in the film has happened to me a lot when I've done other romantic comedies like 'Harry' and 'The Story of Us,'" he said. "They're very personal.
WARNER BROS.
"Alex & Emma."
"When making these films, you look into what goes on in your life, and hopefully that translates to the screen in a way audiences can connect. If the (romantic comedy) is good, it will be an extension of who you are, and in the process you learn a little bit more about yourself."
Which brings Reiner to the famous line from "Harry" (Billy Crystal), who tells Sally (Meg Ryan) that a man cannot just be friends with a woman even if she's unattractive because "we pretty much want to nail them, too."
"Unfortunately, it's true, and maybe that's why that line has stuck," he said. "Men and women understand it's the truth."
Blame it on biological differences, Reiner says. "I said it in 'Harry,' that after a man has sex he's totally finished and wondering about the Mets' score, but a woman is living with the moment, taking it all in then and still later," he said. "Meanwhile he's trying to run around and impregnate as many people as he can."
The trick with romantic comedies is finding the right balance between comedy, drama and sentiment, otherwise you end up with something that is "either maudlin or dopey."
"It's like they said in 'Spinal Tap': It's a fine line between stupid and clever," Reiner says.
"Alex & Emma" is not a treatise on the state of men and women, but a romantic comedy in which the audience knows the central characters will wind up together.
"You go to these kind of movies expecting that, but the question is, how does that happen, the process?" he said.
REINER'S LIFE process involved moving from celebrity son -- his dad is the comedy giant Carl Reiner -- to comedy writer to TV actor to one of Hollywood's most successful producers and directors.
Reiner, 55, was 12 when his family moved to Los Angeles where he later started acting in regional theater. After studying drama at UCLA, he co-founded the improvisational comedy troupe the Session and eventually became a comedy writer for "The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour."
He made his feature film debut as an actor in his father's autobiographical "Enter Laughing" (1967), but his first real break came when he won the part of Michael Stivic, the liberal foil to Carroll O'Connor's hilariously backward Archie Bunker in the groundbreaking sitcom "All in the Family" (1971). He remained with the series until 1978, having won two Emmys before he left.
His directorial debut was 1984's cult favorite "This Is Spinal Tap," a satirical mockumentary of the rise and fall of a fictional rock group. This was followed by 1986's coming-of-age saga "Stand by Me," "The Princess Bride" (1987) and, in the '90s, the dark "Misery," a horror-drama starring James Caan and Kathy Bates, who won an Oscar for her role. "A Few Good Men" in 1992 earned a Best Picture Oscar nomination and another Golden Globe nomination for Reiner. The director went on to diverse subjects, including 1995's "The American President" and "Ghosts of Mississippi."
Reiner chose "Misery" not for the thriller aspect of the story, but because it mirrors the part of his life when he left "All in the Family."
"The core of ('Misery') is something I connected with at a very deep level," he said. "The lead male character was a guy commercially very successful but unable to break away from that genre because his fans didn't want him to. He wanted to grow artistically but no one wanted that change.
"The same thing happened to me when I left 'All in the Family,'" he said. "I couldn't get a job as a director. Everyone saw me only as Michael Stivic."
But his father's work ethic and show-biz longevity kept him going.
"We never really discuss scripts or ideas," Reiner says. "The influence has been to see how he functions professionally, treats people and approaches his life. His work, his life usually comes from a very honest place.
"I think once you got that down, the professional side becomes a whole lot easier."
For information about the film festival that ran Monday, visit our Web site at starbulletin.com/2003/06/09/features/story1.html
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