edonline
07-05-2005, 12:47 PM
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1521709,00.html
Alexander Payne to script gay marriage comedy
Staff and agencies
Tuesday July 5, 2005
Guardian Unlimited
Alexander Payne, the Oscar-winning writer of the wine-tasting comedy Sideways, will team up with Wedding Crashers director David Dobkin on I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, which as you might guess centres on the subject of gay marriage.
Payne will take on screenwriting duties with his long-standing writing partner Jim Taylor.
Dobkin told Empire online: "It's about these two firemen in Philadelphia who pretend they're gay to get insurance benefits and then they get in trouble and they have to keep up the charade. It's a Tootsie-type movie.
"It could be an important film if we don't totally screw it up. But I've got two of the best writers around doing the work, so... You can't make a joke out of the subject matter. You have to be very careful, because it is a topic and it is an issue that, if you do it right, you can open some people's minds. It's all about tolerance and understanding what it's like to be in someone else's shoes."
Payne was Dobkin's first choice for screenwriter on the project, and signed on after falling in love with the script's first draft.
"They asked me, 'Who do you want to re-write the script?'" said Dobkin. "I said, 'Alexander Payne', and everybody was like, 'Oh god'. We sent him the script, and he and Jim [Taylor] called and said, 'We like it! We have some ideas,' so I was like, 'Uh, OK. You just won an Oscar; this is weird!'
"It's got a lot of character, a lot of heart. It's maybe a little bit bigger and broader than some of the stuff they've done, but it's got the same depth of character and the same intelligence."
Dobkin's current film Wedding Crashers, starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, hits UK cinemas next week.
Alexander Payne to script gay marriage comedy
Staff and agencies
Tuesday July 5, 2005
Guardian Unlimited
Alexander Payne, the Oscar-winning writer of the wine-tasting comedy Sideways, will team up with Wedding Crashers director David Dobkin on I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, which as you might guess centres on the subject of gay marriage.
Payne will take on screenwriting duties with his long-standing writing partner Jim Taylor.
Dobkin told Empire online: "It's about these two firemen in Philadelphia who pretend they're gay to get insurance benefits and then they get in trouble and they have to keep up the charade. It's a Tootsie-type movie.
"It could be an important film if we don't totally screw it up. But I've got two of the best writers around doing the work, so... You can't make a joke out of the subject matter. You have to be very careful, because it is a topic and it is an issue that, if you do it right, you can open some people's minds. It's all about tolerance and understanding what it's like to be in someone else's shoes."
Payne was Dobkin's first choice for screenwriter on the project, and signed on after falling in love with the script's first draft.
"They asked me, 'Who do you want to re-write the script?'" said Dobkin. "I said, 'Alexander Payne', and everybody was like, 'Oh god'. We sent him the script, and he and Jim [Taylor] called and said, 'We like it! We have some ideas,' so I was like, 'Uh, OK. You just won an Oscar; this is weird!'
"It's got a lot of character, a lot of heart. It's maybe a little bit bigger and broader than some of the stuff they've done, but it's got the same depth of character and the same intelligence."
Dobkin's current film Wedding Crashers, starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, hits UK cinemas next week.