The Very Adult World of Todd Phillips
Does slow mean adult?
Ed Helms and Todd Phillips on the set of The Hangover
The other day I was reading an article in Salon magazine. The article was titled "Why we need more 'adult' movies?" and it addressed the need for more films with themes that "kids won't understand" according to the author. Then he went on to sing the praises of two recent movies, The American with George Clooney and The Romantics with Katie Holmes. I have to say I agreed with the premise, we could use more films with adult themes, but I couldn't agree with what he was saying.
First of all, the author seemed to equate slow pacing with "adult", going so far as to cite a scene in The Romantics where the camera lingers on Anna Paquin for almost a minute. Slow does not mean adult. (Many of the comments left for the author echoed my sentiments as well including this one from DCMediagirl , "The American is one of the worst movies of the year. I can't understand why George Clooney agreed to star in this snooze-inducing flick.)
My biggest complaint with the article was the choice of the two movies the author used to make his case. In The American, George Clooney plays the adult version of Peter Pan that he seems to play in every movie while the Katie Holmes vehicle was another in the endless stream of "indie" wedding flicks where a group of maladjusted twenty and thirty-somethings get together and act out their neuroses. These are not adult themed movies in my opinion. They're childish movies that make Adam Sandler's Grown Ups seem deep by comparison.
Which is a long way to say the "adult film" I am looking forward to this fall is Todd Phillips' Due Date, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. Other than Christopher Nolan, Phillips might be the most consistent filmmaker working today. He is our Preston Sturges. Our Billy Wilder. His films mostly deal with recognizable adults in real world situations. And they're entertaining as hell.
Look at his record. The first Todd Phillips film I ever saw was the documentary Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies. If you haven't seen this masterpiece, I suggest you find a way to see it as soon as humanly possible. It's the Grey Gardens of punk rock movies. Filmed in real time, the documentary includes concert and rehearsal footage as well as interviews with the infamous musician, fellow band-members, friends, detractors and dedicated fans. Allin died of an overdose shortly after the film was completed and Phillips went back and re-edited the movie with footage from the funeral.
Phillips followed that film up with two more documentaries. Frat House, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance back when they screened real docs rather than the video broadsheets that dominate the festival today. The he filmed the Phish movie, Bittersweet Hotel. I'm not the biggest Phish fan, but I found the film watchable and fun for the most part. Phish fans, on the other hand, thought it was terrific.
He went on to make two feature films for Ivan Reitman that were heavily influenced by Reitman's first big hit as a producer, Animal House. Those films were Road Trip and Old School. Road Trip was filmed during that period in the late nineties when the spring and fall movie seasons were filled with teen comedies of all stripes. From post-Scream horror flicks to all those Freddie Prinze, Jr. flicks my niece and her friends used to flock to back then. Road Trip actually sat on the shelf until they re-shot scenes with Tom Green to bookend the film. It may be hard to believe at this point in time but back in the nineties, Tom Green was a TV star on MTV. His presence not only got Road Trip released, it turned it into a minor hit.
What was notable about Road Trip was that it actually mirrored viewers memories of college. It was a comedy and the events that took place were over the top, but the characters were recognizable and the actors age appropriate. They were also played with a certain amount of intelligence that was rare for young adult comedies at the time.
Next up, Phillips addressed one of the most consistent themes in his work. Growing up in a world where many people desperately want to avoid it. In Old School, the characters tried to relive their college days but are ultimately confronted with the fact becoming an adult and falling in love are much more rewarding than arrested adolescence. The film hit a nerve with fans and went on to be a surprise hit in 2003.
Old School is noteworthy for another reason. It showed Phillips' gift for working with actors and furthering their careers. The leads in Old School were not exactly A-listers when they signed on to the film. Vince Vaughn had been consistently miscast in mostly dramatic fare before he appeared in Old School, and Will Ferrell was coming off several stinkers like A Night At The Roxbury and Superstar. Old School changed the fortunes of both actors in a big way.
Phillips followed up those films with un-credited work on Bad Santa that got him a lot of respect in Hollywood but little acclaim outside of it, the underappreciated School For Scoundrels and the only outright stinker in his entire oeuvre, Starsky and Hutch. Suddenly his career seemed to be floundering.
Then he dropped the bomb with last year's smash The Hangover. It was not only a big hit for Phillips, it broke both Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis. Two actors that had been kicking around Hollywood for years with limited success. Now you can't get away from them.
What I loved most about The Hangover was the adult themes peppered throughout the film. The characters might have been involved in sophomoric situations, but they were never sophomoric. Just like in Old School, the adults in The Hangover may have been trying to relive the past but in the end they come to the conclusion that family, friendship and growing up are what really matters in life.
When we see Bradley Cooper with his wife and kids at the end of the film, it's obvious how important they are to him even though he plays his married life off when he's around the guys. That's a character that resonates. We all know that dude in real life. He's a fully developed, recognizable character.
If there's one complaint that could be leveled at Phillips it's that he remakes other people's films. A lot of people are already calling Due Date a remake of Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I disagree. The stories may not be very original, but his voice certainly is. When you see a Todd Phillips film you know it's him. The comic timing, the clever turns of a phrase. The pacing.
So, yeah. I'm looking forward to Due Date. The trailers are hilarious and the teaming of Robert Downey, Jr. and Zach Galifianakis looks like comic perfection. Not only that but it's been awhile since Downey has does a straight comic turn like this. That alone should be the price of admission.
I am looking forward to this one in a big way.
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I agree, 99.9% with you. The only thing is that you call Todd Phillips the 2nd most consistent director currently. I love Todd Phillips, he and Judd Apatow are the two biggest names in comedy directing and writing. But Todd is not a very consistent director(well not as consistent as Christopher Nolan).
Phillips first major films, Road Trip and Old School, proved that he is a one of the best comedic directors/writers in the bizz. Then he followed those with two really disappointing comedies. Starsky and Hutch was okay, nothing special. Then School for Scoundrels was terrible, I only got one half smile throughout the whole thing. I was starting to think Todd had two lucky flukes, but then he made The Hangover. Perhaps the funniest movie every made, at least the funniest in this century.
I too am looking forward to Due Date. I think it will probably be the funniest film this year, better than The Other Guys. So the guy who said that cinema needs more adult slow movies, why? We have immature fast films, mature fast films, immature slow films, mature slow films; there's variety. I much rather have more audiences witness all forms of cinema, rather than one certain one. It is all in one's taste.
Calling the guy who directed School for Scoundrels "our Billy Wilder" – I'm speechless.
That might have been a bit of hyperbole. But remember Wilder directed fluff like Kiss Me, Stupid and Irma La Douce. Me, I love Irma La Douce because I adore anything with Shirley MacLaine from the 60's but it's a pretty cheesy movie. Often we only remember the great films that directors like Wilder, Huston and Hawks made back then. While forgetting the mediocre, fluffy and downright bad films they made. Which is as it should be.
Bill, I was also thinking about how Billy Wilder was a master in different genres, and not only in comedies. The same guy that did Some Like It Hot and The Apartment also did brilliant noirs such as Double Indemnity and Sunset Blvd. "Stinkers" aside (I also love Irma La Douce), if Todd Phillips is gonna be mentioned in the same sentence of Billy Wilder, he has to prove himself in other fiction genres.
@ Adriano
You have a point there. But as I pointed out Phillips started out as one of the best documentary filmmakers we have seen in the last 20 years. His docs are terrific.
Also, while the two films you mentioned are terrific, Sunset Blvd. tanked when it came out and Wilder had to set up Double Indemnity outside the studios to get it made because no one saw Wilder as a bankable dramatic director at the time. The story of the making of Double Indemnity is almost as suspenseful if not more than the film itself.
Phillips' films are ok – I doubt I would rave over them to this extent though.
But everyone's taste is different.
There is no doubt that Todd Phillips is a good director, but comparing him to Billy Wilder is taking it to the extreme and seems like a bit of a windup. Personally I find that all his films get worse with repeated viewings.
Hey Maja. See above. I plead guilty to hyperbole. But Wilder made stinkers, too. In my opinion great directors make films and that opens them up to making some bad films. We can't all be Bob Fosse.
The Hangover is a comedy classic. One of the greatest comedies ever made. But School for Scoundrels was awful.
I thought Starsky and Hutch was a little misunderstood it was a parody of the tv show so he made it feel like the real 70s but i feel that Warner may have kept him from making it R-rated which is what he wanted (same with the fate of daredevil) it could have been much better it they would have let him go all out. But i feel its a decent movie.
There is only one Billy Wilder. Leave it at that.
I thought it was a great article, so why all the fuss about who he is being compared to? Who cares? He is a great Director in his own right oh and by the way he has catapulted many of the actors you are seeing every day now, that alone is a huge achievement.