Like many big-budget films, the premise behind “Multiplicity” is deceptively simple, almost obvious.
Ever complain to a friend, for example, that you’ve been assigned too many tasks and don’t have enough hands to do them? Of course.
Well, in the new comedy, Michael Keaton stars as stressed-out Doug Kinney who finds himself at wit’s end trying to juggle a demanding job, his active family, a home that’s constantly in need of repair and a midlife crisis.
Not wealthy enough to hire servants, Kinney does what the rest of us sometimes wish we could do: create a clone of himself. In fact, Kinney is so busy, even his clones–all of whom look exactly alike, but develop separate personalities–require clones.
Voila, instant movie. All together now, “I could have thought of that!”
Well, you didn’t. The guy responsible for taking that rather basic concept and putting it down on paper is writer Chris Miller.
Not that there was anything instant about the process.
“My post-childhood life sort of falls into two parts,” Miller explained in a San Fernando Valley bistro, with his screenwriting partner and wife, Mary Hale. “There were the ’60s, ’70s and early ’80s, which were low on responsibility and high on fun. Then, I got married.
“In an extremely short period of time, I went from footloose and fancy free to married, with a kid on the way and a mortgage. I always hoped there would be time for things like rereading Shakespeare and going to Samurai film festivals, then, suddenly, there wasn’t.”
Possessing an inventive mind and a keen interest in science, Miller imagined a possible solution to his problem.
“What I needed was a clone to do all those things for me,” he concluded.
A Lampoon mainstay
Miller, unlike the rest of us, was fortunate enough to have a convenient outlet for his musings. For nearly 25 years, National Lampoon magazine has served as an irreverent literary launching pad for the Brooklyn native’s ideas.
Nearly five years after Miller’s short story, also titled “Multiplicity,” was published, it has been turned into cinematic reality.
In that time, his protagonist has evolved from Artie Logan, harried advertising executive, to overworked building contractor Doug Kinney. Meanwhile, digital technology has advanced to the point where four Michael Keatons could interact on screen simultaneously, absent cheesy special effects.
Harold Ramis, the producer-director of “Multiplicity,” already had collaborated on two of Miller’s stories-turned-films: “Animal House” and “Club Paradise.” When initially presented with his new Lampoon piece, the Second City veteran saw a good idea, but had doubts about its cinematic possibilities.
“I was intrigued by the setup but thought the resolution was mildly disturbing,” Ramis said, describing the short story’s “Twilight Zone” ending in which a clone runs away to Venezuela with Logan’s wife. “I couldn’t quite connect what the second part had to do with the first part.
“I didn’t quite know what this meant to me or what it was saying to the audience.”
After finishing directing “Groundhog Day,” Ramis connected and suggested they evolve a common philosophy. Together, they could attack the details of the story.
“I thought, if this was going to be more saleable as a Hollywood product, it needed to be more mainstream,” said Hale, an actress and former broadcast journalist.
“Mary said, `This story is a movie . . . but it needs a third act. It just, sort of, ends,’ ” Miller recalled. “She said that what the story really is about is a guy who doesn’t know what’s important in life and goes off chasing false leads, before he realizes what’s important is his family.”
None of the compromises and detours seemed to dramatically alter the basic theme of the story, so all of the parties agreed to move forward.
Creating the main character
Further changes included transforming Kinney from a rather unsympathetic ad executive to someone who, at first, ran a chocolate company in San Francisco and, later, became a foreman in a construction firm.
“When Michael came into the process, he wondered if we really wanted to be in a corporate setting,” Ramis said, pointing out that Keaton had just come out of a white-collar setting in “The Paper.” “Coincidentally, both of us were remodeling our houses and he asked if his character could be more physical, more outdoorsy.
“Contractors say yes to every job, whether they can do it or not. To convey the sense that Doug always was in danger of being fired, we decided to make him a foreman in a medium-sized construction firm.”
Just as Kinney’s life and career were in shambles, so, too, was the condition of his house. A sprawling Pasadena do-it-yourselfer’s nightmare had to be created on a giant soundstage on the Sony studio lot.
“Metaphorically, I wanted to say, Put your own house in order first,” Ramis added.
As the clone family grows in size, early on, Keaton’s character finds he has more time on his hands for playing with the kids, attending sports events and even learning how to sail. But Kinney also learns how difficult it is to keep his equally beleaguered real estate agent wife happy and in the dark about his strategy.
Keaton’s copious comedic skills are fully tested, as he is required to add depth to all four of the Kinney men: the average-guy, Doug; macho, take-charge “No. 2”; a Martha Stewartish homemaker, “No. 3”; and a childish dumb-and-dumber knockoff, “No. 4.”
The short-story version, which was full of La-La Land humor, highlighted the testier moments among the various Artie Logans. In the movie, by way of contrast, the insider references are dropped and the different Doug Kinneys form a more compatible family unit.
Miller and Hale’s involvement in the project peaked in August 1994, when they delivered their final version of the script. By this time, Ramis–who shares a writing credit–also had decided to bring in screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (“Splash,” “Parenthood,” “Night Shift”) to punch up the script.
“The first Lowell and Babaloo rewrite of the script was handed in two months later,” said Miller. “It was quite different at first, but he was still an advertising executive. We were in the loop to the extent that people sent us things and solicited our comments, but we weren’t sitting in offices at story conferences.”
Hale felt that some of the rewrites lost warmth and family focus, at the expense of gags. But, she said, “Harold was able to take it all and lump it together.”
A finished product
Miller and Hale say they are satisfied that the finished product bears their distinct fingerprints, as well as those of their collaborators.
“I conceived of something and, working with Mary, that conception grew and deepened,” said Miller, putting the process in a nutshell. “Harold came on and gave us further direction. Incorporating that, we went on to build and decorate a house. As often happens with studios, someone decided to try a different decorative scheme in the house.
“Two master decorators were hired, and they proceeded to punch up dialogue and offer all those wonderful Mandell and Ganz ideas.”
If “Multiplicity” opens with a bang, as some expect, the success could bode well for their next project. It is expected to go on the block this month.
“It’s called `Boo!’ and it’s a family Halloween movie that contains elements of action-adventure–as if kids went trick or treating and Halloween really happened,” Hale said.
To which Miller added, “A friend called it `Die Hard’ for kids.”
