Ira Sachs just loves a good popcorn movie.
He’s talking less about the sit-at-the-edge-of-your-seats-because-so me-big-action-sequence-is-about-to-happen film and more about the type of film whose story line keeps you guessing. The director says he’s interested in the kind of film that’s not life, but instead a dramatic imitation of life; that’s the kind of tale that’s over the top in all the right ways.
He’s hoping he’s got it with “Married Life,” a film starring Chris Cooper, Pierce Brosnan, Rachel McAdams and Patricia Clarkson and centered on the complexities of relationships and marriages.
“To get people into the theater, you need to make movies that are different than everyday life. This certainly is different, while being very familiar at the same time,” said Sachs, who also co-wrote the screenplay (with Oren Moverman). “Before I chose this piece, I’d been watching a lot of movies from the ’40s and ’50s, movies where I felt there was often a story that was over the top, highly entertaining and bigger than life, yet somehow resonated with me on a very human level. I also liked the idea of [making] a suspense film. I think all movies are basically suspense films. Everything is about the nature of what you don’t know and what might happen. This one was like, ‘Let’s go for broke.’ There was an element of entertainment and excitement that as a reader I thought would be parallel with what the audience would experience when they see the movie.”
The film, set in the 1940s, is a drama — though there certainly are many comedic moments — about a married man (Cooper) plotting to kill his wife (Clarkson) rather than humiliate her by divorcing her for his much younger mistress (McAdams). The film is based on a 1953 John Bingham pulp mystery novel, “Five Roundabouts to Heaven.”
It’s a throwback to a time when life was so simple, yet so complicated.
“Once getting into the script, you really start to discover about all of these characters and it becomes a suspenseful roller-coaster ride,” Cooper said. “Ira calls it a popcorn movie, I just call it a good old-time movie. Those are what I was attracted to as a kid. Primarily ’50s actors and ’50s films. The time was a great reminiscence of looking back at my grandparents and my parents’ relationships, where I found a number of parallels where I could relate to the character.”
And it’s his character that drives the story, so taken by passion that he concocts a rather awkward plan to get rid of his wife. Cooper, who won an Academy Award for “Adaptation,” a Spike Jonze picture, plays the character with a comedic lightness, similar to what he did in the Jonze film, Sachs said.
“I think I’ve been tagged with the idea that I’m a character actor, and I can go with that. The idea of it is OK. Though in the same respect, I think it’s kind of a dying breed,” Cooper said. “I look at some careers, and it’s almost demanded that they turn in a performance that they’re known for. And that’s just not for me. I can get real tired of myself that way.
“I love the time that I have with a script before shooting. I want to get it as early as possible because I trust my discipline and I trust instincts and intuition. I will put the time into working on the role every day. It’s a comfort, it’s a joy. It’s not work. And if I’m going to spend as much time as I do on a job and away from home and loved ones, then it’s something I want to put heart and soul into. If you want a particular character type, they’ll go out and find it. They’ll find the actor that fits that mold. It’s interesting to me that in some respects I’m seen for a certain kind of role or a certain kind of character and there’s a bit of pigeon-holing. The character that I got the most recognition for was way at the other extreme of anything I’ve ever done before. And I’ll be forever grateful to Spike Jonze for taking a chance on me. But there are a number of characters and types that I haven’t been given the opportunity to play. Still, I’ve tried not to repeat myself too much.”
And not that he’s doing that here, Sachs said.
“He is … someone that the audience sympathizes with and identifies with. I think that was important for acceptance. He’s a guy who does some pretty bad things, but you don’t want people to judge him too quickly,” Sachs added. “It’s not that he’s making fun of the character, but there is an energy to that performance. … A lot of that stuff is like physical comedy in a way. There was a scene with a telephone, and it’s an eight-minute scene without dialogue, solely motivated by the energy of the actor. That’s a very, very hard thing to do. It takes an agility that Chris brings. And it’s wonderful.”
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klcarter@tribune.com
