Letter From LA

Producer Jordan Horowitz explains how The Kids Are All Right became the summer'ssurprise sleeper hit

From left, producer Gary Gilbert, actress Mia Wasikowska and producer JordanHorowitz at the premiere of "The Kids Are All Right" in Los Angeles
Photo by Michael Caulfield
A scene from the movie, which is shaping up as a potential surprise sleeper hitof the summer.
The movie also has its share of critics.

Editor's Note: Former Houstonian and High School for the Performing and Visual Arts grad Ellie Knaus is now an actress and writer in Los Angeles. She will file periodic reports about the entertainment industry and life in LA for CultureMap. This is her first column.

Amid all the special effects summer movies, a little independent film, The Kids Are All Right , racked up the highest per-screen average gross this year and will likely be on Oscar's short list. Jordan Horowitz, V.P. of Production & Development at Gilbert Films, produced the movie, which stars Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo, and also Meet Monica Velour, starring Kim Cattrall.

Horwitz talks to CultureMap about how the film, now showing at River Oaks Theatre, got made and why it's been a surprise hit. (The Los Angeles Times noted that The Kids Are All Right produced the highest opening box office weekend of an indie movie this year — averaging a $72,127 gross for the seven theaters it opened at in the U.S. and Canada, the highest per-screen average of any movie in 2010).

CultureMap: Director Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg spent five years working on the script for The Kids Are All Right. How long did you all have to actually shoot the film?

Jordan Horowitz: We shot the film in ... wait for it ... 23 days. The cast and crew on this picture were just OUTSTANDING. I've never seen folks move so fast.

CM: The acting ensemble in the film is transcendent; the relationships are spot on. What was the casting process like?

JH: Julianne had been attached to the film for about five years. Annette for less time, but she'd been with the project for a bit. Mark was attached, then not attached, and ultimately Julianne called — or texted ... I can’t remember — Mark's wife and told him that he had to do the film. So he did it. Thank God for wives!

CM: Did the story change at all over the process of filming and editing?

JH: Change? Not really. It just kept getting tighter and tighter and better and better. One of the consequences of having only 23 days to shoot the film was that Lisa and Stuart had to cut just about everything that wasn't essential to the story. So a lot of the stuff that may have otherwise ended up on the cutting room floor was removed from the film before we ever even shot a frame.

CM: My little brother just graduated from Episcopal High School and he's off to New York in the fall. What do you think this film says about growing up and flying the nest?

JH: It's hard on everyone — kids and parents alike. But ultimately, you'll be OK. Everyone — and everything — will be OK.

CM: How do you think Twitter, blogs, and online sites have influenced the success of this film?

JH: Certainly they have helped the buzz grow to almost deafening levels, but the real effect still remains to be seen. I know I personally use things like Twitter to track audience response to the film and to do some promotion — of this film and other things in my life — of my own. I can be found on Twitter at @jehorowitz, but I think the real test will come as the film continues to expand into markets that aren't New York/LA/Chicago.

As I said, so far the buzz on Twitter and Facebook and blogs and the like has been extraordinary, so I can only cross my fingers and hope that it will translate into success for the film. I think it will ... but you never know till it happens, right?

CM: The film is a critic's darling, but not without controversy. What is your response to critics like Andrea Peyser of the New York Post, who accuses the film of “gay proselytizing”?

JH: I don't even want to dignify her with a response. People see what they want to see.

CM: Agreed. The soundtrack feels integral to the film. What is your favorite song in the soundtrack and how did it influence the scene in which it played?

JH: It's absolutely essential to the film — Lisa was talking about the music in the film from the first day I met her. Personally, I love the David Bowie "Black Country Rock" cue — it’s the track that hits as Mark is driving up to the house on his motorcycle right after the moms say they want to meet him. It's really masculine and sexy and just a bit dangerous and captures the tone of his character perfectly.

I also love when Annette sings "All I Want" but, I mean, who doesn't? It's one of the best scenes I've had the pleasure of seeing — both while it was being shot and in the final cut in the film — in quite some time.

Follow Ellie Knaus' blog at myprincipality.com. Her comic sketches can be found at ellieknaus.com

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Movie review

New movie Eddington confronts the chaos of early pandemic life

Photo courtesy of A24

Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal in Eddington.

The coronavirus pandemic had a profound impact on the entire world, one that has been shown in various ways by movies and TV shows. However, even though a number of productions have attempted to show what life was like during the early days of the pandemic, few have tried to truly reckon with the way lockdowns and restrictions changed people.

Filmmaker provocateur Ari Aster does just that in Eddington, set in a fictional small town in New Mexico in early 2020 that proves to be a microcosm of the debates taking place worldwide at that time. Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) is not a fan of mask mandates or other restrictions imposed by the government, while mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) tries to lead by example in an effort to keep his community safe.

The men butt heads not just on how to deal with the pandemic, but also over a personal history involving Joe’s wife, Louise (Emma Stone). When news of the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota makes its way to town, it starts a slow simmer among the town’s youth population, putting even more stress on Joe and his small department. Conspiracy theories, white guilt, partisan politics, cults, and more combine to make the community into a powder keg that threatens to explode at the slightest provocation.

Aster (Midsommar, Beau is Afraid) takes aim at all sides in a film that’s part satire and part thriller. No matter how each viewer reacted to the pandemic, the film offers at least a character or two that will come close to representing their viewpoint. Although opinions may differ, it seems clear that Aster is not portraying one side as “right” or more righteous than the other. What he is doing is demonstrating just how much was happening in a short period of time, and how those things could negatively affect anyone.

On the flip side, the film also challenges viewers with viewpoints that may not match their own, which can make for an uncomfortable experience at times. The reactions various characters have to certain events range from rational to wholly unexpected, and Aster seems to delight in keeping the audience on their toes the entire time. This is especially true when violence rears its ugly head, resulting in some intense and upsetting scenes.

Not everything in the film lands, though. A subplot involving Louise and Vernon (Austin Butler), a cult leader who preys on her fears, feels tacked on, with no relation to the film as a whole. In fact, the character of Louise is a misfire in general, one whose purpose makes little sense. Aster also lets (asks?) some actors speak in almost inaudible tones at various points in the film, a frustrating experience in a film as dialogue-heavy as this one.

Phoenix loves to dig into off-kilter characters, and this one ranks high on that scale. Even if you don’t enjoy what his character does, it’s hard to fault the performance that brings him to life. Most of Pascal’s scenes are with Phoenix, and while he matches Phoenix’s energy, the lower key nature of his character leaves him overshadowed. The nature of the film means few others make an impact, although Deidre O’Connell as Joe’s passive-aggressive mother-in-law and William Belleau as Officer Jiminiz Butterfly stand out in their scenes.

Few of us would volunteer to go back to the baffling days of early 2020, but Eddington does a great job of examining what was happening at the time and how events united some and divided others. It’s not a feel-good film, but it is one that will make viewers re-examine their reactions at the time and how those influenced the current reality.

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Eddington is now playing in theaters.

coronavirus pandemic film movies