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DVDFILE: One could say you are the model Hollywood success story.
But you've talked publicly in the past about how hard you had to campaign
to direct The Family Man, despite having such a hit with Rush Hour. How
did the original script for the film come to your attention?
Brett Ratner: It was a script that I got but I didn't want to
read it at first. Because it said "The Family Man" on the cover,
and I was like "I don't want to make a movie called 'The Family Man'!"
(laughs)
Before I read it, everyone was calling me, my agent was calling me, and
they were all saying "You gotta read this, you gotta read this!"
But by the time I read it, it was too late, because Curtis Hanson was
already on board to direct. So I read it again, just to make sure what
I saw in it the first time was still there, and I just cried. I knew had
to make this movie. I never would have been interested in making a romantic
comedy before this.
DF: Did you launch a campaign to get Hanson off the film? (laughs)
BR: I just had to move on because the script wasn't mine. But
then, months later, I read in the trades that Curtis Hanson was off the
movie. And they still wouldn't hire me! I literally begged for the job
for a like a year and finally got it. They said "Brett's too young,
he doesn't have a family of his own," blah blah. But I said "Hey,
I have a family of my own, I'm a family man." I had a mom, grandparents...
I'm just not a dad in a family.
DF: To be honest, like you, before I even heard who was in it or what
it was about I didn't really want to see a film called "The Family
Man!" But I was surprised how unconventional the film really is.
I wanted to talk about some of the rather un-Hollywood like choices you
made, starting with the casting. Nicolas Cage struck some as an unusual
choice for the role of Jack Campbell. Did you always see him in the role?
BR: He was the person that I saw when I read it, and I was just
like "I have to get him." Because he's not your typical romantic
lead, and he would be great in the fish out of water stuff. How do you
play like you're in an alternate universe?
DF: Certainly, for the story to work at all, you have to believe that
he believes it. And that he would be willing to give up so much for
his wife. How do you choose Tea Leoni? At first glance, many may not really
think of her and Cage as an obvious couple…
BR: Many great actresses wanted to be in the movie. The truth
is Nic said "How can you not hire this actress!?" And I responded
that this movie is really about the chemistry between these two characters.
If we don't believe in them and they don't have chemistry then the movie
is not gonna work. So I demanded that we do a screen test between the
two of them, but I did an old fashioned screen test. With hair and makeup
and costumes and lights. And Tea just came in and literally stole the
part.
DF: I was quite impressed by the ending of the film, which is both
bittersweet yet almost fantastical and rather uncommon these days in major
Hollywood motion pictures. Did you encounter any resistance from the studio
regarding the ending?
BR: That was actually the reason why I did the movie. If that
movie would have ended with the kids there or some other happy ending
I never would have done it. Leaving the audience to come to their own
conclusions, it made people think. And it allowed me to really…there
really was no way to change it. Those kids just didn't exist! (laughs)
Of course, there was talk of, "Oh, god, will the audience be confused?
The kids don't exist?" But that was the whole point!
DF: You know, there was some comment and criticism leveled against
The Family Man last year - unfairly, I think - by comparing it to It's
A Wonderful Life. While there certainly are similarities, ultimately they
are really have two totally different themes…
BR: Absolutely. The Family Man is really about choices, and the
fact that the choices you make will affect the rest of your life. Jack
was a guy who was going through life thinking he had everything but never
realized what he was missing was love.
DF: Your approach to the film also extended to the score. Danny Elfman
is often not considered a composer of dramas, or unfairly labeled "that
Tim Burton guy"...
BR: I was just a huge fan of his work. Actually, I never thought
he would do the movie. But I showed it to him and he got hooked. I was
excited, because the truth is I wasn't trying to make a broad, slapstick
romantic comedy. There's a lot of irony to the film and the music, which
darkens it as well. Danny is a contemporary composer but he has an old
school way of scoring, which is using kind of light motifs. Each character
kind of has their own theme, or the main theme of the movie repeats itself
And putting his commentary on there (the DVD) was really great. He's
such a great collaborator and did such a great job on the score. It is
the kind of thing I love on other movies and that it's why I made sure
I put it on this DVD.
DF: Since you mention DVD, I remember attending a panel discussion
you participated in a few years back. You talked about working on the
Rush Hour DVD, and new Line allowed you to take so much time perfecting
the transfer that the DVD ended up being delayed! Now that you have a
major DVD release under your belt, did you learn anything on that project
that helped you prepare the DVD for The Family Man?
BR: Oh, yeah. Now, every movie I do, I prepare for it. Usually
when you're on the set you have a script supervisor and you're marking
down takes that you want to be in the movie, I'm marking down takes that
I want on a DVD. I believe that now with DVD that it is easier for me
to make a better, tighter movie - to let go and not be a director who
falls in love with his scenes because I know it can exist on another format.
If there is a scene that I absolutely love but it is hurting the pace
of the movie and it isn't working, now I'll just go "Okay, take it
out!" Because you know what? Everyone will see it on the DVD anyway!
And that's something I'm finding myself saying more and more in the editing
room.
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