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| Colm Meaney and Paul Reiser in The Problem With People |
What is it with people? They pick fights at every opportunity, or so Chris Cottam’s new film. The Problem With People, would suggest. It follows two cousins, an Irishman and an American, from different sides of a family which has been divided by a longstanding rift. Brought together again at the behest of an old man, they have the opportunity to build a lasting peace – if they can overcome the urge to squabble over big things and decidedly petty ones.
The cousins are played by Paul Reiser (who co-wrote with Wally Marzano-Lesnevich) and Colm Meaney. When we meet they start by asking if I'm Irish, and I explain that I’m from Scotland, which is, as somebody states in the film, a totally different country.
“Totally different country,” Paul agrees. “Who knew?”
I ask if he had Colm in mind when writing the film.
“I had anybody in mind - and then when it came time to casting it was like, ‘You know who would be perfect?’ I've been a great admirer of Colm’s for years. There's never a bad beat, never a bad moment. And what I also love is, you can almost buy that these guys came from the same genetic pool. They're not that vastly different. So when we heard that Colm responded and enjoyed the script, everything fell into place. We had such a great time.”
What was it that sold it to Colm?
“Well, the script, basically,” the Irishman says. “As I’ve said on other occasions, when an Irish actor gets a script written by an American, there's a little bit of trepidation there and fear of the Darby O'Gills, the lucky charms and all that. We approach it a little bit warily. And it was such a relief and such a joy to read Paul's script, because not only was there none of that in there, there were real people, you know? Real, wonderful characters, rich characters. He represented Ireland well, and I actually started thinking while I was reading it, he must have spent a lot of time in Ireland recently.
“It was a very accurate description of what Ireland is today and all its modernity, diversity and history. You know, there's all of that which is quite complex because it's very modern, it’s not backward, but, you know, there are antique - for want of a word – elements to Ireland as well, and Paul captured all of that complexity really well. He's worked a lot in Ireland, and his mission statement was to make sure that, whoever enjoys the film, people in Ireland need to go, ‘Yes, that's true.’”
“When we started, I didn't really have a clear mind,” Paul admits. “I thought, well, it's a quaint Irish village. I was almost picturing thatched huts, donkeys walking around, and we go, wait a minute, no, it's 2020. They have wi-fi, they have electricity. So suddenly all those romantic, fantasy things go away. Even wardrobe. I mean, I was picturing a certain rural thing and Colm went ‘No, he looks like a regular person.’ But, you know, having said that, again Chris Cottam did a great job.
“The house we used was just about ready to be torn down. It was an old farmhouse. You can smell it on screen. You know, it looks real. And the people were real. Everybody except for Jane Levy and myself were Irish. It was a great cast. And then there are a lot of locals that filled it in. Thankfully, it does feel authentic.”
I tell them that I like the opening scene with that in mind, with the Irish music going across the water as we see Colm standing by a house, looking up at a rainbow and being caught in a downpour.
“Hopefully it paints his character in two seconds,” says Paul. “It's like, ‘Beautiful rainbow.’ Okay, he's over it. And that was literally the script. This guy is over it. He's just tired of everything. Then we have the lovely Des Keough, who plays Colm’s father. Just instantly, you fall in love with that guy.”
It is a comedy, but behind that there's the real business of Colm’s character providing care for his father, presumably for quite a while, and the emotional impact of everything that happens.
“It’s a story with a genuinely noble goal,” says Paul. “Two guys trying to make peace, at least in their family. But character wise, Colm is such a presence and such a strong force. And it always made me laugh just reading it, picturing Colm being worn down by this 90-year-old guy in the bed. ‘Get down there and do it, son!’ How strong does that father have to be to bully that guy? So that always makes me laugh, seeing him just lose his will to live.”
American characters tend not to fare so well when they cross the Atlantic, I note, but here the two cousins seem pretty evenly matched, with a lot of back and forth.
He nods. “I think that's part of why these guys are similar. They both are insecure, they're both suspicious. They both have the ability to be spiteful. But, you know, there’s this lovely performance as Colm's character shows up in my hotel room. He goes, ‘What are we doing? You know, we can go back and forth and back and forth – but you know what? You put your gun down first.’
“That's human nature right there. No matter how big the sample group is – countries or towns or communities – you know, I've seen it. We have enough examples of it where no matter how small the group that gathers, there'll be a division.”
I meantion that I’ve seen it described as a film about world peace.
“Absolutely. This is the movie that's going to solve it all. This is the movie. They’ll go ‘Why didn't we make this sooner? We could have avoided so much need.’ Well, you know, without getting lofty, it was us trying to say – well, his father says it – if we can't heal the world, can we at least take our little corner? Let's see if we can start small and maybe go from there.”
“That's actually said many times,” adds Colm. “You know, you made it. You may not have achieved world peace, but you certainly made a difference in our little corner.”
“It's very true,” says Paul. “We all know, even within families, like, yeah, this one doesn't talk to that one. It's like, why? Well, because they said something in 1974.”
I mention to Colm that I’ve seen him in a few bit parts in films recently, in Neil Marshall’s Duchess and The Land Of Saints And Sinners and No Way Up, where he was fighting sharks.
“Well, you know, as someone famously said – or maybe they didn't – there are no small roles, only small actors, you know? I mean first of all, as an actor, you like to work. And if something comes along and it's a smaller role but an interesting ole and an interesting project, you go ahead and do it. There's many reasons why you do a film. I mean, a great script, a great part, a great location, the money. There's lots of reasons why I did that one where I was fighting the shark.
“Actually, one of the reasons I did was my younger child had just started art school in London and it was shooting in London. And it was lucky I did, because there was a lot of interesting things that went down with my younger child while I was there, including an arrest and a demonstration. And the Essex police calling me to say they have my kid in custody. Then me going to the producer and saying ‘Can you give me an hour? I’ve got a family thing that I have to deal with.’ The producer saying ‘What is it?’ And me saying ‘She got arrested on a demonstration of Extinction Rebellion, the environmental activists.’ And she says, the producer, ‘I'm a member of Extinction Rebellion.’ And I said ‘Really?’ And she said ‘Yes. I'm a prisoner support volunteer. I'll go and get her.’ So the producer went and got my kid.”
“You stay here and fight the sharks!” says Paul, and they both laugh.
They have a natural chemistry. Have they known each other long?
“We had never met until day one of this film,” says Paul. “Well, the week before, I had an inkling. You know, I had been a big admirer of Colm’s. He was familiar with me, which I was tickled to know. We met for a pint in a pub the week before and just hit it off. It was a journey. I had a feeling it would work. I just realised that these guys, we look like we could come from the same DNA, and I think we're both capable of being very charming and both being very prickly and both being very suspicious. So I went, ’That's going to be fun.’ But having worked with him, yes, I adore this man.”
“It was such a joy,” says Colm. “We spoke over the phone and texted each other over a period while this was being set up, but we hadn't met until the week we started shooting. It was in the Westbury Hotel in Dublin and i was in the bar. And of course, he was sitting in the lounge. We were waiting for each other. Typical Hollywood, you know, swimming in 20 minutes late.”
“What he didn't know is that not only was I not 20 minutes late, I was 40 minutes early,” says Paul. “Everybody knows Colm. I went over to the desk and said ‘Have you seen Mr Colm Meaney? I'm expecting Colm Meaney and I haven’t seen him.’ And they say ‘Yeah, I did see him. He's in the pub.’ Look at this idiot. He's in the wrong room. I can't work with him. He can't follow a simple instruction. But it worked out.”
The Problem With People opens in the US on 4 October and in the UK on 11 October.
