Interview: Writer/Director Tom McCarthy of the Adam Sandler Fantasy “The Cobbler”

Posted on March 12, 2015 at 10:00 am

I am a huge fan of writer/director Tom McCarthy (Win Win, “The Station Agent,” The Visitor), and was delighted to get a chance to talk to him about his new film, co-written with Paul Sado, “The Cobbler.” It is a gentle fantasy starring Adam Sandler as a shoemaker who discovers his father’s old machine for sewing shoes has magical properties. If he tries on the shoes repaired with that machine, he takes on the appearance of the shoe’s owners. The film co-stars Dustin Hoffman, Dan Stevens (“Downton Abbey”), and Ellen Barkin. It opens in theaters, and on VOD and iTunes March 13, 2015.

As an actor and as a writer, you have to use your imagination to step into the shoes of different characters all the time. Is that what inspired this idea?

Probably a little bit. It didn’t dawn on me till later in the making of it. It was probably as we started to rehearse with the actors that we realized realize it was something actors are very used to doing. Initially it was just the idea that you don’t know a man until you walk a mile in his shoes. There was something about that that sounds really compelling. The idea of exploring the interesting world of the Cobbler and the Shoe Repair Man as a way of exploring that idea.

The title, “The Cobbler,” has a fairy tale quality, very different from your earlier films. When you are creating a fantasy film, how do you work out all of the internal rules to keep it consistent and organic?

Paul and I really wrestled with what it meant, what we could do what we couldn’t do. We felt like, okay, there are definite limits to this. We had to keep double-checking to make sure we were not breaking any of our own rules. We tried to keep it as simple as possible, what exactly Adam was allowed to do and what he wasn’t allowed to do, what he could control and what he couldn’t control. And like all superheroes, we figure his power would increase as he begin to master it as he got better at it. But there certainly are stages when he is exploring it and having fun with it and in some cases abusing it and then ultimately using it for good.

What made you decide to try fantasy?

You are searching for new things, new things to challenge you at different ways and you are looking to have fun and you are looking to explore. I don’t ever profess to be limited to one particular school of filmmaking or any type of storytelling. It’s always what sort of tickles me in the moment when I think of something exciting and challenging and “The Cobbler” was all those things for me.

“The Cobbler” was not the movie I was planning on making, I was planning on making “Spotlight,” the movie I am editing now. Spotlight got pushed back because we couldn’t get it together in time. Paul and I had really been working on “The Cobbler” for a long time. So we just had the idea to just get together and bang ideas around. Just the energy of collaboration and the synergy that it brings about is just really exciting and cool. Paul and I are old friends and we really connect so it was a good time.

It is quite a challenge for actors to have to not just play their own character but Adam Sandler’s character as well.

Sometimes we just have to work on keeping it straight as we were in the moment. And then beyond that, when you have an actor like Dustin, it is really just little tweaks here and there reminding him of maybe what was too much, not enough or too much depending on where he was in the scene. All these people had a pretty good sense of how they were going to approach Adam. They weren’t just trying to mimic him. They were trying to get the essence of what Adam might be in their body. And it was really a little bit of modulation on everybody but not much. It was kind of just making sure that the story held together and that the audience could keep track of who is who at any particular time.

Your cast included some actors who are very trained and experienced and others who were not. What did you think about as you were casting the film?

I’m always just trying to find what actor I think would best connect with the role. Some secondary considerations are where the actor comes from and what their work ethic is like and how they approach material ultimately especially in a film like this where you are building an ensemble. But mostly it is who is right and then we work backwards from there. Some people are classically trained and some aren’t trained at all, some are connected, some come from comedy and stand ups, some came out of rap, so people are coming from all kinds of places. I think that adds a really nice texture to the movie. I think one thing I’m very proud of with this film is that it really represents New York in a very authentic way. I think it gets the culture, especially the Lower East Side. I think we did a good job of capturing that.

And if you could pick out one pair of size 10 1/2 shoes and be him for a day, who would you pick?

That’s a really good question. I think it would be kind of cool to check out Putin. I want to see what that guy does, walk around the Kremlin and see what is going on in that place. My feeling is Kruten doesn’t have a 10.5, though, I think he is a little guy, he is probably got like an 8 or something.

I liked the way you kept the origin of the magical shoe repair machine a little bit mysterious, even though you had the flashback with the men all speaking Yiddish as they came up with a plan to stop the neighborhood bully.

I didn’t understand a word of the Yiddish when I was filming it but it was really fun to listen to that language. They speak it so beautifully and it was nice to be around for a couple of days. But I think ultimately with that opening sequence , it’s a little nod to Max’s heritage and that period going back to a generation that would have been Jewish immigrants from mostly Eastern Europe who at that time were kind of flowing to the lower East Side and making that their home. What Paul and I were playing with is this idea that all these sorts of different shop owners and tradesmen were being kind of run out by a slumlord/landlord who is raising rent and forcing them which of course is what we ended up dealing with later in the movie with Ellen Barkin. Every generation has their own problems and if we would listen to our grandparents we would find out that there a lot of the same problems, just different looks. And so we thought that it is a cool way to see all the tradesmen coming to the cobbler asking for help and sort of setting up the motif. And for me also it was a little nod to a time when being a tradesman was a really respected position in society, as it should be. I think is really wonderful when you have talented craftsmen and tradesmen and I hope we never lose track of that, we don’t become one big mall. It is good to go shopping and deal with one person who fixes your shoes or works on your clothes or does whatever that is they are doing. It is a nice way to do business.

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Screenwriter Graham Moore on Writing About Smart People

Posted on March 3, 2015 at 3:59 pm

One of the most touching moments of the 2015 Oscars broadcast was from Graham Moore, a 28-year-old screenwriter who won the Best Adapted Screenplay award for “The Imitation Game,” based on mathematician Alan Turing’s word to solve the Enigma code during WWII.

Moore, the author of a captivating Sherlock Holmes/Sir Arthur Conan Doyle mystery The Sherlockian, wrote a thoughtful piece called “How to Write About Characters Who Are Smarter than You,” about the challenges and pleasures of writing about characters who have extraordinarily powerful intellects. He said he hates it when movies show scientists talking in jargon only to have the “ordinary guy” say something like, “Whoa, Doc, say that in English!”

You know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve seen this moment on screen, you’ve seen it on TV, you’ve read it in novels. I find this moment to be extremely condescending to its audience. The moment essentially signals to the viewer that all of that mumbo-jumbo that this smarty pants has been blathering on about, well, we filmmakers do not understand a word of it. Moreover, we don’t care to. And we have no interest in your understanding it either.

It’s a moment of casually cynical anti-intellectualism. It’s a joke predicated on the idea that only some geeky sex-less egghead would ever bother to care about what some dotty scientist says. The moment treats neither its characters nor its audience with respect.

I would suggest that the reason moments like this keep popping up on screens small and large is quite simply that writing about an exceptionally brilliant character is terribly difficult. There is a tendency to blow off a character’s brilliance, in moments like the one I’ve described, rather than confront her genius head on. Because the latter approach is just so infernally difficult.

Moore made the wise decision to take a different approach. “rying to convey his intelligence on screen was a democratizing act. That opening his one-of-a-kind mind up on screen was about letting other people in; not about shutting them out. That genius is conveyed by sharing intelligence, not by hoarding it. We’re all in this smart business together, in a sense.

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A New Alphabet Book for Women’s History Month: Rad American Women A-Z

Posted on March 1, 2015 at 3:37 pm

Rad American Women A-Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries who Shaped Our History . . . and Our Future! is a wonderful new alphabet book to teach girls, boys, and their families about sounds and letters and stories about women who dreamed big, accomplished great things, inspired others, and changed the world. Author Kate Schatz and illustrator Miriam Klein Stahl have created a wonderful tribute to these woman and resource for families. Ms. Shatz answered my questions about the book.

Where did the idea for this project come from?

The idea came when my daughter (who’s now 5) was about two. She’s such an amazing kid, and I want her to grow up to be empowered and inspired. I’m very conscious of the images of women and girls in the media, and want her to see a wide range of possibilities for who she can be and what she can do. We have a house full of great books, but I wanted her to have something more to read—something fun and bold but also educational and inspiring, to teach her about history in a way she could appreciate once she was a little older. I couldn’t find the book I wanted, so I decided I’d try to write one myself. After I had my son, I felt even more motivated to create it, because it’s not just young girls that need powerful female role models—it’s boys, too.

Did you have female or feminist role models when you were growing up?

Absolutely. I was lucky enough to be raised by and around very strong, loving women. I’d cite my mother Barbara, and though she may not have identified as a feminist, my Nana as well. As a child I was always drawn to books about spunky, adventurous, bold girls—Harriet the Spy, Nancy Drew, the Anastasia Krupnik books. In middle school I wanted to be a journalist, and I loved (the TV character) Murphy Brown and MTV’s Tabitha Soren. And then I found feminist heroes in music: riot grrl, PJ Harvey, Ani DiFranco, Tori Amos. One thing to note about these figures is that they’re all white—outside of musicians and performers like Janet Jackson, Neneh Cherry, Tracy Chapman, and MC Lyte, I wasn’t exposed to a diverse array of feminist role models until later in high school (when I sought it out on my own) and then in college—that’s one thing I hope to remedy with this book.

Did anything surprise you as you researched the book?

Going into this project I considered myself to be relatively well-versed in women’s history—I quickly realized how much I don’t know, and how many fascinating women I’ve never heard of. It was also incredible to learn more about women I was familiar with. I often knew the basic gist of a person’s life and accomplishments (or thought I knew!) and as I went in-depth with my research I learned so much more. It was a humbling and exciting journey to explore and absorb all of these stories. Only 26 ended up in the book, but I learned about so many more!

What were your best resources for research?

I used a number of great books and websites. A Mighty Girl exposed me to a number of fantastic existing children’s books. I often visited the website for the PBS Makers project, as well as the National Women’s History Project and the National Women’s Hall of Fame. I visited the Oakland Public Library to check out specific biographies on individual women, but also used books like “The Reader’s Companion to U.S. Women’s History” and “What Every American Should Know About Women’s History” as frequent reference points. And of course I used your basic Google search, and actually found great value in the “suggested results” of these searches, which often led me to people I’d never heard of.

Why is it important for both boys and girls to learn about these women?

The term “women’s history” is significant, but also limiting, as it can imply that it’s a history only for or of interest to women—not for everyone. The women we profile are Americans, and their stories are part of American history, to be included in our textbooks and our collective consciousness alongside the many, many male heroes that we learn about. The majority of the women in the book are non-white, and for many reasons their stories have been left out of mainstream and traditional accounts of “important” historical events and individuals. Even when we do teach the history of women and people of color, it tends to rely on the same singular figures over and over. Children—and adults—should know that Amelia Earhart was not the only female aviator. Rosa Parks was not the only black woman in the Civil Rights movement. Susan B. Anthony was not the only one fighting for suffrage. These women were amazing and are absolutely important, but there’s so much more to the (hi)story.

Who were some of the women you most regretted having to leave out and will they be in some future edition?

For nearly every woman featured in this book, there are at least 3 others that were almost included. It was very challenging to decide. We do have plans for additional books, and are already planning several. Some letters just have more names to choose from—A, E, F, J, K, M, and S, for example—and some (Q, X, Y, Z) don’t. A was a big challenge, because it’s the first letter and it sets the tone—and because there are so many awesome, amazing As! It could have been Audre Lorde or Adrienne Rich or Abigail Adams or Anne Sullivan. F was almost Fannie Lou Hamer, but E is Ella Baker, and they were working in the same field at the same time, and we wanted as much variety as possible. I definitely want to include Fannie Lou in the next book! J was going to be Jane Addams, but when I learned about the amazing but not very well-known educator and activist Jovita Idar I decided to feature her instead. I love that M is for Maya Lin but I’d like to include astronaut Mae Jamison in a future book. S went through several iterations as well, and was almost Sister Corita Kent, an incredible nun who was a graphic artist, as well as Sylvia Rivera, a transgendered activist and Stonewall vet. Bottom line: there is no end to the incredible stories that deserve to be told.

Why is the X group so significant and what do you hope kids will get from that write-up?

X is significant because it reminds us of how much we don’t know, and how much is yet to come. It’s significant because the illustration and the text challenge how we define and perceive heroism and greatness—many of the images are of people doing “ordinary” things like reading, parenting, and working. You don’t need to be a nationally celebrated figure to be rad, to have an impact on the world. Hopefully readers will think of the many reasons why we don’t necessarily know the names of all the women who have done great, heroic things. Hopefully it will inspire them to consider the past but also look toward the future, and to recognize the radness in themselves and the people around them.

Interview: Rabbi Evan Moffic on What Every Christian Needs to Know About Passover

Posted on February 2, 2015 at 3:58 pm

Rabbi Evan Moffic’s latest book is What Every Christian Needs to Know about Passover: What It Means and Why It Matters, a guide for Christians to the celebration observed by Jesus at the Last Supper. It will be published tomorrow, and is already a seller on Amazon in the categories of Jewish holidays and ritual. Rabbi Moffic is one of my favorite thinkers about our connection to the divine and the meaning of religious traditions, and I am a big fan of his earlier book, Wisdom for People of all Faiths: Ten Ways to Connect with God. He very generously took time to answer my questions about the book.

What would Jews and Christians be most surprised to learn about each other’s beliefs?

I think Christians will be surprised to learn some of the Jewish legends surrounding the exodus. For example, the story about the angels singing when God drowned the Egyptians, but then God telling the angels that the Egyptians are God’s children as well. Or some of the Jewish interpretations of why God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

I think Jews will be interested to know why many more Christians are holding seders and will be fascinating by some of the interpretations and meanings Christians draw.

Was there ever a time when Christians observed Passover or held seders?

Definitely in the first century where most Christians saw themselves as Jews. It faded away as Easter replaced it. But over the last three decades, as Christians have embraced Jesus’s Jewishness and tried to recover first century practices, more and more have been conducting seder.

Copyright 1999 Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie

Which of the traditions of the Passover seder were practiced at the time of Jesus?

It’s unclear. Certainly it was not the same kind of seder we do today. That was not finalized until after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 C.E. But we do know communities and families held Passover meals in which special foods were shared and the Exodus story was told during the time of Jesus.

Are there any depictions of the Last Supper that include matzah or other symbols of Passover?

No. The last supper was definitely a Passover meal but not a seder—with its precise order and ritual foods that we understood today.

Which elements of the Haggadah are of most relevance to Christians?

The story of the Exodus. It is so universal. We all search for freedom in our lives—from addictions, from unhealthy relationships, from idols like success or perfection. Passover tells us God wants to grow and escape the narrowness that traps us.

Why do you call this a “holiday we share?”

Because the Hebrew Bible is part of Christian scripture as well. The Exodus is part of the Christian story as well. It is a story of redemption that Jesus certainly knew and whose meanings are universal.

Do some Jews express concern about sharing this celebration with non-Jews? How do you respond?

Absolutely. Some Jews feel Christians may be appropriating and misinterpreting a Jewish ritual. People have said to me, “How do you think Christians would feel if synagogues did some sort of communion or eucharist?” My answer is always the same. Yes, some people or communities could abuse the ritual and interpret it in ways that make the Jewish part of it irrelevant or superseded by Christianity. That’s why we need this book. It gives an authentic traditional Jewish interpretation that can educate and guide Christians in observing Passover in a meaningful way. It will prevent abuse rather than encourage it. And truthfully, we live in a free society. Our own religious sensibilities should not be threatened by those of others, even if they are deeply consistent with our own. The fact that others celebrate Passover in ways different than our own does not threaten the meaning and truth of our own.

What is the most important lesson you want readers to understand from your book?

Celebrating Passover can change your life. It can help you see your life as an ongoing journey to freedom and purpose. The story of the Bible is also the story of ourselves.

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Interview: Ira Glass Talks to “Boyhood’s” Richard Linklater and Ellar Coltrane

Posted on January 29, 2015 at 9:59 am

“Boyhood” writer/director Richard Linkater and star Ellar Coltrane talk to “This American Life’s” Ira Glass about making the film over a twelve year period that began when Coltrane was six years old.

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