Most people under the age of 35 should recognize the following movie quote: “Well, alright, let me be the first to congratulate you then. You get one vagina for the rest of your life. Real smart Frank. Way to work it through.”
That, of course, is Beanie (Vince Vaughn) from “Old School.” Todd Phillips, the man who co-wrote and directed the film, is giving us another comedy, "School for Scoundrels", which opens Sept. 29.
This time, Phillips directs Jon Heder (“Napoleon Dynamite”) as Roger, a dejected traffic cop trying to get up the courage to ask out his neighbor Amanda (Jacinda Barrett). Roger enrolls in a secret confidence-building course run by Dr. P (Billy Bob Thornton).
Problem is, once Roger starts gaining some self-esteem, Dr. P moves in on Amanda. The rest of the cast includes Chicago natives Matt Walsh, Horatio Sanz and Michael Clarke Duncan, and Ben Stiller joins in a cameo role.
Bayer sat down with Phillips at the Four Seasons to talk about his new film, the current state of comedy, and a certain sequel that might be brewing …
Bayer: I had no clue this was based on a 1960s film by the same name.
Phillips: It’s very loosely based. Very loose. We really took the title and the idea that there is a school, or in our case a class that exists that basically — in that movie it really teaches men to be gentlemen — and we did the opposite.
Bayer: Scot Armstrong, your writing partner (“Road Trip,” “Starsky & Hutch,” “Old School”), can you explain the process of the two of you creating scripts?
Phillips: The part you are really collaborating on is the outline of the movie. So we meet every day, before we’ve written anything. … And you really just outline it and sketch the movie out, which takes us a long time, actually. The writing is the easy part once you figure out what they’ll be doing. What they’re saying is not as hard as what they’re doing. So, once we have the outline, we basically just say, “OK, I’ll take these few beats, you take those, and we’ll talk in three days, because we’ll only do 10 pages at a time.” We don’t sit in the same room and write.
Bayer: With a comedy, how do you balance script versus improv?
Phillips: You need the script. But I think a lot of comedy directors treat the script a little more like a blueprint and like to improvise and keep the set pretty loose. I definitely allow for that. I’d be a bad director if I worked with guys like Billy Bob or, in my case, Will Ferrell and Vince, Owen and Ben Stiller and (make them) read the lines and stand there.
Bayer: “Old School Dos?”
Phillips: “Old School Dos,” yeah.
Bayer: Right now you’re in the writing process?
Phillips: We don’t have any actors confirmed. I make that clear. I don’t want to get a call from Vince.
Bayer: Without anybody being on board yet, how do you write the script? If (Vaughn, Wilson, Ferrell) turn it down, do you fill in the roles?
Phillips: No, you just never make the movie. The only way we will ever make the movie is if all three guys agree to make it. … To get those three guys on board, we have to write the script first.
Bayer: How many pages have you written so far?
Phillips: Fifty-five, almost halfway done.
Bayer: At this point for you, who is cameo-worthy? You’ve had Ferrell in “Starsky & Hutch” and now Stiller in “School for Scoundrels.”
Phillips: To me, it’s not an insidious marketing ploy, which a lot of people think it is. It’s really about guys you work with, calling them up and saying, “Hey, man, we’re shooting this thing in two weeks, it’s a funny scene, I haven’t cast it yet, can I fax it to you, if you like it why don’t you come down and do it.” It’s that casual, it’s not talk to my agent, blah, blah, blah.
Bayer: Ben Stiller’s accent in this, what is it?
Phillips: I think we were in the trailer before we shot the scene and we were talking about the actor in “Dog Day Afternoon” — the other guy with the voice like this (Phillips does a similar accent to Stiller’s). So, that was the kind of guy, like from Queens.
Bayer: I’ve decided you’re on the Mt. Rushmore of current comedic directors.
Phillips: Good, who’s up there with me?
Bayer: That’s my question to you.
Phillips: No, I’m asking you; I don’t think I’m even up there.
Bayer: You’re up there; who’s with you?
Phillips: No one. Wait, no, I’ll answer; otherwise, I’ll look like an a**hole. Slightly above me would be Jay Roach, the Farrelly brothers, Judd Apatow, Adam McKay. Comedy is having a renaissance right now, and it’s not because of the directors, it is because of the talent. You look back on the early ’80s with Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd and now you have Ferrell, Owen Wilson, Stiller and Vaughn. In the ’90s, we didn’t have that. I mean, who were the guys in the '90s?
Bayer: Is there anyone better right now at dark comedy than Billy Bob Thornton?
Phillips: Billy is such a world-class actor that I think everything just comes so easy to him. He obviously has a confidence to him, and he’s such a gifted actor. Dark comedy is all about the nuances and all the things inherent to real acting. Billy makes it look effortless — you’ll have to ask him if it truly is — but it looks like it comes easily to him.
Bayer: Matt Walsh is from Chicago, he’s been with Second City, and this is now his second film with you where his character name is Walsh.
Phillips: Actually, he’s always been named Walsh in every movie; he’s not always credited.
Bayer: Will he ever have a name besides Walsh?
Phillips: Probably not.
Bayer: Because he can’t remember anything else?
Phillips: Yeah. No, so when he reads the script, he knows which part is for him.
Bayer: Do you have any Chicago connections?
Phillips: I don’t, but I just love it here. This and San Francisco are the only cities that come close to New York. Like a real city. You go on these (press tours) and you come from Dallas and Minneapolis — these are cities that are created out of thin air with zero history with all these glass buildings for financial reasons. And the comedy scene in Chicago has always been, for some reason, at the top.
Bayer: Of your movies, fans would probably say “Old School” is their favorite. What was your favorite to direct?
Phillips: “Starsky & Hutch,” by a mile. It was the most fun out of all of them. I’m not saying (“School for Scoundrels”) wasn’t fun. It was the best experience. And it’s my favorite movie of the ones that I have done because of that.
Bayer: I’m assuming tons of guys give you quotes from your films. Have you ever quoted one of your movies?
Phillips: Never, no. Unless someone is quoting to me, and then I always have to correct them because they are quoting it wrong.
Bayer: How many times have you seen “School for Scoundrels” and “Old School”?
Phillips: When you direct a film, typically about 30 times each.
Bayer: Are they still funny for you?
Phillips: No, the only time they are funny … when you show it to an audience and 300 or 400 people are laughing, you actually find yourself laughing again. You can finally enjoy it again. I can’t sit in a room alone and watch any of those movies.
Bayer: OK, we’re going to end talking about a serious drama. Are you an executive producer for “All the King’s Men”?
Phillips: That’s a weird thing and I’ll tell you how that came about. I’m friends with James Carville (political consultant and commentator) and he had a cameo in “Old School.” On the set, we’re hanging out and he says to me, “You ever see ‘All the King’s Men’? … I think they should remake that movie; how would we end up doing that?” So, we start talking about it. Then, I brought him in to meet Mike Medavoy, who has a deal at Sony, because Sony owned the rights to the original. And they ended up doing it and hiring Steven Zallian (producer). Because I helped put together that initial meeting, I get an executive-producer credit.
Bayer: Any advice Thornton gives in “School for Scoundrels” that you think is good?
Phillips: He says to all these guys who read self-help books, “You can’t help yourself because yourself sucks.” It’s true; help is all about going to someone else.
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