Neil Burger is calm. As he stretches himself across a couch likely more expensive than anything I will ever own, his demeanor forces me to relax. I like him immediately. After slinging a slew of random inquisitions at him, it's easy to read he's willing to talk about more than whether or not his latest film The Lucky Ones should be looked at just another cinematic depiction of a country at war. "You know our movie's not a 'war' movie. It's really about American now. It's a road-trip movie."

Though he's not protectively assertive in his insistence that his film is largely an observational piece about America, it's easy to see he says what he means.

Burger continues, "I think the movie is like a snapshot of the country. In a way, it's like a love-letter to America."

Though it appears as though he's answered this question before, there is a straight-forwardness in his delivery that insinuates his answer is far from rehearsed, or even jaded. While we largely chat about the premise of the film, the director seems refreshed to answer a question I'd had burning a hole in my pocket since we began our conversation.

The change of pace brought the edge to the interview I was looking for.

There is a particular scene midway through The Lucky Ones that depicts America's youth as an indifferent majority of kids who could care less about their country's inclusion in a tragic overseas conflict. When Rachel McAdams's character approaches two young women in order to try and "fit in," they brush off her attempts with jarring sarcasm, and her combat-inflicted limp with petty insults.

I wonder whether Burger fears a slew of backlash from a demographic too focused on The Family Guy and their Psych. 101 class to educate themselves about Baghdad and world diplomacy.

Though there is a part of me expecting him to dodge such a leading question, Burger doesn't hesitate to sling a few arrows.

"They're not interested, or even aware," he states without blinking, "As a filmmaker you just have to look it straight in the eye and say it—Whether you're saying something about your family, or if you're saying something about people in our society."

It's refreshing to hear a director stand behind his creation without sounding trite. It's as if Burger's lack of fear in calling out the politically indifferent youth of America isn't so much him pointing his finger at a subgroup, as it is a well-delivered mission statement.

"They will look at it, and see a bit of themselves in it, and maybe a bit of people that they know."

We shift gears when I inform Burger of an event that happened on my way to the Trump Hotel for our interview. As a cyclist, there was been a lot to experience commuting through the city, but the scene I witnessed that morning shook me. Two men initiated a visibly violent altercation right out in front of me as I rode. One shirtless Latino ran, crowbar in hand, from a younger African American donning a knife. It was simply bizarre, and in the aftermath of the fleetingly brief experience I got to thinking.

Our lives are dependent on a series of choices we make. There's not much else to it. These two visibly agitated men decided something was worth fighting for, regardless of the inevitable consequences (i.e. getting arrested for aggravated assault, or battery).

To me The Lucky Ones is less a love-letter to America than it was a fictional case study of how our respective destinies are realized based on the decisions we make, not the other way around.

This intrigues Burger. "A knife fight, wow," he utters, unblinking.

I pause, breathless from reenacting the story, and ask about how choices aren't only aptly showcased through the film, but also largely come into play behind the scenes.

"You're right, these are all personal choices we all make. You make them from the head, you make them from the heart, or your make them from the gut," he says, "I think these three characters are just normal, everyday people, yet they've chosen to give up themselves. To selflessly sacrifice for others. I think that's what the movie's about."

Where the portrait of American comes into play is in these characters' interactions as they meander across it.

"It's that kind of choice versus the choice of people they encounter, that they're disconnected from. They are more selfish. They are just trying to make money, or whatever else."

In addition to the finger Burger points at American's youth, he also directs the flashlight over the individuals sprinkled throughout a country that choose to remain collectively in-the-dark. They prefer to focus solely on egocentric, albeit essential aspects of daily life.

"To me, that's what the movie's all about. It's about that conversation between people who are generously giving of themselves, and the rest of us who have lost that sort of, collective psychology," he concluded.

Before wrapping up time together, I ask Neil Burger if he's got anything on the horizon. His eyes light up as he talks about the next venture. The director now tackles a project he didn't write, The Dark Fields. It's a sci-fi (more Phenomenon than Star Trek) film about a "pill that makes you smarter."

Having had a hand in the writing of each of his previous efforts, Burger explains he excitement to start from a new perspective.

"It's actually liberating, in way. It's a purely interpretive mode, which is what a director's really supposed to be doing," he explains.

Despite losing his first choice for leading man (Shia LaBeouf, who's injured hand will probably keeping him from starring in this film), and starting from scratch (he's written each of his first three films himself), Burger remains excitedly optimistic. One could say, he's made the choice to plunge forth without any regard for the potential pitfalls ahead.

"It's just trying to find the best way to make each particular scene. So, it's great. The last three movies I've written myself, which is fantastic also. It gives you that ultimate authorship, but it's … kind of a burden as well."

It appears a new series of decisions will have to be made under very new circumstances. If our 20-minute conversation is any justifiable indication, Burger has all the tools to make the right choices along the way.

Quick Questions with Neil Burger

What did you eat for breakfast? I had some fruit, and a glass of orange juice.

What’s on your iPod at the moment? Lucinda Williams' new album, and Radiohead

What’s your favorite late-night food craving? French fries.

Worst job? Being a bus boy for an entire summer.

Favorite recent film? Happy-Go-Lucky, by Mike Leigh.

What’s one book you wish you had written? Dante’s Inferno

Who would you be for 24 hours? Edgar Allan Poe.

Can I ask why? Actually no … I’d be P.T. Barnum. I really like that period at the early part of the twentieth century where it was all sort of halfway between that mysterious world of the past, and the new oncoming industrial age.