Thats part of the magic trick of this movie.
Its a bit like that wonderful movie Margin Call.
I was pretty careful in terms of explaining the rules that had to be known.
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Its not a film about a football game.
Its about a man at a certain moment in his life where everything goes really wrong for him.
How closely did you work with him to get that tone right onDraft Daytoo?
He was a very important contributor and partner to the whole film.
I could hear his voice in every line that Sonny speaks in the movie.
I knew him a little bit, and I called him up.
We had a really lovely meeting about it.
Hes a great ally in the making of the film.
With Kevin Costner, hes an actor whos not scared of acting where he is in life himself.
I think hes a very confident man.
Thats what makes him work as a movie star.
We see that confidence and we see that intelligence.
You believe that hes man you’ve got the option to trust and would follow.
So in roles that have that core, hes particularly effective.
But do you think theres an audience block with American sports in particular, outside of the UK?
It is a marketing issue, thats for sure.
I remember seeing a wonderful soccer movie, a black and white film, when I was growing up.
One of my favourite romantic comedies of the 1990s isTin Cup, a really grown up film.
But because it was shrouded with golf, there was resistance to it.
I agree with you.
But withDraft Day, I loved the script and I made it.
Im very nervous over how it plays outside of America.
How was I going to create drama out of it, and something thats visually compelling?
I just started thinking about playing with the frame line.
I knew I couldnt go back to the traditionalBye Bye Birdiesplit screen, with people on each side talking.
That just wasnt going to fly today.
I had to find a new way to do it, and Im very proud of what we did.
Plus Ive a brilliant editor, Sheldon Khan, who Ive worked with sinceGhostbusters.
This is also an editing tour de force, how to make all this stuff work.
I had an extraordinary editing team working on it.
My son really hired her to editThank You For Smoking,Juno, all of his movies.
Shes become a fabulous editor, and I used both of them on this movie.
Particularly with this movie, where so many things are happening at the same time.
Playing with the rhythms was very, very important.
Its a very musical thing, and my backgrounds music.
I have to ask with regards Jason, your son.
Its him kissing when the fire alarm goes off!
It was his first real kiss!
And he was only like 12 years old.
And hes doing it in front of his father, and an entire crew!
Id like to be the first person to interview you of late who doesnt ask aboutGhostbusters.
So what else beyond that andTripletsdo you have on your upcoming slate?
I think thats going to be a fabulous picture, very, very funny.
And theres another movie calledBastards, that were very close to getting started on.
Theres at least three movies that look very real.
But I have to find something to direct myself, now that Ive given up directingGhostbustersand only producing it.
I find myself without a film to direct myself!
OnBaywatchandBastards, is the plan to get both of them moving this year?
Im a big fan of a couple of films you did a while back,Six Days Seven NightsandEvolution.
I think neither of them quite got the appreciation they deserved at the time.
I sensed in both cases that they were pigeonholed to a degree.
And was it particularly tricky with those two features?
WellSix Days Seven Nightswas an extraordinarily satisfying movie both for myself and for audiences.
I think it was that moment in time though where Anne Heche had fallen in love with Ellen DeGerenes.
And people couldnt see past that.
Of course, she broke up with Ellen just after the movie came out.
But just exactly at the time, it muddied the waters, so people didnt actually watch the movie.
They were looking at the gossip.
Thats my personal opinion.
Im proud of every movie I make.
I put a lot into them.
Im proud of them all.
No Strings Attached, the movie I made beforeDraft Day, got lost I think.
His relationship with Natalie Portman is fresh and fun and very effective.
I think people tend to not see that until they watch these films for a second or third time.
Im really happy about it now.
The movies from the first half of my career keep being shown as evergreen, fromStripesandAnimal HousetoGhostbusters.
All of them got mediocre reviews.
They all sort of got that two star thing.
Now theyre all looked at as four star movies!
I think its part of the problem with doing comedic films, and broad audience films that are entertaining.
Do you think part of the problem lies with the instant nature of the movie press now?
Do you find the press that healthy now, or is this an evolution of what we had before?
I think its evolutionary.
The good news and bad news about the internet is that everyone has an opinion, and its immediate.
I find it an enormous amount of repetitive judgement.
That one strong voice can really affect the voices of many others.
Sometimes it does take a little bit of time, and a film requires more careful viewing.
But sometimes its the truth.
But it is a success-based endeavour, unless youre making very, very tiny films.
Ivan Reitman, thank you very much
Draft Day is available on DVD now.
