Getting in “Sherman’s Way”

Perhaps it was growing up in the suburbs. Or maybe as the middle child of seven. Who knows? For whatever reason, there is just nothing really "edgy" about me, and that fact seems to be reflected in my films. All two of them. (I made a small dramedy feature about 10 years ago that was appropriately released direct-to-radio.) I like pretty people in pretty places saying witty things that we wish we were able to utter in real life. I was never one of those guys who worshiped the gritty cinema of the 1970s. Rather, my tastes often leaned toward the fare offered up during the heyday of the studio system.

So it comes as no surprise that Sherman's Way came into being not unlike the films from that era: not necessarily out of passion, but rather out of a desire to manufacture a product. That's not to say we weren't passionate about what we were doing, or that we didn't strive to make the very best film we could, but our goal was to entertain an audience for 90-some minutes, not change the world.

My producing partner, Michael Shulman, and I began our little adventure with a few "known knowns," as Donald Rumsfeld liked to say. We knew what our budget was, we knew that I was going to direct and that Michael was going to act in it. We also knew that we needed "names" in the film, and getting that first element on board is always the toughest. So we enlisted friends first. Lacey Chabert and Donna Murphy had both acted opposite Michael in years past, both were terrific performers and both had a certain marquee value. And, thankfully, both agreed to appear in our film.

The script Tom delivered was far more poignant than I expected. There was an honest pathos to the subtext of absent fathers and abandoned sons he wove into the story that was clearly very personal to him. Here was a guy I'd been friends with for nearly 25 years, and I had no idea he was capable of such depth. I began to resent my parents for never having divorced.

With a strong script and name attachments, we dove into casting the remaining lead roles. Indie legend James LeGros, (who's been in more films than the average person sees in their lifetime), was brought onboard to play the acerbic ex-Olympian who challenges Michael's character, Sherman, to broaden his world-view beyond Manhattan. Next, we cast Enrico Colantoni, who is best known as Elliot, the photographer, from TV's "Just Shoot Me" and the squeaky-voiced alien from "Galaxy Quest." Here's a Yale Drama alum known and respected throughout the theatre world for his Chekhov, and I kept pleading with him to "do that funny voice again, do that funny voice again." Rounding out the four leads was newcomer Brooke Nevin, a Canadian beauty I cast because she had that All-American quality. I was too busy trying to make our start date to appreciate the irony.

In a cameo role, I cast M. Emmet Walsh as a local merchant who encourages Sherman to follow his girlfriend out to California for the summer. I've long admired M's talent (I can call him that because, now that we've worked together, we're on a first initial basis) and was thrilled to be directing the legend that inspired Roger Ebert's oft-quoted Walsh-Stanton rule, which professed that any film with either Emmet Walsh or Harry Dean Stanton in the cast was of superior quality. His scene was the only one in the entire movie for which we paid a location fee. We shot on the old "Seinfeld" New York street set in Hollywood. Here I was, on a studio back lot directing an actor I had long admired, and, halfway during the shoot, I realized the scene was a cut. Its exposition was redundant and it wasn't adding any new insights into Sherman's character. I tried numerous versions of the film early on with the scene intact, if for no other reason to invoke the Walsh-Stanton rule, but ultimately it ended up on the cutting room floor. I have yet to tell M.

The best thing about the experience, however, was working with the incredibly talented cinematographer Joaquin Sedillo. And not just because of what he can do with lenses and light, but also because, after living with him for 19 years and raising a son together, I was finally able to be his boss. And we both survived the ordeal wonderfully.

So where's the dirt? We set out to make an entertaining movie with family and friends, had a good time doing it and are thrilled audiences are enjoying the results. The tough part for me is figuring out what I want to direct next. Perhaps something that removes me from my comfort zone. Maybe even something with edge. -MPM

© 2008 Sherman's Way LLC & Starry Night Entertainment LLC. All rights reserved. Photo (top, left to right) Michael Shulman, Craig Saavedra and James LeGros; credit: Josh Doughty 

Visit Sherman's Way; also see MPM's film review.