Twin geeks
Matt Damon plays it for laughs in Stuck on You
It wasn't too long ago that people were beginning to wonder whether Matt Damon and Ben Affleck might not be joined at the hip. That could've had priceless potential, but in Stuck on You (opening Dec. 12), the latest comedy from those raucous Farrelly brothers, it's actually Damon and Greg Kinnear playing conjoined twins.
For Damon, 33 — whose only previous brush with silly slapstick is a little cameo in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back — this new movie marks a refreshing break from the oh-so-earnest likes of The Bourne Identity and Ocean's 11 (or, God help us, All the Pretty Horses and The Legend of Bagger Vance). Farrelly detractors will take their pleasures where they can find them: Chief among those in Stuck on You is watching the actor clearly relish the comedic challenge of playing the nerdy, timid flipside to Kinnear's outgoing, amorous half.
Creative Loafing: The movie is basically a gimmick movie, with these twins as the gimmick. Did you have any reservations when you first heard the pitch?
Matt Damon: My only second thoughts were just about the tone of the movie. If it ever got mean or cruel or crossed the line, then I might've had some second thoughts, but after reading the script and talking to the Farrellys about it, I felt really assured that it wouldn't. And it doesn't. It's really a positive story, ultimately.
Actually, I meant any second thoughts about the physical aspects of being literally bound to another actor for 12 or 14 hours a day.
You know, I wouldn't want to say we were misled, necessarily ... OK, we were misled, because at first they were telling us [the prosthetic device conjoining them] would be something we could get in and out of in a couple minutes, you know, something with a snap or a zipper, as opposed to what it actually was, this sort of medieval contraption with harnesses and belts and whatever. It really wasn't very easy getting in or out of it. Once we were in, we were pretty much in for the whole day.
Maybe you can explain something to me: Gerry [director Gus Van Sant's experimental indie from earlier this year, co-starring Damon and another Affleck, Casey]. What was that all about?
It was about a lot of things. Just stylistically speaking, I think it was Gus' reaction to the pervasive MTV-style of filmmaking that's going on right now, with all the quick-cutting and the presumption that the audience has a really short attention span. I think Gus very much wanted audiences to find their own metaphors in the movie. He tries to make the kind of movies people might want to explore or talk about later, you know? ... I'm really proud of the movie. It got very, very mixed reviews. OK, to be honest, I'd probably say about 90 percent of the people really hated it, and only 10 percent of them sort of liked it, but even so, it felt good to be making the kind of movie that people definitely weren't confused about, where they had pretty strong opinions about it one way or the other.
Have you seen or do you have any interest in seeing [the satirical off-Broadway hit] Matt and Ben?
That would be a "no" on both counts. I guess my take on that is, Ben and I have spent hundreds of hours a year on this Project Greenlight thing, trying to gain access for young, talented writers and directors, so I kind of feel like this play is just another way our names have been used to gain access for a couple of young, talented writers, so good for them, but I don't really have any interest in seeing it.
But it doesn't offend you or anything.
No, not at all. Let's face it: Ben and I have done a much worse job on ourselves in a couple of those Kevin Smith movies.
bert.osborne@creativeloafing.com
For Damon, 33 — whose only previous brush with silly slapstick is a little cameo in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back — this new movie marks a refreshing break from the oh-so-earnest likes of The Bourne Identity and Ocean's 11 (or, God help us, All the Pretty Horses and The Legend of Bagger Vance). Farrelly detractors will take their pleasures where they can find them: Chief among those in Stuck on You is watching the actor clearly relish the comedic challenge of playing the nerdy, timid flipside to Kinnear's outgoing, amorous half.
Creative Loafing: The movie is basically a gimmick movie, with these twins as the gimmick. Did you have any reservations when you first heard the pitch?
Matt Damon: My only second thoughts were just about the tone of the movie. If it ever got mean or cruel or crossed the line, then I might've had some second thoughts, but after reading the script and talking to the Farrellys about it, I felt really assured that it wouldn't. And it doesn't. It's really a positive story, ultimately.
Actually, I meant any second thoughts about the physical aspects of being literally bound to another actor for 12 or 14 hours a day.
You know, I wouldn't want to say we were misled, necessarily ... OK, we were misled, because at first they were telling us [the prosthetic device conjoining them] would be something we could get in and out of in a couple minutes, you know, something with a snap or a zipper, as opposed to what it actually was, this sort of medieval contraption with harnesses and belts and whatever. It really wasn't very easy getting in or out of it. Once we were in, we were pretty much in for the whole day.
Maybe you can explain something to me: Gerry [director Gus Van Sant's experimental indie from earlier this year, co-starring Damon and another Affleck, Casey]. What was that all about?
It was about a lot of things. Just stylistically speaking, I think it was Gus' reaction to the pervasive MTV-style of filmmaking that's going on right now, with all the quick-cutting and the presumption that the audience has a really short attention span. I think Gus very much wanted audiences to find their own metaphors in the movie. He tries to make the kind of movies people might want to explore or talk about later, you know? ... I'm really proud of the movie. It got very, very mixed reviews. OK, to be honest, I'd probably say about 90 percent of the people really hated it, and only 10 percent of them sort of liked it, but even so, it felt good to be making the kind of movie that people definitely weren't confused about, where they had pretty strong opinions about it one way or the other.
Have you seen or do you have any interest in seeing [the satirical off-Broadway hit] Matt and Ben?
That would be a "no" on both counts. I guess my take on that is, Ben and I have spent hundreds of hours a year on this Project Greenlight thing, trying to gain access for young, talented writers and directors, so I kind of feel like this play is just another way our names have been used to gain access for a couple of young, talented writers, so good for them, but I don't really have any interest in seeing it.
But it doesn't offend you or anything.
No, not at all. Let's face it: Ben and I have done a much worse job on ourselves in a couple of those Kevin Smith movies.
bert.osborne@creativeloafing.com