We chatted with filmmaker Paul Weitz (“About a Boy,” “American Pie”) about his new film “Moving On,” which stars two legends- Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
More about “Moving On”
Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin star as estranged friends who reunite to seek revenge on the petulant widower (Malcolm McDowell) of their recently deceased best friend. Along the way, Fonda’s character reunites with her great love (Richard Roundtree) as each woman learns to make peace with the past and each other.
Listen to the review on Apple Podcasts
Speaking with Paul Weitz…
Interview has been edited for clarity.
THE DHK: I’m just going to jump right in. I would love to start with what was the most logistically challenging scene?
PW: Wow, logistically challenging.
I think that oh man well it has to be I guess: the dog jumping up on Jane, that was really challenging. To get that dog to do what we wanted her to do, and then to get the dog and lick her face afterwards. We had to put peanut butter on Jane’s face. Then the scenes where Jane and Malcolm are sort of having it out, those were challenging.
If there’s a really dramatic scene, you want to make sure you have the camera in the right place, if you have actors doing great performance, and your camera is like way in the distance, and the actors used all their energy already. So that was challenging, but um, nothing was like that, you know (tough), the actors are so good, that there wasn’t anything [challenging].
DHK: They’re pretty Pro. Similarly, what do you think the most emotionally challenging scene was?
PW: The most emotionally challenging scene was Jane, when she finally sort of says what happened between her and Malcolm. She’s been trying to get him to say this, and tell the truth for the whole movie. So that was emotionally challenging, in different ways for each of us.
Like, there was a part of that, where something happens with Malcolm and Jane almost broke his nose during it.
You know, emotionally challenging, the last scene in the movie. Sorry, the last thing I shot, you know, because Jane was really lovely and touching. She’s obviously done a lot of movies, but, you know, she took care to say how much this one had meant to her. It was kind of a small crew and stuff, but I think she liked the intimacy of it.
DHK: I want to talk about the scene you referred to, we’ll dance around the spoiler of it. But there’s a decision not to explicitly address the trauma up until the very end. Then it gets a very frank explanation. Was it like that from the very first iteration? Did you grapple with it? What was the thought process behind that?
PW: Yeah, it was like that from their first iteration. Because it’s, it’s also very much about the pressures, the historical pressures and personal pressures that lead someone to not be able to say something that happened to them. And sort of layers of shame that had to be gotten past.
So it was there from the get go, the only thing was that, I had to not really fight, because I had final cut, but ended up making sure that it that was in there was a thing sometimes when I was first getting financing for the movie. But it was kind of the reason for the movie to exist in a way.
So yeah, it was in there. You know, my partner in it was Jane Fonda. And if she had said something was not right, or was fake or something, I would have changed it. But she saw it in the same way, basically.
DHK: Yeah, it was a very cathartic experience. So I was glad it was addressed. I am curious, was there anything major that changed from the first iteration of the idea percolating to the version we saw on screen in “Moving On”?
PW: No, there was really nothing. I think it’s because I’ve thought of this movie, and I thought of doing it with Jane and Lily. Then I thought about it for like, two years before writing it. So I really, wrote it in the back of my head. Then I sent it to them. Jane was like, you know, I mean, she was a little curious to whether sort of, like, the comedy and the drama could coexist.
She went with it. Then I think she was relieved when she saw it, in front of an audience. I don’t think she’s worried about the drama. I think she’s worried about the comedy. That, you know, audience was in a place in places laughing as hard and reacting as loudly as anything I’ve done. But, but no, not that much changed actually.
DHK: Did you have any concerns about, because I feel like at this point, we see the two of them together, and we have expectations about the types of characters that are playing as you said, the comedy, the drama, any concerns at all? Were you just like, I see this clearly. We’re going forth (but two years after I put it in my head).
PW: I mean, yeah I had, I had tonal concerns. Yeah. I mean, my only concern was, you know, I was looking at movies they’ve done in the 70s. And like, “9 to 5”. And you know, having done “Grandma” recently with Lily. But we all had the same concern, which is like, you know, we you guys just finished doing “Grace and Frankie”, let’s make sure we don’t sorta slip into those characters, because these need to be kind of different.
But that was their main concern before I was able to even, you know, say anything, they were like, “We want to make sure this isn’t like “Grace and Frankie”, and that we’re doing sort of new characters.” And yeah, it’s a comedy, but it’s, you know, it’s really different, different kind of comedy,
THE DHK: I’m just going to jump right in. I would love to start with what was the most logistically challenging scene?
PW: I’m very easily bribed, like, a kind word. My wife is always annoyed with me, because, you know, I can be very upset at somebody. And then a couple weeks later, like, “Oh, that person is great person.” That is, I think, yeah. Yeah. Don’t have to do too much to bribe me.
DHK: Well, this is a question I asked a lot of folks, what is the best compliment you’ve ever received then?
PW: Best compliment I’ve ever received? I mean, I keep things in my back pocket, I guess. You can’t let any compliment go to your head. Because, you know, I mean, it would probably have something to do with kindness or something like that. I was like, a nice person, you know.
I think this is a weird one but: I was mentoring a young filmmaker, and at some point, we were talking about a film that hadn’t done well. They said: “Is there such a thing as career suicide?” And, and I was like, “Well, you know, maybe not, because, I’m still getting to make films.” And in a weird way, that was a really great compliment that, I’d done a film that prompted this young filmmaker to say, wow, how did you get past that?
DHK: I mean, I would say it’s a compliment when Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda want to team up with you.
PW: Of course, yeah.
DHK: This is a perfect segue into my last question, which is, how do you define personal success now? And how is that definition changed from earlier in your career?
PW: Personal success, I think about this stuff a lot. Personal success to me is simply not letting the pressure of things overwhelm you, and trying to keep some judgment over whether you’ve achieved something or not. When you have a film come out, and there’s nothing more like humbling. I don’t care whether the film does really well, or not, because I think it’s like drugs, just like, you know, a crack addict isn’t like, “Oh, that was great. I had a perfect amount of crack just now.” Like, if people love your stuff, it’s like, Yeah, that’s great. So you thought it was fantastic. And what else did you think? What did this other person think? So no matter what it’s like, humility is like the secret weapon at all times.
DHK: Making films is like a crack addiction. What an endcap!
“Moving On” is in theaters now.
