Sex, Lies, and Reunions With The Writer and Directors of The D-Train
Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel have been working in Hollywood for years in the studio system. Together they co-wrote (with Nicholas Stoller) the Jim Carrey vehicle Yes Man, and followed it up with a TV gig for Fox on Allen Gregory. But neither have directed before writing their screenplay The D Train. But that didn’t stop them from landing A-listers Jack Black and James Marsden in a comedy about a high school loser trying to get the most popular guy in school to return. The movie, out in limited release this week, co-stars Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor, and Mike White. I spoke with them about their dark comedy.
The IBang: The first thing I should probably ask is, is any of this movie autobiographical, or semi-autobiographical?
Jarrad Paul: Sorry to disappoint you, it all came from Andy’s warped mind.
Andrew Mogel: Not true, just partially true. It started with the character Jack plays, someone desperate to change their high school image, and how far a person like him would go. And thinking about a reunion, a lot of people look at reunions as a second chance or a chance to prove how far they’ve come. And I wanted a character who was just desperate for that second chance, and to see how far he was willing to go.
The IBang: The big thing about Jack’s character, which we find out immediately, is that Jack’s character never left town, so he doesn’t have the chance to comeback a changed man. Were you thinking of the dynamic that exists at these types of events between those who stay and those who left home?
Andrew Mogel: It was definitely something we had in mind. I’m from Maryland and I know a lot of people stayed and went to college in Maryland. And just the idea of someone leaving was kind of a big deal.
Jarrad Paul: It doesn’t take much to break out and have people think you’d done something worth talking about. So that idea was interesting. James’s character has just done a commercial, but back in his hometown, he might as well be Brad Pitt.
The IBang: When you first returned from trying to “make it” in Hollywood, did you have that experience James has, of people not really having an understanding what your new life was like and having an inflated view of Hollywood living?
Andrew Mogel: Yeah. When all I’d done was sell a screenplay and I returned home, people were like “hey, Hollywood guy.”
The IBang: You probably have two of the most charming actors working today with James Marsden and Jack Black, and you proceed to make them extremely unlikable.
Andrew Mogel: Not an easy job.
The IBang: Were you thinking in the back of your head about where the line for audiences is in terms of what they will tolerate from characters?
Jarrad Paul: Yeah, that was a big part of the job. Figuring out where that line is.
Andrew Mogel: But we were interested in pushing it. People say all the time “you have to be likable”
Jarrad Paul: Especially in studio comedies, which we’d been working on for the past few years. All you hear is “the character has to be likable” or “why am I rooting for this guy if he isn’t likable.”
Andrew: But in real life, people don’t do things perfectly and they aren’t always likable. They make mistakes and get caught up in it. Jack’s character isn’t a bad guy, he just makes some big mistakes that he can’t get out of.
Jarrad Paul: And he has some very bad intentions.
The IBang: Was it hard to get Jack and James?
Jarrad Paul: We never sold it to them being unlikable characters. They just connected to the characters in a cool way.
Andrew Mogel: I personally feel that all four leads actors are inherently likable, Jack is especially lovable. So they make you root for their characters automatically.
The IBang: You certainly come in with the assumption that you should be rooting for them.
Jarrad Paul: But I also think audiences have become accustomed to liking unlikable main characters, because of TV. Characters like Tony Soprano or Walter White.
The IBang: But the big difference is the fact that they have the opportunity to build up to being unlikable over time, and we see it a lot less in tv comedies. Is it harder to pull that off in a comedy?
Andrew Mogel: Possibly, but I feel that if it’s funny, it’s funny. I don’t remember having the thought that it would be funnier if he were a more likable guy. But it is definitely a less conventional approach to a comedy.
Jarrad Paul: And that’s what appealed to us about the story.
Andrew Mogel: And we always felt that underneath all that, the story isn’t that unlike a lot of comedies we see in Hollywood. A guy lying to his boss, lying to his wife, to accomplish a task of questionable intentions. We had a very comedic conceit to this movie, and we just thought, what if we shot it like a drama. Played the whole thing for real, instead of jokes, and let the behaviors be the root of the comedy.
The IBang: Is that why you filmed the movie with such a dark palette and used a more dramatic score?
Jarrad Paul: Yeah, we wanted all the humor to come from the behavior of the characters. We talked about movies like Fargo and The Informant, really dry, dark comedies about guys really digging themselves into holes. And we also really loved John Hughes movies that mix comedy and drama equally.
Andrew Mogel: Treat it too comically, the basic premise can get too silly. So we wanted to make sure we were always asking “what if this really happened” how it would ultimately end up.
The IBang: I know when it came out of Sundance, there was a lot of talk about the sex scene, but not much about the aftermath, which is when the film becomes really funny and thoughtful. Were you concerned that people might be distracted and miss the larger ideas of the film?
Jarrad Paul: I don’t think so. Some people are going to focus in…
Andrew Mogel: And going into Sundance, we knew a lot of people were going to do that.
Jarrad Paul: …But to us, the movie was always about the aftermath and what happens to Jack post that scene. And how they treat the experience so differently.
Andrew Mogel: One guy never thinks about it again, the other can’t stop thinking about it. We liked that idea. But for us, it was never about shock value. We never wanted it to be the headline of the movie.
Jarrad Paul: For us, it wasn’t about their sexuality, it’s all about their need for acceptance and the effect rejection has on someone’s psyche
Andrew Mogel: The feeling of rejection is something that hits home, no matter where it’s coming from. You don’t even have to like someone, but you don’t want them to reject you. “Why aren’t you interested in me? What is it about me?”
The IBang: How did you convince Dermot Mulroney to play himself?
Jarrad Paul: He was excited about doing it. He had done a season of Mike White’s show Enlightened, and Mike just got on the phone with him and asked. And this guy was so nice to get on a plane and shoot a scene in New Orleans for what might have been a four hour shoot. He just really liked the idea of playing himself as an asshole.
The IBang: And your heart just breaks for James’s character during that scene.
Andrew Mogel: It was important to show that side of his character. The audience knows that James isn’t what Jack thinks he is, but to see him so vulnerable at that moment is a big part of getting you on his side. That moment of having no confidence, put he and Jack on the same level.
The IBang: Was it hard to shoot in New Orleans and make it look like a small town and LA?
Andrew Mogel: Yeah, New Orleans looks like nothing like LA or Pittsburg. We were just looking for a neighborhood that didn’t look identifiable to New Orleans. But finding LA locations turned out to be really hard. And ultimately, we needed a day in LA, just shooting Jack and James walking in and out of bars on the Sunset Strip one night. And we also shot James’s fake Banana Boat ad on the beach that day.
The IBang: Was it hard to get permission from Banana Boat?
Jarrad Paul: Actually no, they were great.
Andrew Mogel: But they lucked out having James do a Banana Boat ad for them.
The D Train is playing in theaters now. Check local theater listings. Get more information at D-TrainMovie.com.
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