Boynton Beach Club stars a cast of Hollywood legends as friends in a retirement community who begin dating again after losing their spouses of 40+ years. Turns out old folks can have just as much fun with a romantic comedy as Ben Stiller or the American Pie kids.
Interview with Director Susan Seidelman
Will this small movie really influence the idea of movies for grown-ups?
"Well, I don't know. A lot of small movies, I’ll give you an example of a small movie for younger people, look at Blair Witch. Talk about a small movie."
But that went out on 3,000-4000 screens. Isn’t a platform release riskier?
"I’m not sure. This is going to start small because this is a word of mouth movie. The marketing idea is to start it on a small number of screens. As the word of mouth spreads which hopefully it will, they start to expand the screens and they expand according to what the audience tells them. If it’s doing well on 100 screens, they’ll go to 200. If it does well on 200, they’ll go to 400. So it relies very much, because I think it really is an audience movie so it depends on how the real paying audience reacts."
Should it do less than Big Fat Greek Wedding business, would it discourage studios/distributors?
"I don't know if they’re going to say they won’t do that again because again it was made at a budget level where it doesn’t have to do My Big Fat Greek Wedding kind of box office for it to be considered a success. So I think everything, whether something’s a success in part is also about what it costs to make."
Is romantic comedy any different with an older group?
"I think romantic comedy is romantic comedy and some of the situations, the kind of awkwardness of first kisses, the awkwardness of going out on a date with a new person, the awkwardness of having sex, being naked in front of a new person is the same whether you’re going through it at 25 or you’re going through it at 65. I think some of those situations are universal which is why I hope that younger- - I don't know if teenagers will come to the movie but I’m hoping that the 25 and 35 year olds will be able to relate to these situations on some level."
It would be perfect for my grandmother until they start having sex.
"What about your parents? I’m surprised because I don't know, is your grandmother in her ‘70s or so? We’ve had amazing response from the 70-year-olds. 70-year-olds are cooler than you think they are and I think because the scene that deals with sex, I hope it’s tastefully done. I hope it’s respectfully done, so I don't think people will find it offensive in any way."
What’s different about romance/dating then to now?
"From my perspective, I’m not sure anything has changed in terms of the storytelling. I think one of the things that’s changed in terms of the movie industry is that there were a lot more- - back in the ‘70s, particularly in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, I think there were a lot more chances that the studios would take in making different kinds of romantic comedies that had a little bit more of an edge. Nowadays I think movies are so expensive, the studios don’t want to make romantic comedies unless they star one of five women and one of five men, and everything is very happy at the end. And I think that’s because romantic comedies used to be a little cheaper to make. Now they’re getting much more expensive when you have these kind of big stars in them."
Did Something’s Gotta Give help?
"I think that helped. I really think that part of the success, and that was hugely successful, I don't think- - some people might say well, there was a young love story, Keanue Reeves and Amanda Peet was in it. I think people went to see the older love story because it was new. And I think people are looking for new kinds of characters to see on film. At least I hope they are. I am."
Was it important that not every character ends up with someone at the end?
"Yeah, I didn’t want every single story to be tied up with a neat bow. I think for some of the characters, it’s okay that they just move on with their lives and they’ll be fine alone. I mean, that’s what I wanted to get across, that you don’t have to fall in love. You can fall in love with yourself."
