What do you think of this idea of movies for grown-ups?
"It’s more than that. It’s movies for people with half a brain and half a heart. I think grown-ups don’t go to movies because they’re much more discerning. We grew up watching classics. Most people would rather stay home and watch Casablanca for the fourth time or the 10th time on Turner Classic Movies than go see Matrix 12 or whatever the hell the flavor of the month is. So it’s somewhere along the lines, somebody came up with this word demographics that never existed when I was a kid. When I was a kid, there was no distinction between a movie about old people or young people. It was either funny or not. It was either entertaining or not. It was either exciting or not. It was either thrilling or not. My favorite actors when I was a kid were in their ‘60s. Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne. My favorite comedians were Jimmy Durante, George Burns, senior citizens. I didn’t [care]. They were funny. So somewhere along the lines, somebody says, ‘We’re going to tell you what you should watch because you’re a certain age.’ So I think not only do we have to have movies for people who are discerning, but have good movies that everybody will watch."
Isn’t it weird that a movie like that has to be small and roll out in a few cities?
"It’ll be smaller until it makes a lot of money. Then it’ll be bigger and then the morons will come up with a new formula. You know, people come up with formulas who are uncreative. They can’t picture something different so they can only go by something that’s laid out for them. So we’ll see."
How do you keep working and infiltrate the demographic?
"I keep working mainly because my wife and I spend most of our time touring the country doing our own plays. And I don’t have to do ka ka parts. I can wait for a good part to come along. I’m not at the mercy of the phone ringing. But, having said that, believe me, as you get older, the parts dry up. They get less and less. But it’s not only me. You talk to any actor, I’m talking big stars. You get to a certain age- - I go to a poker game every week, they’re all people, a lot of them are guys in my age group, a lot of very big stars. We all discuss the same thing. There are no parts. They’re not there, so when you get a part that’s juicy, that has some life to it and has some reality and some texture, it’s great."
Are you okay with it being a specifically older gentleman part?
"It is what it is. It’s a good part and you play it. I’m not going to play a 20 year old. It’d be ridiculous. Although on the stage, you can. The stage is suspension of disbelief. Film is a literal medium."
How are your Internet skills?
"Getting better. Getting much better. I can communicate now. I go online. What I don’t do is I’m not addicted to it and I don’t want to be because I love to read. I get up in the morning, do my e-mail, I check my e-mails all day. I’ll go online and I’ll buy my books at Amazon.com, but I don’t want to buy all of them because I want to go to Duttons and I want to buy books from another human being. So I would say 50/50 I’d buy online and then of course I’d use it for research and I use it when somebody says, ‘Oh, you want to check out…’, like here. Susan, I call Susan Seidelman. I get people who saw the film in Florida, want to know where it’s opening. 'Oh, go to BoyntonBeachthemovie.com.' 'Oh, okay, good,' and forward it to the people who want. So you can’t live without the Internet. As we get older, we resist the new stuff, like I resisted a cell phone for years. Now it’s part of my home. My wife can’t live without a cell phone."
Is your poker game like your own Boynton Beach Club?
"Yeah."
What game?
"Stud. Seven Card Stud."
What about Internet poker?
"I’m on a celebrity [site]. Jimmy Woods and Vince Van Patton have a celebrity poker site where we go on and people play us. As soon as we log in, who wants to play with Joe Bologna? I play for fun. I’m not a serious player. I play to have the camaraderie and for a few laughs. So to me, Texas Hold ‘em puts me to sleep. At least when you play stud, you can be funny as you deal. Somebody some day is going to come up with a Stud show that’s going to work."
