Topher Grace not only stars in Take Me Home Tonight but also executive produces and came up with the idea for the film. Grace and producer Gordon Kaywin have been best friends since their teens, and their shared history of graduating high school, heading off to college, and then trying to figure out what they really wanted to do with their lives provided the basis for this R-rated comedy. Although it's set in the '80s - with all its bizarre hairdos and weird fashions - Grace believes Take Me Home Tonight could take place anytime and still make the same connection with audiences.
The story follows Matt (Grace), a 23 year old recent graduate of MIT who chooses to not immediately cash in on his engineering degree and instead takes a job working at a Suncoast Video store. Matt isn't ready to admit it's time to take on adult responsibilities, but when the girl he crushed on in high school, Tori (Teresa Palmer), walks into his store and invites him to a summer blow-out party, he vows to win her over - and he'll do whatever it takes. Anna Faris co-stars as Matt's twin sister; Dan Fogler plays his best friend and accomplice, Barry.
And speaking of Suncoast Video, Grace has personal knowledge of what it's like to work in a video store. "I worked at a Stanford Mall Suncoast for two summers, and my theory was that I would watch movies all summer long – that’s what I was going to do anyway. I wasn’t that social at that time. Then I got there and they played one movie, which is Space Jam. Space Jam, as you know, is one of the finest films ever made, so I was lucky to be able to watch that over 3,000 times," revealed Grace, laughing.
At the LA press day for Take Me Home Tonight, Palmer said she's not sure why they don't make movies like the ones from the 1980s anymore. "I think that what we really wanted to do with our film was celebrate the ‘80s. We didn’t want to poke fun of that time," explained Palmer. "I think a lot of movies these days, they stick to one genre so if it’s a romantic comedy, it’s just all about romance and they don’t have the raunchy side to it or the action. With our film, what we really wanted to capture was all of those elements, I think. It’s raunchy but it’s also romantic. [...]I really think those John Hughes films could capture those sorts of things, and I think that’s what we set out to achieve."
And Grace said a lot of thought was given to the film's soundtrack. "All of the songs from the movie, when my producing partner and I came up with the idea for the film, before we hired writers – we didn’t write it. [We had a] loose idea for the story, which was actually not much because we all just go to a party one night, but we came up with an ultimate '80s mix, and it was under the guidelines that – and we felt like this for everything – for wardrobe, for the jokes in the film, that none of it is making fun of the '80s. We want to be the first movie that doesn’t spoof the '80s, the first movie that actually is like it was made in the '80s and has affection for the '80s and how great one of these nights can be. The way Dazed and Confused did it in the '90s about the '70s, and American Graffiti did it in the '70s about the '50s, no one had done it for this generation."Grace auditioned lots of actress to fill the role of his high school dream girl, but once he saw Palmer he immediately knew she was right for the role of Tori. "When it came up that she was in the States, because at the time I think you were splitting your time more between [Australia and America], and I’d never auditioned actors before. I’d been in auditions, many auditions, but I’d never been the one on the other side of the room. You learn so much by doing that as an actor," explained Grace. "It was amazing because you have so many people come in and they’re all really good – there are no bad actors that really come in; they’re all professional actors. But then when someone like Teresa walks in, who is obviously beautiful - which is really important for the role - but also has an amazing sense of humor and really invests in the material... It’s a light comedy movie, but there’s some heavier undertones, it was like a grand-slam. I remember Joanna Colbert, who’s the casting director, running out of the room at the end over to [producer] Brian Grazer’s office, not even asking, it was so obvious. No one was like, 'Hey, what do you think? You guys think so?' She was like, 'Oh, sh-t!' And just ran."
If Grace thought the casting process was rough, the road to actually getting the film released was even more difficult. Filmed back in 2007, Take Me Home Tonight will finally play in theaters beginning March 4, 2011, thanks to Relativity Media. That's a long time between wrapping up shooting and the actual release, but Palmer said she knew it would eventually make its way to theaters. "I always had faith in the film," said Palmer. "I knew it would find its feet. We’re so proud of the movie. Unfortunately, with the ‘80s comes a bit of controversy. It’s definitely a hard R, and sometimes as a studio that’s a scary thing to have to endorse. That’s what the troubles were that we ran into. Then we found another studio who ended up embracing the movie and understood what it was and what it was supposed to say, and they really got on board and ended up putting more into the film, didn’t take anything out of it. That was really nice for us."
Grace said when Relativity Media came on board as distributor, they didn't demand changes to the film. "That’s what’s so great about Relativity, and we’re so thankful, is that because it’s an indie film, it’s a hard-R. We were on the cusp about having to change stuff, and we were at a place where – I mean, I promise you I had the idea for it with my producing partner – everything is in there that we wanted. We had to put stuff back in. Some studios might not be into all that stuff. You can’t pull any punches if you’re going to do – I mean, it’s not a documentary, it is fiction, the fact that I get with her is probably the most fictional element," said Grace, laughing. "But you do have a responsibility, the way studios probably had a problem with Dazed and Confused when they’re smoking pot, and probably with all the drinking in American Graffiti. There’s a kid who’s probably 18 now, right today, and he’ll be making a movie about the '90s in 10 years and everyone will be giving him sh-t about ecstasy. And it’ll go forward like that forever."
Grace joked that it's "literally imperative" to include breasts and cocaine in an '80s comedy, and that's one of the reasons the film has its R rating. "It’s like air. Oxygen. It was really important to us because we wanted to go for a really hard R. Mostly because that’s what real life feels like. If you’re in your 20s, look, it’s one thing if you’re making Up and you’re experiencing it through that kid’s point of view. That’s the right rating for that movie. But for something like this, if you’re in your 20s in the '80s...w can’t do the Prohibition without showing people drinking. It wouldn’t be realistic."
"It’s grounded in reality, there’s going to be cocaine there," added Palmer. "There’s going to be boobs and threesomes."
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Take Me Home Tonight hits theaters on March 4, 2011 and is rated R for language, sexual content and drug use.
