In depth exclusive interview with legendary writer/director/producer Jonathan Lynn.

Yesterday I sat down to speak with venerated writer/director Jonathan Lynn about his impressive career in film as well as his newly released film, Wild Target (2010).

When I first told him what an inspiration and icon he was for me, he told me it 'startled' him; his humble attitude thus began my even greater appreciation for him.

Our interview took place with me in Dorset, England and him in Los Angeles, CA via skype; ironic as he is from West country England and I am from southern California. He is a cheery English chap and even gave me a virtual tour of his livingroom with his i-cam. He stayed patient with me while my computer camera flashed on and off like strobe lights from a horror film... rather frustrating but funny.

Jonathan Lynn grew up in Bath, England. He started acting as a young man and it was then that he decided he wanted to write and direct films. In 1990 Jonathan and his wife were living in London while he was directing Nuns on the Run (1990) with Eric Idle and Robbie Coltrane. Jonathan wanted to "make comedies that were about something other than just getting laughs", but at that time in the British film industry, no one wanted to make comedies. "It seemed to be considered vulgar not to make films that were not 'important'", he conveyed. The public wanted serious films like The Killing Fields (1984) or The Mission (1986), Jonathan recounts; however, at the time he shot Nuns on the Run Screen International informed him that it was the only film being shot in the UK at that moment.

It was almost immediately after Nuns on the Run that Jonathan was offered a directing job in LA and came to move to California in 1990. As Hollywood is where it's at, he ended up staying for the past twenty years. He never planned to make his home in LA but that is how it happens. C'est la vie! Then we both made some jokes about life... He thus quoted Thornton Wilder's play The Matchmaker, "Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!" lol! Isnt it the truth!

The first film he made in LA was Clue (1985). Years later after Nuns On The Run, he returned to LA to make My Cousin Vinny (1992) which won Marisa Tomei 'Best Supporting Actress' Oscar that year. Jonathan states: "What drew me to Vinny, being British, was that I saw it was about the class system. Vinny and Lisa were blue collar garage mechanics and Vinny was up against people with old money in the deep south. The Judge went to Yale. The prosecutor was Jim Trotter III. No one expected that film to be such a success! It was also a very anti-capital punishment film and I am profoundly anti-capital punishment."

Lynn went on to make Distinguished Gentleman (1992) with Eddie Murphy, a film about a political lobbyist in Washington. It was a film about the best con-men being American congressmen and Eddie Murphy as a con-man congressman. Lynn said, "I loved working with Eddie. He is so good at improv and manages to keep his continuity the same even when he is improvising. An unusual skill."

Lynn explained that he loved making these kinds of films, comedies with underlying 'significant resonance' told in a humorous way. While comedies are the hardest kinds of films to make, to the film world they are typically not considered important or artistic. "It is harder to raise money for intelligent comedies at the moment as comedy has been dumbed down," Jonathan comments, "my films have all been made for below the budget of the average Hollywood film. It goes back to the Jaws blockbuster. Do you know about that history?" I didnt. So, he went on...

"Before Jaws, films were usually only released in about 400 screens nationwide, at most, and then more would be released later if word of mouth caught on and people liked it. In the days of Lawrence of Arabia (1962), big films like Lawrence of Arabia, My Fair Lady, and South Pacific were called road shows. 'Road shows' were long films, only two perfomances a day - afternoon and evening - reserved numbered seats at high prices, like a stage show, and only playing in one theatre in any major city. So they had a run of a year or two in each theatre they played. Word of mouth built. Then they were slowly and carefully released wider and wider. This increased the box office while massively reducing publicity costs; plus very many fewer prints needed to be made. Word of mouth was everything. Since Jaws (1975), success is based on opening weekend box offices. Opening weekend marketing and figures are all that matters so if it isn't marketed well, the film doesnt survive. All that counts is who is in it and the trailer, and if it isn't good then you just dont open.

We went on to discuss his film Sgt. Bilko (1996) with Steve Martin. He loved working with Steve but this is the film he is least proud of. "It did okay but this film lacked any significance for me. There were funny moments but, no one could understand it. When the original Sgt Bilko TV series was made, virtually every man in America had been in the army. They were drafted. It was only ten years after World War II and since then there had been the Korean War. Today no one is drafted, and we have a very small volunteer army. So the vast majority of the public has never experienced being the army, and the film therefore didn't mean a lot to our audience. Comedy is about recognition. If you don't recognize what's going on, you don't usually laugh."

"My film Trial and Error (1997) was released at the same time as Spielberg's Lost World and thus, that was that. But the one great success of that film was Charlize Theron. At the time no one knew who she was. She only had a supporting role in the film, but she was the best part of it and what people wanted to see. She was stunning and extremely talented. It was after this film that she was offered her role in Devil's Advocate (1997) opposite Al Pacino."

I then asked Jonathan if he would tell me about his latest film, Wild Target (2010), which has opened in Britain and France. It will shortly open in Australia and other European countries. It will open in NY and LA on November 5th. It was shot between England and in the Isle of Man. This was a remake of Pierre Salvadori's film made twenty years ago. Made on a 'shoestring budget', it is a charming film featuring a remarkably talented cast with Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt, and some of Britain's greatest actors. I went on to converse with Jonathan. He asked me questions about my own crazy life in cinema jumping from country to country creating my own world cinema web. He congratulated me on my unique lifestyle and told me he looks forward to reading my books. I asked him if he travels a lot for film festivals. He said he rarely travels and doesnt like film festivals. "Most film festivals dont appreciate my kind of films; they tend to prefer art films" he says with a smile. As if smart comedies were not art? Hello, anyone every heard of Shakespeare? Some of the greatest plays and films of all times were comedies but, he is so right. So, he continued, "I was at Cannes Film Festival only once and that was for two days. I did go to the Karlovy Vary festival in Czech Republic and that was good. "

Most people do not consider comedy as art. Drama has to be felt but can be felt by audiences at different moments and at different times. Comedy is immediate. Jonathan voiced that, "if you put a comedy up on the screen in front of 400 people and they don't laugh, it's not funny. Comedy is harder because it is so precise: everyone has to react at the same moment if you are to get big laughs. Drama isn't put to that test. With comedy, it either is or isn't funny." And then of course I agreed that it must be hard to be British with a Birtish sense of humor making comedy films in Hollywood, especially today. We both concorded and he added, "yes, most comedies in America today are aimed at teenage boys. I did like The Hangover (2009) but most comedy films today, well...you know...". He went on, "Im trying to raise money to make a comedy film about the American health system but it's very hard." I told him it's shocking to me how a director like him with his experience cannot find funds to make a film and, believe it or not, it's the hard truth of not only international but Hollywood cinema today. In order for films to get produced these days, you often have multiple companies attached to one film. I laughed aloud when Jonathan said, "I once saw a film with 22 producers attached!" Now, it seems ridiculous but that is the reality.

Well, Jonathan had to go and we signed off. I thanked him and told him I look foward to our next interview in California at his house ;-) hehe!

Thanks Jonathan Lynn. You are an inspiration and an icon! We love you!

July 17, 2010; Interview, by Vanessa McMahon

see film trailer here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmS3ePcA6VU

cast of Wild Target

Jonathan Lynnwith cast