“Don McKay” Review + Plus Tom, Jake, Elisabeth interviewed

By Daniel Dominguez on April 2nd, 2010

I had the good fortune to be sent by Manolith to screen “Don McKay”, the latest movie to star the brilliant/ physically imposing Thomas Haden Church, and to sit down the director Jake Goldberger, Thomas Haden Church, and Elizabeth Shue. I interviewed them all yesterday, and though I ended up getting a parking ticket, it was totally worth it. That’s right, interviewing Thomas Haden Church, Elisabeth Shue, and Jake Goldberger is at least worth $45.00 plus a $2.00 over the phone payment transaction fee.

The film “Don McKay’ is a darkly comic thriller along the lines of “Blood Simple”, “Don McKay”, and “Other Films In That Genre”. It was very funny. The tone of the film is not at all imparted by the poster, which makes the movie seem like it’s going to be a depressing, terrifying journey into the psyche of a madman. The movie is actually about a misanthropic janitor who travels back to his hometown after being invited by a girl he went out with briefly in high school, and is subsequently pulled into an ever crazier web of hilarious intrigue. There is so much death and dying in this film it can’t not be funny. The intensely dark sense of humor the film has is even more surprising when you actually meet the director, who laughs like a puppy.

Thomas Haden Church has long been a favorite of mine partly because he’s strong enough that if I disliked him I would worry that he would come for me, and partly because he generally picks smart, dark, funny roles. Thomas is best known for his roles in “Sideways”, “Wings”, and his portrayal of “Goban Toba” in Ys Book I & 2.

Elisabeth Shue is another favorite of mine, and has been since I saw “Leaving Las Vegas” a movie about making the entire audience deeply depressed for at least a week.

I got to sit down with the two of them to talk about “Don McKay”, and we also ended up talking about auditions, and how Thomas Haden Church fucked up his hand and DIY fixed it himself, because apparently Thomas Haden Church is the toughest man alive:

Dan: What happened to your hand?

Thomas Haden Church: [I] smashed it between two fifty pound salt blocks.

-and then before anyone could ask what he did next:

Thomas Haden Church: I drilled it out myself. With a drill. I made the nanny faint.

(at this point me and Elisabeth both make horrified, yet impressed noises for the next several minutes)

We somehow transitioned from that to the audition process:

Thomas Haden Church: When I first came to L.A. I quickly became aware that when I would go into a casting office or to meet with a director or something. I was always sunken into a couch, and they were in chairs looming over me. That’s why when I was a young actor, and I would go into auditions, I would stand up so I wouldn’t be in a sunken couch with every other sap that came in here today.

Dan: So what’s the worst audition experience you’ve ever had.

Thomas Haden Church: They’re all horrible.

Elisabeth Shue: Yeah, there are no good ones.

Thomas Haden Church: Honestly, most of the roles I’ve gotten weren’t even through auditions.

Elisabeth Shue: I think that’s true for a lot of good actors. Because I think as an actor you need reality, if you’re really that kind of person who likes to express themselves in an honest way. You need some sort of reality.

Dan: What about “Don McKay” what attracted you both to the film?

Elisabeth Shue: What attracted me to the movie was the chance to work with [Tom]. And then on top of that it was a great character. I love playing characters that are on the edge. I think great characters have to be on the edge, about to fall over. And I was scared to play her. Whenever I read something and I go “I don’t think I can pull this one off”. Then I know I have to do it.

Thomas Haden Church: The first time I read the script I loved how disconnected he was, which made me uncomfortable. Because he’s a totally non verbal guy and I’m a hyper verbal guy. And uncomfortable is a really challenging place to start.

- With that interview done, and having gone fabulously well, we all exchanged information and agreed that we should get an apartment together in the big city and have lots of crazy adventures, learning a little something about ourselves in the process.

I then sat down with the Director/Writer Jake Goldberger, who was about my age, except successful. The first thing I noticed about him was that he smelled great. The second thing I noticed was that he was a young guy. Only 32 years old, Jake Goldberger has the talented eye of someone who was at least 33 or 34. “Don McKay” is a great first film, funny, smart, challenging, and full of murders. And I was hoping that Jake Goldberger would be at least two out of four of those things.

Dan: This is your first big thing right?

Jake: First big anything. It’s been a crazy ride. This was a real labor of love obviously. It took me seven years to fucking do, so, like I had to move back in with my parents, which is very humbling as a thirty year old. Literally in my twin bed, painted blue walls, Motley Crue poster, trundle.

Dan: You never took down the Crue poster huh?

Jake: Every day I’d wake up with Vince Neil, Doctor Feelgood, holding a huge drill in my face.

Dan: Is he thrusting at you? Those guys do a lot of thrusting.

Jake: Yeah he’s leaning out, at you. But he’s a doctor you know, you gotta respect that.

Dan: Perhaps that’s where you get your desire to write about violence from. I noticed that in your movie. I think pretty much, even people that aren’t in your movie, die in your movie.

Jake: [Laughing] I wanted to do something that accommodated my sense of humor. It’s the type of movie I would want to see. Often times life situations, if you’re having a really bad day, you just wanna step back and say, this is so horrible, that it’s funny.

- Then we got off track and talked about how it was a problem that I thought “Precious” was funny. Jake’s a really nice guy, and “Don McKay” is as dark and funny as Jake is laid back and comfortable. If you’re looking for a noir thriller amidst all the spring time Hollywood claptrap about training dragons and hot chicks getting with not so hot guys, give “Don McKay” a chance, you’ll be very pleasantly surprised. And by “pleasantly surprised” I mean “enjoying lots of killing and misanthropy”.