Posts tagged the boys are back

I recently caught up with Clive Owen, (Closer, Sin City, Inside Man, Children Of Men) who gives an Oscar worthy performance in The Boys Will Are Back, one of the most honest depictions of family life and grief I’ve seen in film. Check out the synopsis and my interview below.

Based on the acclaimed memoir by Simon Carr, The Boys are Back in Town, Academy Award® nominee Scott Hicks (Shine) directs Miramax Films’ THE BOYS ARE BACK, inspired by the poignant, comic and uplifting true story of a man who must suddenly raise his two sons alone. After the untimely passing of his second wife, the ill-prepared Joe (Clive Owen) is confronted with the daily challenges of parenthood, while coping not only with his own loss but also with his young son Artie’s expressions of grief. They soon are joined by Harry, Joe’s teenage son from his first marriage, who brings his own personal “baggage” into the mix.

Your performance in this is great, it seems to me this is the most emotional part you’ve ever played, was that what attracted you to the part?

Clive Owen: It was a very beautiful script, I was taken when I read the script. I thought it was unusual in it’s delicacy and intelligence in exploring these relationships, it wasn’t obvious or overly sentimental, it was very delicate and precise. I found it terribly moving. I’m a father myself and parenting is a huge part of my life, when reading the script and getting to the part when he has to tell his boys their mother might not be around for much longer I found it deeply upsetting, just the whole idea of that conversation, then there was this beautiful exploration of both grief and parenting from a guys perspective, it was never heavy or sentimental it was just beautifully written.

When your a doing a film like this, that does have so much emotion and such a journey, there is a chance it will become sentimental or gloopy, I think to the films credit it never felt like that for me, was it hard to keep away from that?

Clive Owen: Scott Hicks and I, the first time we met we were both adamant that we didn’t want to make that kind of film. Personally from my point of view I’ve seen lot’s of family movies, where the family is in this lovely warm bubble and even when things get tough, it stays lovely and sweet, family’s aren’t like that, it’s much more volatile than that, this was a script and project that dealt with it more realistically.

I was always more interested in the times when it was tougher in the film for instance when Artie has the tantrum in the car, I have been in situations like that with my children, I think kids pre 8 or 9 are kind of crazy and manic obsessive and they go into their funks and you have to try and get them out of it, as a parent I could really relate to that scene, I wanted it to be really hard for my character, because all parents will relate. If this was a big hollywood movie, with lot’s of producers caring what would be done, people would worry about the likeability of the character or why are they being so mean to each other, it’s not bad parenting in those situations and I was confident as a parent people would relate to it, they have been in those experiences, it’s not bad parenting, that’s just the up’s and down’s of bringing up children, it was something that was very well explored in the script and which I thought we should keep to as much as possible.

It’s rare that a film like this is from from a man’s point of view.

Clive Owen: Yeah, added to that it’s a memoir based on somebody’s life, those things happened, it’s not a nice idea for a film, it’s all drawn from real experience.

You have so many different types of roles in the films you pick, is that on purpose?

Clive Owen: I don’t set out, I think at the end of the day my career is made up of all my individual choices I’ve made, it is literally an instinctive response, I respond to the material, I read Shoot Em Up and laughed all the way through and thought I want to do that film, it’s crazy and I read this script and I’m interested in it for other reasons. I trained in the theatre, which is all about playing lots of different parts, I enjoy exploring different aspects of myself in the films and people have said to me this film is quite a departure, I never saw it as that but enough people have told me now, I’ve got to accept it.

I’m a parent and being a parent is a big part of my life so I recognised and felt I had similar experiences to a lot of things in the movie, so it felt reasonably familiar, I didn’t have the tragic loss but in terms of the up’s and down’s of parenting I felt I experienced a few of them, at the end of the day it’s all about responding to the material and wanting to work with the director that’s what dictates my decision.

The Boys Are Back is released in the UK January 22nd