Some have a tendency to overcompensate when something is overlooked, and I have that ailment when it comes to filmmaker Nicole Holofcener (“Enough Said,” “Please Give“). Writing and directing sharp, funny, honest, insightful female-led and driven indie movies for over 20 years, I want to say that I read somewhere recently where “Ladybird” director Greta Gerwig herself said there would be no Greta Gerwig or “Ladybird” without Nicole Holofcener. I might be making that up in my mind. Also, I believe it to be kind of true.
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Having helped gift us Catherine Keener (1996’s “Walking And Talking” and almost all her films), showed Jennifer Aniston was more than just “Friends” (2001’s “Friends With Money“), and given rich great female parts to actors like Frances McDormand, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Emily Mortimer, Amanda Peet, Rebecca Hall, and more—plus one of James Gandolfini’s most emotional roles in “Enough Said”—Holofcener’s been offering her compassionate, funny/sad look at the human condition for three decades and she’s arguably been rarely given her due. At least, if she’d been compared to Woody Allen for twenty years (too surface), she’s never gained that kind of acclaim and awareness (it’s also crazy that in 22 years she’s only directed five feature films unlike Allen who’s made a film a year for decades).
I digress. Her latest film is another humane comedy, “The Land Of Steady Habits” which was released on Netflix late last month (yes, my homework is a bit late). Starring Ben Mendelsohn with Edie Falco, Elizabeth Marvel, Connie Britton, and Thomas Mann, “The Land Of Steady Habits” is something of a coming age tale featuring Anders, a disillusioned 50-something (Mendelsohn), who essentially blows up his life for no good reason. Somewhat existentially bored, after leaving his wife and his job to find “happiness”—something he almost instantly regrets when he finds the grass is always greener— a spiritually lost Anders befriends a drug-addicted teen, sending him down a path of reckless and shameful behavior.
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It’s funny, it’s painful to watch, it’s tender and melancholy, and full of the rich emotional palate Holofcener always brings to the table. I spoke to the empathetic writer/director right before “The Land Of Steady Habits” premiere in Toronto last month. The interview is belated, but the dramedy is sitting right there on Netflix, available to dial up whenever you like.
There’s all this—very good!— talk of female directors, female-driven stories and how we need more of it (we do). It made me think [sarcastically], “Gee, I wonder if any knew of any female writer/directors who have been doing this very thing for 20 years? Where could we possibly find one?”
[Laughs] Yeah, I know. Here I am. I’ve been here all along!
There’s a bit of a sea change out there… maybe? Do you feel it?
The sea change? I guess I feel it in conversation more than I feel it literally because I’m just in my house, having my own life. I’m not a producer or I don’t have a production company trying to make more films. But I do think companies have been shamed enough that they’re doing it. I don’t care what reason they’re doing it for—shame, embarrassment or because they really believe in it—as long as it gets done, as long as we get more chances. And it seems like they’re giving women more chances and people of color more chances.
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All of that background texture is interesting given your career and considering that “The Land Of Steady Habits“ features your first male protagonist.
That’s right, I’m a rule breaker! I’m a maverick! [laughs] Yeah, it’s coincidental. My movies are never making a political statement anyway, so I just go by what inspires me.
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It’s almost counterintuitive given the culture right now, but I guess you just make stories when you make stories. You can’t really capture the zeitgeist.
Right, I just write. A lot of people do try and capture the zeitgeist and write very topically and I don’t; it’s just not been my way. For me, this book came along, and I loved it, and I love this character, so I wasn’t gonna not do it because it was a male lead. That’d be crazy. Just like it would be crazy for someone to take on a project with a female lead that they didn’t like.
It’s also the first time you adapted someone else’s work for a narrative, right?
I’ve actually done it before, but this is the first time I’m directing it. But yeah, that was really interesting to do. Eventually, I kind of forgot, it just felt like I wrote it after a while because I felt so connected to it and I directed it as if it was mine with the same amount of care. The writer was so happy with everything; he was so supportive. I didn’t have any pushback in that way either, so it was pretty smooth.
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That’s fair. Had I not known, I would’ve assumed you wrote it.
Really? That’s great! That means I have some kind of style or something [laughs].
So what was the kernel in the book that spoke to you and sparked you to make it?
I just loved the main character. I loved how flawed he was, how filled with shame he is. I loved his relationship with his son—I have two sons and it’s not like that relationship, but I empathized with his parenting limitations and the kid. You say I could have written it, but I think part of me was drawn to it because I would never write this story. I would never pick a family in Westport, Connecticut, and have all these drugs and tragedies happen. I thought, “Oh, this is gonna be a challenge for me,” and that’s usually a good sign.
