Blog commentary on "Pierre and the Prodigal Son"

One of the things I hoped to do in this blog was give some commentary on the scenes that I release here. So, here's some commentary on the latest scene, "Pierre and the Prodigal Son"

First, the scene. In case you haven't seen it (go ahead, it's short).



Early on in the writing of Ocean Front, I knew that I wanted to make Pierre more than just a one-note antagonist that Rick had to compete with. But it was important that he be formidably intimidating. So, I wanted him to be "ridiculously good looking" as Derek Zoolander would say, but I wanted him to be empathetic. Having him be a "bad guy" would be too easy. It's easy for Rick to hate him. It's easy for the audience to hate him. Making him likable - and maybe even the best person in the story - that's hard.

Thad, whom I've been friends with for a while now, was always in my mind for Pierre. Not only is he ridiculously good looking, he's also a genuinely cool and likeable guy. So, he was on board from the beginning. Even before I knew I'd be playing Rick, I knew Thad would play Pierre.

I chose to go ahead and put it out there that he has issues with Rick from almost the moment he shows up. He comes right out and explains it later, but I wanted to get out right at the beginning that he feels he's living in Rick's shadow. Later on, he can't believe that Rick doesn't see the power he still weilds over their relationship.

I've often said my favorite scenes in the movie are the ones I'm not in. This short but sweet scene is one of them. I think Thad and Lizzie look very natural here and give us a nice peek into the relationship between these two. It also hints at the near obsessive nature of Valerie that comes to play in a big way later in the movie ("I used to care what they thought, but ever since I met you, their opinion has become meaningless.")

It's also a scene that proves yet again that what I think is funny on the page and what is funny in the movie isn't always what others will think is funny. The part where he says, "Honey, you just listed another reason for them to hate me," always made me smile. Just the fact that in trying to convince him that her parents like him, she winds up proving his point. But, it's never really gotten much reaction in screenings.

Oh well. I still like it.

And the music from Goldenboy at the end is one of my more favorite pieces of music in the film. It plays through a couple more scenes, actually.