by Frank Calvillo
Box Office Alternative Column
Box Office Alternative is a weekly look into additional/optional choices to the big-budget spectacle opening up at your local movie theater every Friday. Oftentimes, titles will consist of little-known or underappreciated work from the same actor/writer/director/producer of said new release, while at other times, the selection for the week just happens to touch upon the same subject in a unique way. Above all, this is a place to revisit and/or discover forgotten cinematic gems of all kinds.
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg recalled their glory days this past weekend with the enthusiastically received Bridge of Spies. The Coen brothers-scripted Cold War thriller has been hailed as one of the Spielberg’s best efforts in years and reaffirms his status as not only one of the most influential people in film, but also as an incredibly versatile filmmaker drawn to any kind of story, regardless of size or scope.
Without question, one of the best examples of this notion can be found in the Spielberg-produced 2012 drama People Like Us.
In People Like Us, a fast-talking New York salesman named Sam (Chris Pine) is summoned back home to L.A. following the death of his estranged record producer father Jerry. Upon arriving with his girlfriend Hannah (Olivia Wilde), Sam has a tense reunion with his mother Lillian (Michelle Pfeiffer) and a surprising meeting with his father’s attorney. It turns out that Jerry has left $150,000 in cash for Sam with instructions that the money be delivered to a boy named Josh (Michael Hall D’Adarrio), whose mother Frankie (Elizabeth Banks), a recovering alcoholic, is Jerry’s long lost daughter. Over the course of a few days, Sam finds himself befriending Frankie and Josh as he wrestles over how to reveal his true identity to them and whether or not Lillian knows about her husband’s past.
The project was the directorial debut from Alex Kurtzman, one-half of the screenwriting team behind the mega-blockbuster Transformers series, which Spielberg produced. Having been written years before Kurtzman found success, the script languished for quite some time until it found its way onto Spielberg’s desk. The legendary director found himself moved by the small drama and instantly put the project into production at Dreamworks.
A family drama in the tradition of Ordinary People and Terms of Endearment, People Like Us is the kind of drama where flawed characters, real-life situations and well-written dialogue populate the screen. There isn’t a single character in the entire film who doesn’t bear some sort of resemblance to someone the audience knows in real life. The characters of Sam, Frankie and Lillian specifically are painted as genuinely complicated individuals living with various inner demons, which Kurtzman treats with respect. Even the film’s two biggest dramatic moments (Frankie learning Sam’s true identity and Lillian and Sam’s confrontation) are handled in such a graceful, yet riveting way.
In some ways, People Like Us works as a sort of indictment of the L.A. music scene of the late 70s and early 80s and the carefree way of life which was commonplace, including sex, drugs and rock-n-roll. Listening to Lillian tell of meeting Sam’s dad at 17 years old, with her hopes of being the next Stevie Knicks and the reality she eventually got, definitely recalls that one-of-a-kind era.
Ultimately this is a film is about the stuff people leave behind when they die and how certain life choices effect more than just the individual making them. Though we never see him, Jerry’s ghost is present throughout People Like Us through each of the characters we encounter as he is partially responsible for the lives they currently lead. Too often when someone dies, they leave behind loved ones with unresolved feelings and unanswered questions who are forced to put the pieces together as best they know how. Though other films portray this idea, very few manage to do it as effectively as People Like Us does.
Besides boasting an extremely well-written screenplay and a perfect score from A.R. Rahman, one of the film’s strongest features is the touching view it gives of L.A. From scenes shot at local iconic places such as Henry’s Tacos and Rhino Records, to the Laurel Canyon neighborhood where a great nighttime scene between Lillian and Sam takes place as the lights of the city shine in the background, Kurtzman captures the city in a way not many other filmmakers have.
Though I’ve never been too much of a Chris Pine fan, the actor manages enough pathos and conflict as Sam in what is probably the strongest role of the actor’s career so far. Likewise, Banks once again reminds everyone of her more than serviceable dramatic abilities as the damaged, yet capable Frankie. Wilde is a nice presence but only exists to ask questions on behalf of the audience for a short spell, before disappearing for most of the film, while D’Adarrio proves himself a natural and formidable scene stealer. Finally, in what is perhaps the film’s most deceptively complex role, a deglamorized (yet still radiant) Pfeiffer is a powerhouse of emotions as a woman living with the ghosts of the past.
Originally titled “Welcome to People,” the film seemed to have enough going for it to suggest it would become a well-received weepie. Even Spielberg was reported to have cried after seeing an early cut. However, after being re-branded with a more generic title (much to Pine’s reported dislike) and a summer release date where it was forced to compete with the likes of Ted and Magic Mike, any dreams of major awards and healthy box office returns, were quickly dashed.
Ironically enough, People Like Us ended up being one of the best reviewed films of the summer with a number of critics praising the film’s script and performances (in particular Pfeiffer’s), including Richard Roeper, who even went so far as to name People Like Us as one of his favorite films of the year.
Most were quick to point out the somewhat comic irony that individuals with looks like Pine and Pfeiffer were starring in movie called People Like Us. And yet, in its own way, the title does work. If People Like Us is successful in any one area, it’s in the notion that regardless of the circumstances, everyone has a life and everyone has a journey.
