@ The Movies Interviews: Ridley Scott, Alison Lohman

For the lack of better words, nothing is alien to acclaimed director Ridley Scott when it comes to exploring the boundaries of his creative space -- and he proves it once again by mastering the comedy route in the new quirky con artist film "Matchstick Men."

Scott's contributions to the film world since his debut more than 25 years ago with the period drama "The Duellists" have been diverse, to say the least.

After creating the modern-day science-fiction classics "Alien" (soon to get the director's cut treatment) and "Blade Runner" he's successfully ventured into the fantasy ("Legend"), war ("Black Hawk Down"), action epic ("Gladiator") and horror ("Hannibal") films without being pigeon-holed in any one particular genre.

Of course, Scott's films have largely been defined by the director's incredible handle on visual storytelling. But no matter what sort of vision Scott has for his films, he'll be the first to tell you that it wouldn't be possible without a good script -- and "Matchstick Men" was no different.

"I'm a pretty cynical reader, so you know pretty quickly when you're in the hands of a good writer," Scott told me in a recent @ The Movies interview. "I was reading this script tensely, hoping that they were not going to drop the ball, and this is one of those rare occasions when you get a really good play."

Cons, Comedy And Cage

One of Scott's career watershed moments came with "Thelma and Louise," the gritty and poignant Susan Sarandon-Geena Davis road drama that earned Scott his first Best Director Oscar nomination.

The story of Roy Waller (Nicolas Cage), a con artist who struggles with ticks, phobias and the revelation that he's the parent of a 14-year-old girl (Alison Lohman), "Matchstick Men" is similar to "Thelma and Louise" in that it focuses less on action and delves deeper into the complexity of its characters.

But the other similarity to "Thelma and Louise" -- and perhaps the most fulfilling thing to Scott -- is that "Matchstick Men" was just a huge amount fun to shoot.

It was one of the films that I'd have to put down as really fun," Scott beamed. "Sometimes it's not a pleasure to go to work, but in this instance, it was always fun and I was always looking forward to going to work the next day. I haven't had as much fun since I did 'Thelma and Louise.' That was really enjoyable."

Of course, a funny script lends itself to good vibes on the set - given, of course, that the scenes are properly executed. In the case of "Matchstick Men," Scott decided that if he were to capture the comedic magic from his stars, he'd have to film the scenes with fewer takes, and at a faster than normal pace.

"Comedy is very difficult to do, but in a funny kind of way, if you have it on paper, then speed is essential," Scott described. "It's like telling that funny joke - it's only really funny once. I think to keep things fresh, you also have to do things swift and decisive. If you cast your film right, chances are the actors are going to get it right in two or three takes."

While the issue of timing was critical to Scott, another concern was to find the right balance for Cage playing a character wracked with a host of mental disorders. The question wasn't whether the Oscar-winning actor could pull it off (his amazing dual portrayal in "Adaptation" solidified his position in Hollywood as the king of quirk), it was a matter of finding the proper balance so he didn't come off as cartoonish, or worse yet, outright offensive.

"The trickiest bit for both of us was keeping an eye on what was too much and what was too little," Scott explained to me. "Also, we didn't want to cross certain lines. I didn't want to make him sad. I wanted to be sympathetic, always, of course, and humorous, ideally. So when you walk down that road you don't want to actually offend anyone who may actually in essence, have a similar tick. Eventually we had sort of a mini arbitration at the end of each take asking ourselves whether we should get less or more."

Family Of Filmmakers

As we learn in the film, Cage is reluctant to teach Lohman the tricks of the trade, because, well, it's illegal -- and he knows of the repercussions of getting caught. But whether what you do is illegal or not, having your children follow in your professional footsteps creates a quandary for parents. After all, gaining years of experience naturally provides people with firsthand accounts of the ups and downs of any particular business.

"My kids are 38, 36 and 25 now, and they're all directors, funny enough," Scott told me. "I've never encouraged them to go into the business either as an actor or a director because it's a tough business, so they had to make that decision for themselves. But once they were in, you can give them advice and your opinion, which are both very useful."

Not surprisingly, Scott says when he gathers in with his kids and brother, acclaimed director Tony Scott ("Top Gun," "True Romance," "Spy Game"), it provides for a convenient forum for the family to bounce questions about the business off one another.

"It's not like we get together on weekends just to talk about making movies, but because we're all in the same profession, there's a funny little club that we have so they can discuss various writing and directing problems they have at the moment," Scott said.

"Consequently there's an unusual closeness in our family, which given the fact that they are in their later years, is pretty good."

Lohman Finds 'Match' In Scott, Cage

Scott had another child, in a sense, directing Lohman in "Matchstick Men." But in a separate @ The Movies interview, it was the actress who likened Scott to a child because of his youthful demeanor on the set.

"He's like a wide-eyed 5-year-old," Lohman enthused. "He has such of a youthful curiosity for life."

There's no question that Lohman has that same youthful curiosity, but the amazing thing is, while she plays 14 in the film, she's going on 24 in real life.

Laughing when I told her that she has 10 more years before she has to worry about playing 24-year-olds, Lohman gushed even more at the mention again of her drop-dead resemblance to a young Jessica Lange.

"I get that all the time," said Lohman, who's continually amazed at the comparison. "I'm even playing the younger version of her in my next movie ('Big Fish')."

While Lohman clearly resembles Lange (and, oddly enough, Lohman told me her father is from Lange's home state of Minnesota), she also clearly possesses the charisma of the acclaimed actress.

It no doubt helped her secure her first big role opposite Michelle Pfeiffer, Renee Zellweger and Robin Wright-Penn in the 2002 family drama "White Oleander," and she beams with the same sort of energy once again as Cage's daughter in "Matchstick Men."

Not surprisingly, Lohman said Cage was really like a father figure to her on the film, and she soaked up every thing she could learn by being around him.

"I tried to learn from him, but not during the filming of the scenes since I had to focus as he did on every part of the character," Lohman said. She said the lessons instead came on a subconscious level, where she picked up his technique "by osmosis."

"I was just amazed that I got the chance to work with him," Lohman said. "He's very subtle and nuanced -- he's a great actor."