Falk, Reiser Make 'Folks' Family Affair

How's this for a surreal situation? You and your father watch a movie by one of your all-time favorite actors, which inspires you write a script for that actor to essentially play your father on the big screen.

Celebrated actors Peter Falk and Paul Reiser are now living in that parallel universe, having teamed together for the new comedy-drama "The Thing About My Folks."

Based on Reiser's experiences as a son, husband and father, the movie tells the story of father and son Sam (Falk) and Ben (Reiser) Kleinman, who embark on an impromptu road trip after they find out wife and mom Muriel (Olympia Dukakis) has bolted on Sam after 47 years of marriage. Making several stops on the road to upstate New York, Sam and Ben confront past issues and effectively get to know each other like they never have before.

Reiser and Falk joined me for recent @ The Movies interviews to talk about the project, which in some ways was 20 years in the making. Also starring Elizabeth Perkins, the film opens nationwide Friday.

"I got the idea 20 years ago, but have to clarify to people that I wasn't writing that slowly," cracked Reiser, the talented co-star and co-creator of the smash sitcom "Mad About You." "I didn't write it until 19 years later. I always had the idea that I wanted to do it, which was before I met Peter.

"When I did, it was very casual, but I never told him about the project because at best I knew he'd say, 'Great, let me read it' and I'd have to say, 'It's not written yet.' So I didn't say anything," Reiser added. "When I finally did get done writing it, I called him the next morning to say, "I'm bringing this over to your office, if I may."

The interesting thing is that Reiser didn't tell Falk that the script was written exclusively for him.

"Paul never told me anything about why he wrote it -- he never mentioned his father and he never mentioned my father," Falk recalled about reading the script for the first time. "He never put me in a position in which I would feel a lot of external pressure other than wanting my reaction to the script. That's the way I would do it. That's the way I know a real professional would do it. That's the proper to do it."

The great thing about talking with Falk is that you know from the get-go that you're going to get brutal honesty. And, in the case of Reiser's script, the veteran film and television star said that it wouldn't have mattered knowing that the character in the script was written for him -- even if it was a personal situation for the writer.

"It's not proper to give someone a script and say, 'Listen, I'm going to give you a script but this means an awful lot to me because it's about my father and mother ... ' The person who reads the script -- they don't give a s--- about that," Falk said. "What does he care? What does an actor care about when he reads a script? He cares about whether he can score or not. He cares about whether or not the audience is going to identify with him or whether they're going to laugh or be compelled by the story. The reason I said yes is because I enjoyed it."

For Reiser, writing the script for Falk, whether he knew it or not, was no question a risk of putting all the eggs in one basket. After all, if Falk said no, what would he have done?

Fortunately, Reiser never had to ask himself that question. In fact, he was so certain that Falk was going to love the script that the thought of rejection didn't even enter his mind.

"Once in a while you get a moment of clarity -- an inspiration -- and they don't come that frequently," Reiser observed. "This was one of those situations where I didn't know whether it would work or not, but it certainly appealed to me to try it.

"Over the years, there certainly have been plenty of ideas that I've had and given up on, but for this one, the only thing that was standing in its way was me doing it -- I just had to write it," Reiser continued. "And then if it didn't happen, it didn't happen. But I didn't want it to be for lack of effort on my part, so I had hunch that it would be a good story and that we would work well together. And it certainly worked out that way."

Reiser told me that since he was a fan of Falk's, he had the rhythm of the legendary actor's delivery constantly swirling in his head. That no doubt explains why after 19 years of thinking about the script, Reiser was able to write it in about 2 weeks. But the connection between Reiser and Falk goes far beyond one performer adoring another's achievements. In this case, it was much more personal.

"There's a certain similarity between me and him, and his generation and my father's generation, so to think of us together doing the film together wasn't such a big jump," Reiser said. "I could hear Peter say the kind of things my father said. He talks like my father a little bit anyway."

Gaining Independence

Shot on a shoestring budget by today's standards, the independently produced "The Thing About My Folks" is relying on good old-fashioned word-of-mouth publicity to get moviegoers in touch with the film.

For the most part, it's involved Falk and Reiser traveling city to city to not only meet with the media, but hold screenings where everyday moviegoers can view the film and participate in a question and answer session with the duo afterwards.

What Falk and Reiser are finding is that the film is connecting with audience members on a very personal level.

""After these screenings, inevitably, there's some woman that picks up the microphone and says, 'I'm going to get my husband to see this picture' -- you hear that a lot," Falk said, laughing. "You also hear fathers say, 'I gotta get my kid to come see this thing' and kids say, 'I gotta get my father to see this.' Everybody believes they're right, but most times, really, everybody is only half-right. I don't know of any married couple that doesn't have issues. I don't know any parent and child, any father and son, or any mother and daughter, that don't have issues. And that's what this movie is about."

Plus, it no doubt helps that Falk and Reiser are familiar faces to audiences who have spent countless nights in their living rooms thanks to "Columbo" and "Mad About You."

But Reiser doesn't treat the tour like it's about him. It's all about Falk, and he can't say enough about his inspiration. In fact, Reiser is hoping that the film will earn Falk a long-overdue Oscar.

"He is an undervalued treasure of American cinema," Reiser said. "What I'm finding as we're traveling around is that everybody loves this guy. He's been so good for so long. I see it in people's faces. Women want to hug him and guys want to give him a pat on the back. I think that's one of the reasons the movie starts off so well. As soon as you see his mug on the screen, people are at ease. They go, 'I know this guy. This is comfortable.'"

Given the huge number of fans he's encountered on the road trip with Reiser to promote the film, it's inevitable that many of them bring up to Falk their love for his characters in such film classics as "Robin and the 7 Hoods," "The In-Laws" and, of course, "Columbo."

And while some actors have issues with being constantly identified with a particular character, Falk couldn't be happier that people remember him for his past roles.

"If people asked me whether I'm annoyed or tired or whatever adjective they use about being typecast, I look at them like they're crazy," said Falk, who just turned 78. "While the average guy is out there working trying to make a living, I get free seats at the basketball game and sit courtside. I never have to look on the right side of the menu to see the price.

"I've been able to play one of the richest characters in the history of television. Why would anybody think that I would be tired of hearing about it? The only thing I could say is that I feel like I'm the luckiest guy on the face of the globe," Falk concluded. "If actors say they're tired of being typecast, there is something wrong with them."