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John Frankenheimer: 'Nowhere to go' except film

Director's latest, 'Reindeer Games,' opens nationwide this weekend

  JOHN FRANKENHEIMER

...on recruiting professional football player Dana Stubblefield
[300k WAV] or [2Mb QuickTime]

...on Washington's fight against violence in films
[310k WAV] or [2Mb QuickTime]

 
 VIDEO
Theatrical preview for "Reindeer Games"
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  ALSO

Review: Robbery film suffers from too many twists, turns

 

February 25, 2000
Web posted at: 3:09 p.m. EST (2009 GMT)

ATLANTA (CNN) -- When John Frankenheimer was younger, he didn't dream of a career as a filmmaker. He enjoyed directing live television too much, and built a solid career in that field in the 1950s.

In fact, his first foray into filmmaking, 1957's "The Young Stranger," convinced him that he didn't want to work in that medium. But he eventually had no choice as live television took a back seat to prerecorded shows.

"I became kind of like the village blacksmith after the invention of the automobile," Frankenheimer, 70, says. "There just was nowhere to go. Obviously, the next thing for me was directing movies."

In 1961, he released "The Young Savages" starring Burt Lancaster, and Frankenheimer's directing career got rolling.

Since then, he has entertained audiences -- and occasionally wowed them -- with films like "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962) starring Frank Sinatra, "The Iceman Cometh" (1973) with Lee Marvin, "Black Sunday" featuring Robert Shaw (1977) and "Ronin" (1998) starring Robert De Niro.

Frankenheimer's latest work hits theaters nationwide this weekend. "Reindeer Games" sports a slick cast featuring Ben Affleck, Charlize Theron and Gary Sinise.

The film follows a car thief (Affleck) just released from prison. On his way home for the holidays, he gets embroiled in a passionate affair with Theron's character, which spirals into a shoot-'em-up plot to rob a casino.

During a recent visit to Atlanta, Frankenheimer spoke with CNN Interactive about the film.

CNN: What first attracted you to this script written by Ehren Kruger?

JF: I just thought it was terribly well written and the characters seemed so beautifully thought out and the dialogue was good and it was funny. There was a lot of humor in it. I thought, "What a good movie this would be." And if I say that, it's usually a movie I want to make.

CNN: How did you go about assembling the cast?

Scenes from "Reindeer Games"
 

JF: We had a good script and you'd be surprised, when you have a good script, how easy it is to get good actors. Both (Miramax co-chairman) Bob Weinstein and (I) immediately agreed on Ben Affleck and we got him. Then Gary Sinise is a very dear friend of mine and I persuaded him to do it. And I had wanted to work with Charlize. I had seen her work and we wanted her very much and it took a little convincing, but she did it.

CNN: You also recruited former professional football player Dana Stubblefield to play one of your rogues. Why him?

JF: Dana Stubblefield is a guy that I first saw when he was playing with the San Francisco 49ers and he terrified me. I thought, "My God, what would it be like to have this guy coming after you?" So every time they showed me an actor that was supposed to be terrifying, I said, "Well he's not like Dana Stubblefield." Finally I said, "Look, get me Dana Stubblefield." And Dana really wanted to do it, and he had a wonderful time. He's terrific in the movie.

CNN: You've worked with a number of top actors over the years. Does Ben Affleck remind you of any actor from a previous generation?

JF: He reminds me of a young Jimmy Stewart. He has that everyman quality that I like. Men are attracted to him and women are attracted to him and he's smart and he's funny and he's gracious. I've come to the point in my life where I don't want to work with anyone I don't want to have dinner with. I wanted to have dinner with all these actors. I'm not going to be around someone I don't want to have dinner with.

CNN: Charlize Theron has been seen in three major motion pictures since the fall -- "The Astronaut's Wife," "The Cider House Rules," and this one. Does it surprise you how well she has adapted to the big screen?

JF: No. Charlize is one of those really rare people ... born with a God-given talent, and she knows how to use it.

CNN: What's your next project?

JF: I don't know yet. I'm in a position where I have arrangements with two companies -- Miramax/Dimension and TNT. I'm developing projects for both companies and we haven't decided what the next project is going to be.



RELATED STORIES:
Review: 'Reindeer Games' a loser
February 25, 2000
Review: A 'Boiler' that bubbles
February 23, 2000
Review: 'The Cider House Rules' -- both hard and sweet
January 3, 2000


RELATED SITE:
Internet Movie Database: 'Reindeer Games'
Miramax
Dimension Films

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