USA Films Liv Tyler, as Jewel, flirts
with Detective Dehling (John Goodman) in
Harald Zwart‘s comedy movie "One Night at
McCool’s." The film offers three men’s different perspectives on
one woman.
By Sophia Whang
Daily Bruin Contributor
The black comedy “One Night at McCool’s”
reaffirms the darker side of human nature with a diverse cast
including Liv Tyler, Matt Dillon, Paul Reiser, John Goodman and
Michael Douglas.
“This is a comedy that I think people are liking because
it is really human in a lot of ways,” said Liv Tyler at a Los
Angeles press junket.
Tyler plays Jewel, a temptress who uses her body and beauty to
manipulate the men who suddenly enter her life after one night at
McCool’s.
“Though you see Jewel as being this goddess all the time,
she is also a human and she’s making horrible mistakes all
the time and doing ridiculous things. Everybody can relate to
that,” Tyler said.
There seems to be no end to Jewel’s ridiculous behavior,
but nothing will stop her from getting what she wants ““ the
perfect house. McCool’s bar owner Randy (Matt Dillon) lets
Jewel move in with him, while Randy’s uncle, Carl, (Paul
Reiser) lets Jewel flirt with him in front of his wife. At the same
time, Detective Dehling (John Goodman) lets Jewel replace the
memory of his angelic wife.
Everybody wants Jewel, but each man wants her for a different
reason and sees her fulfilling a specific need.
“It’s about how she affects the guys and how they
want her to be something, depending on what’s missing in
their lives,” Tyler said.
So each need is shown through a different perspective of Jewel,
as the same scenes are often played over again, letting Jewel shine
in a different light, depending on who’s telling the
story.
The original script at one point had the real Jewel at the
beginning and at the end, but Tyler said that was one of the first
things to be edited out.
“The movie is more about perception than anything
else,” said director Harald Zwart. “It’s not how
we see the person, but how the guys see her. It’s about how
people remember and how sometimes people just don’t
remember.”
Because Jewel’s character represents the ideal woman to so
many men in the movie, the perfect actor had to be chosen.
“We always knew that Liv was the one to get first, and
once she was on board, we wanted to build the movie around her and
try to find three guys that were different from her,” Zwart
said.
 USA Films Matt Dillon and Liv
Tyler share an intimate moment in the recently released
comedy “One Night at McCool’s.” “She was
also the obvious one because I really wanted someone that was as
appealing to women as she was to men,” he continued. “I
knew that Liv had that quality and could pull it off. She has to be
able to kill somebody and make people still like her.”
Released by Michael Douglas’s production company, Further
Films, the film lends itself to quite a bit of violence as a black
comedy that emphasizes both outrageous and serious elements. Tyler,
however, may even be able to make the violence appeal to women.
“She can appeal to women if the violence is the portrayal
of the power of women,” said Neil Malamuth, UCLA professor of
psychology and communications, whose research interests include
mass media and aggression. “Violence for the gaining of
resources will be perceived differently by women than the violence
in a solely sexual context.”
Although the movie glorifies violence, Tyler said that her
character is not meant to be in bad taste.
“I’m not a big fan of violence and of guns, but
it’s a part of life,” Tyler said. “I’ve
seen more violence in reality everyday than I do in movies.
We’re surrounded by it, so we shouldn’t shelter it away
and act like it doesn’t exist.”
For Zwart, the repercussions of violence should not be taken
lightly. He even decided to kill a certain character off because of
his despicable behavior.
“For me, violence has a serious consequence, and the guys
are doing it to themselves,” Zwart said.
On a brighter note, despite violence, deception and tons of
beguiling, the film shows humans aspiring to reach dreams.
“Everybody has a dream ““ something about yourself
that you’re not happy with that you want to change, something
material or physical you want,” Tyler said.
“That’s just what Jewel’s doing “¦ in a
psychotic, warped way. She’s trying to get to that
dream.”
So if the violence and the desire to attain a dream is not
appealing to audiences, the explicit car wash scene, which still
makes Tyler blush, may just press the right button.
“Sometimes it would be really shocking to watch the
playback and see something that I did,” Tyler said. “I
never knew I had that in me.”
FILM: “One Night at McCool’s”
is now playing in theaters nationwide.