Reno 911 The Movie

Azazel Jacobs Can Sense When A Critic Doesn't Like His Films

Director Azazel Jacobs can read people. The quiet, thoughtful filmmaker readily admits that it can be uncomfortably obvious when a critic or an interviewer didn’t like his latest film.

“They actually don’t pretend to like the film,” Jacobs, 38, said. “But at the same time, their questions are very, very general. It’s kind of cool when you can sense it, because then you can start answering their criticisms.”

His latest film, “Terri,” which opens in limited release this Friday, has largely received glowing reviews. The movie, which stars Jacob Wysocki and John C. Reilly, tells the story of an unlikely friendship between an overweight outcast and his gregarious high school vice principal.

Speakeasy recently sat down with Jacobs in New York to discuss his new film, the movies he watches and why living in Los Angeles can be dangerous for a filmmaker.

Why did you decide to make “Terri?”

It came from two folds. One, from having done my film “Momma’s Man” here in the city where I raised and with my parents, I was looking for something very different to do. I wanted to run in an opposite direction, try some whole other world. And two, I wanted to work with (screenwriter) Pat [de Witt] because I became a fan of his writing, and then a fan of him as a person.

I understand that you shot the film mostly in consecutive order. Where did that choice come from?

We had to shoot all of the school scenes first. And then we shot the rest of them in order. You always try to shoot movies in order. It’s one of those great luxuries that you get with the smaller the budget of the film. All of my other works had a lot smaller budget, so they were all shot in order. It’s really helpful — the more you’re doing it, the better you get at. It’s what you’re driving for. I did know that for the last scene, the shed scene, it was very important that we shoot it at the end. At the end of the shoot, we got to a place where the actors trusted me and where they trusted each other.

As you were shooting the film, when did you know that “Terri” was working?

What I loved about this screenplay it gave us the place and the time to discover who these people were. Besides the written action, there was a lot of time for these people to breathe. The shed scene worked because it finally turns into real time. I think a lot of that was developed on the set being with Jacob and seeing Terri sitting in that bath tub an all that making sense. Though the first couple of days, I wondered, ‘Is this film going to be any good?’ But when we got to the shed scene, and when I watch the shed scene now, and everything in that movie leads up to that scene, I know there’s something special going on in any movie that can lead to this moment. To have this moment to be as good I think it is and to get as taken I as get with it watching it now makes me feel like this has been worthwhile.

Reno 911!: the movie

. Oh, that's a good title! Series co-creators Robert Garant, Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney, who also star in the series, are penning the script, which is described as being largely improvisational. Kinda like the show. In the movie, the entire Reno sheriff's department goes to a police convention in Miami during Spring Break (who's manning the station back at home? who cares!), where a bio-attack is launched on their hotel. I wonder if they'll still bleep out the profanity and blur the nudity, since it's shot in the style of a cops show. It starts shooting January 23rd in LA and Miami. Steph

I think the format of the show is what makes it hilarious. Reno is a total spin off of COPS after all, that is what they were going for. Going to the "Big Screen" is the best news I have heard! The cast is EXTREMELY talented and considering most of it is improvisation, they all have my complete respect. It is very smart humor like perfecting the use of facial expressions at the perfect time and being in 100% of character. If YOU love good comedy...this will be a MUST SEE!

Call me cautioustly optimistic. The TV show is great, but it's almost entirely a satire of documentary-style television conventions and is so episodic that the translation to film is going to have to involve a little more than just throwing the show up on the screen. If they can make it more of a film mockumentary and figure out how to cut out the censorship jokes (part of what makes the show funny), I think it could be excellent.

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