A straight-laced reluctant pharmacist (Sam Rockwell) is dissatisfied in his marriage to his workout-obsessed wife (Michelle Monaghan) so he starts an affair with a beautiful but bonkers customer (Olivia Wilde) that leads him on a perilous journey involving sex, drugs and possibly murder. David Posamentier and Geoff Moore’s funny screenplay for Better Living Through Chemistry appeared on the 2010 Black List, the annual industry survey of the year’s best unproduced scripts. It took several years for the film to get off the ground and other actors such as Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Garner and even Dame Judi Dench were attached to the film at various times. But, making their directorial debut, Posamentier and Moore were finally able to make the film with a great cast. In addition to Rockwell, Wilde and Monaghan, the film features Ray Liotta, Ken Howard and, surprisingly, two-time Oscar winner Jane Fonda. I talked to David Posamentier and Geoff Moore by phone.
Danny Miller: I’ve seen so many different actors attached to this film over the past few years. Is that one of the hardest parts about making a small film like this — trying to get everyone’s schedule to align?
David Posamentier: You hit the nail on the head, that’s the worst! We felt very fortunate to have our script recognized right out of the gate and to have a lot of interest from different actors. Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Garner were on board at the beginning but then they got involved in other projects. When we signed our current cast we’d wake up every morning and go online, terrified that we’d see some breaking Google alert like “Olivia Wilde signs on to play Cleopatra! Nooooo!” We’d constantly see articles about these other projects they were considering and we’d worry they’d have to drop out of our film. When the cameras finally rolled on Day 1, we were both like, “Wow, we actually pulled it together! We’re here!”
It must have seemed like a miracle. And yet, as great as those other people are, you really lucked out with this cast.
Geoff Moore: We feel so grateful for our cast. Everyone who joined on is exceedingly talented, and the extra benefit is that they are all really great people. You know, we didn’t have a very big budget on this movie, nobody was getting paid very much, and we were off on location, but every single person who showed up was super prepared and super committed. I never heard anyone complaining, everyone collaborated beautifully and it was just a great, great experience.
Did your screenplay getting on the Black List play a big part in the film getting made?
David: I think getting on the Black List definitely gives a screenplay a big boost but it’s certainly no guarantee. Geoff and I area big baseball fans and we like to say if you’re getting three hits for every ten at-bats in this business, you’re failing 70 percent of the time but you’re doing great! If you write ten scripts and two end up getting made, that’s already beating the odds. I’d say 80 t 90 percent of these things never happen.
Where did you get the idea for the film? Do either of you have pharmacists in your family?
Geoff: No, neither one of us do! What happened was that we have an office in Hollywood right across the street from this chain pharmacy. We were there one day after lunch buying something and it turned out later that each of us had noticed the pharmacist in this place. Here he was, the king of his castle, but he looked pretty miserable, not very happy with life and sort of going through the motions. And it just kind of started from there. We kept bouncing ideas off each other about this character. What was this guy doing in this town? What if he’s having some big problems with his kid? What if he’s just miserable in his life but then something changes for him? We both grew up in towns similar to the one in the movie and we were both, frankly, intrigued by a guy who would have such access to drugs!
The film has a very interesting tone. Just when I thought it was about to go completely off the rails, there’d be all that stuff between Sam Rockwell and his son that was so poignant.
Sam had a lot to do with the dynamic with the son — he’s such an giving actor and he worked with the boy playing his son to get him to a place where he was very comfortable so they could both go off book and get into their roles. I think the movie kind of pivots on the scenes between them. We’re really happy with the way those came out.
It reminded me of Rockwell’s great relationship with the kid (Liam James) in The Way Way Back last year. He is so great with kids. Michelle Monaghan is so fun as Sam Rockwell’s wife but she’s so grating that if I were married to either other one of you I’d want you to mention in every interview that her character was not based on your own wife!
David: (Laughs.) Happily, neither of us are hen-pecked guys who are desperate to get out of our marriages! But I think we’re both good listeners and we have people in our lives who go through things that are closer to that character. And we really wanted to incorporate our general dislike of spinning in that character. We don’t get it! We think there’s something meaningful about someone like her who’s putting so much energy into something but not going anywhere. That’s what spinning is to us!
Geoff: I thought Michelle was so hilarious in the movie. Yes, she’s fairly unpleasant but I really loved her dynamic with Sam and what happens later on in the film when they see each other in the Chinese restaurant. You realize that even though the movie is mostly about him sort of reclaiming his life and his ability to make better decisions, you come to understand that she’s going to be a lot happier, too.
Usually when you have a character like that, the lead would then find the most perfect, angelic alternative. God knows Olivia Wilde’s character is not that! They’re all nuts! And yet very human which I think is great.
We were flattered by the response we got from actresses about both of those two parts. They were grateful that they were so three-dimensional and interesting. Usually parts like that are just “the wife” or “the perfect girlfriend” and there’s not much there. With these characters there was a lot for actresses to sink their teeth into.
Definitely. And speaking of amazing women, how the HELL did you get Jane Fonda to be in your first movie?
David: It was supposed to be Judi Dench at first, but then it didn’t work out with her schedule.
So instead we’ll just get another two-time Academy award winner!
Geoff: Right! I have to say that it really tickles me about Judi Dench because even though we lost her from the movie, when she was doing press for Skyfall, that last James Bond movie, a few of the interviewers saw our movie on her IMDB page and asked her about it. She said, “Well, I wasn’t actually able to do that film but it’s a shame because it was such a wonderful script!”
Wow, you can’t get a better blurb than that! You should put it on the poster!
David: Exactly! So then we were scrambling to find someone else for that part. We had a big list of names and Jane’s name came up when we were looking at possibilities. We thought, “Oh my God, that would just be insane!” And once again, the movie Gods smiled on us and it all came together. We were so fortunate!
Were there moments during the shoot when you stopped and thought, “Holy shit, I’m directing Jane Fonda!”
(Laughs.) I remember our DP, Tim Suhrstedt, who has done so many great movies is the one who kept reminding us, “Oh my God, we’re doing a scene right now with Jane Fonda!” It’s funny, because when you’re on set you’re so wound up and focused on what’s happening that day that you almost don’t have time to dwell on that stuff until after the fact. I think at the wrap party we were looking at each other and thinking, “Did that just happen?”
It must have been fun writing lines for Jane Fonda that were probably the most outrageous things she’s ever said in her movie career.
You should have heard the stuff that didn’t make the final film!
Geoff: She was all too game to say whatever we gave her. She was pretty fantastic. She showed up and was so exuberant and happy to be a part of it.