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By the time this movie was over, I wanted to know the people in this family, and I'll definitely be picking this up upon release, so that I can visit them from time to time. If you're a fan of well-played, true-to-life personal stories that are free of the heavy-handed emotive exposition of big-budget Hollywood dramas, I recommend SAFE SPACES, sincerely and without reserve.
(L-R) Justin Long as Josh Cohn and Emily Schechter as Evie Cohn in the comedy SAFE SPACES. Photo courtesy AMBI Media Group.
(L-R) Justin Long as Josh Cohn, Michael Godere as David Cohn, and Kate Berlant as Jackie Cohn in the comedy SAFE SPACES. Photo courtesy AMBI Media Group.
Justin Long as Josh Cohn in the comedy SAFE SPACES. Photo courtesy AMBI Media Group.
Long, Drescher, Schiff, and Schechter joined me via telephone before the film's debut screening, and the conversation was at times poignant, funny, serious, and frequently irreverent. After exchanging introductions and hellos, we got to the subject of the film.
BNG: I screened the film last night, and it was wonderful. It was uncomfortably realistic. I felt some genuine anxiety at times, so it came across very well. So, my first question, I think, would be for Dan: Given that it came across so realistically, was there any aspect of the writing that was autobiographical, or maybe personally informed by family or friends?
Dan Schechter: Yeah, I think that's pretty obvious when you see a film like this, that at least some of it is based on the author's real life. It's definitely based on some of my family, based on some of some of my experience teaching, but you know, I don't have a sister. I didn't have an incident like this with a student, so it's meant to be a bit of a hybrid. The attempt was to capture what my family feels like, what teaching felt like, maybe how I felt I grew over the last couple of years.
BNG: Outside of the personally autobiographical, or personally informed aspect of it, do you have favorite films or plays, and did any of those influence your writing?
DS: You know, I was saying the other day, there weren't really a lot of movies, (addressing Justin Long, Fran Drescher, and Richard Schiff) I don't think I asked you guys to watch anything, or watched a lot to prepare for this. It really felt more born out of my life and what I was observing in that time. I think that helped the movie not feel like any other movie. So in a weird way, no, I don't really have any answer to that, that there wasn't really any movie that influenced this, and at no point, really, did one pop up. It just kind of felt like I knew what it was and I wanted to try to capture something in my mind's eye.
Dan Schechter: Yeah, I think that's pretty obvious when you see a film like this, that at least some of it is based on the author's real life. It's definitely based on some of my family, based on some of some of my experience teaching, but you know, I don't have a sister. I didn't have an incident like this with a student, so it's meant to be a bit of a hybrid. The attempt was to capture what my family feels like, what teaching felt like, maybe how I felt I grew over the last couple of years.
BNG: Outside of the personally autobiographical, or personally informed aspect of it, do you have favorite films or plays, and did any of those influence your writing?
DS: You know, I was saying the other day, there weren't really a lot of movies, (addressing Justin Long, Fran Drescher, and Richard Schiff) I don't think I asked you guys to watch anything, or watched a lot to prepare for this. It really felt more born out of my life and what I was observing in that time. I think that helped the movie not feel like any other movie. So in a weird way, no, I don't really have any answer to that, that there wasn't really any movie that influenced this, and at no point, really, did one pop up. It just kind of felt like I knew what it was and I wanted to try to capture something in my mind's eye.
BNG: I'll ask the actors now, and feel free to go around the table here, what drew you to this story when you read the script?
Justin Long: The first thing I was struck by was just how honest everything felt. The dialogue really flowed in a way that is rare. In my experience reading the script, it felt very organic, very personal, and it was a story that is obviously so relevant. It was told in a subtle, honest way, and I wanted to be a part of telling that story. It's as simple as that, I guess.
Fran Drescher: You know, well, playing a grandma.. just kidding! No, you know what, I liked that it was about a Jewish family going through a very relatable human experience. I thought there were already some people who were cast, and I liked them, Justin was one of them. Actually, Dan postponed the movie because he wanted Richard Schiff in it so badly, and I said 'Don't postpone!', but ultimately, I did feel like he made the right decision because we did have a great chemistry, and I did feel very honored to be able to work with him, so, it's just been a wonderful experience. A lot of times, when you do an indie film, they're not always as well written, they're not always grounded in such an authentic place, they're not always so small and character-driven, and they don't always have such great actors, but this had all the elements to make a really fine film, and I feel blessed to have been included in it.
Richard Schiff: I basically just did it for the money (table laughs). That, and I've just always had a crush on Fran.
BNG: Well, join the crowd!
RS (continuing): I've had generally some good experiences with indie films, because the stories are not only personal, but the false narrative of heroism and characters that bigger movies tend to have... I find very refreshing, in this movie in particular, because life is confusing.. to me, and this story reflects my experience with life a lot more than say, The Avengers, as good as that movie might be. So, this particular story deals with some personal and complicated issues: families striving to stick together, despite having already split up, and you know, that's the rest of us. Relationships get severed and we find that they never really end, and that there's love to be explored there and reasons to come together, and this movie has all of that. It also has a very specific subject, having to do with the way we deal with getting hurt, and that can lead to attacking each other, and how we can discover, through that process, how to better communicate with each other. That's an important message.
BNG: If there was one scene that stood out to you as the highlight for the emotional impact of the film (and there area lot of scenes that could serve as this), which scene would you say really nailed it?
RS: I guess that whole scene with the whole family in the room with the grandma at the end, in the hospital, obviously, because that kind of stuff is so personal. it's hard to be there. My character says, "These kids hit the jackpot when they got you as a grandma," that crushes me. I kind of knew that story. When I saw the film, it was the scene with with the girl and Justin, near the end. I asked, 'Where did you find that actress?' Dan told me the story of how he found her, and I just found her so beautiful, and so simple and pure. It just jumped out at me, and that little monologue was the point, and it kind of brought the whole movie around in a way that really made sense. It was really touching and lovely.
FD: Well, there are a lot of touching moments in the movie, but, for me, it's the moment when I'm in the hallway with my children when we find out the mom has died, or when we're realizing we kind of have to stop hoping against hope that this is going to change, and we're in one of the many waiting rooms that families tend to hover around. They're in the pit of despair. I love the scene in the apartment, when I'm there with my son, Josh (Justin), and he's trying to borrow money from me, and I'm trying to reconcile all this stuff in my life.
JL: That was a tough scene. That scene was hard, because I was aware of, you know, you want the lead, the guy the story is following, to not... it's just hard to root for a guy who's like, "Come on, I need some money." I just rewatched the first episode of Girls, and Lena Dunham does something that's so brave in that show (among many things she does in that show), where her journey, that first episode is she needs money because her parents cut her off, to the point where, at the end of the episode, she takes money intended for a hotel worker. To start off a series that way, and I went, 'well, what I'm doing is not even a fraction as brave as what she's doing.' It always seemed like such an unlikable thing for me, so it was a challenge.
FD: I like that scene, and I loved working with Richard, because I only basically knew you (addressing Richard) a couple of days, and we kind of instinctively slid into this kind of historical relationship, this archaic love that we had, where we left off from when it was good, I guess.
RS: And it was really good.
JL: It was so good, it was that easy to slide right in. It had been lubricated by so many years of love.
RS: Moist love.
FD: And tight. A tight love.
JL: Tight connections. Tight familial connection.
FD: You know, it's a little inside the box, but...
RS: So, tight, warm boxes don't change, is what you're saying?
At this point, there's no one in the conversation who isn't laughing.
Pulling us back on track (sort of) Fran continues:
FD: You know in my family, we always talked in double entendres, so my kids were like, 'what's so funny, mommy?'
JL: A show the whole family can enjoy!
FD: Exactly!
JL: Yeah, Ben, I love the stuff with the grandma. Lynn Cohen is such a sweet, such a gem of a person, and I'm very close with my own grandmother (who is now 102), and I think about that a lot., you know. I've been bracing myself for her going, as has she, for a long time, and so that part of the story was really attractive to me. I really wanted to explore some of those feelings that I've had for many years, and the closeness that I've had with my grandmother, and Lynn was such an easy vessel to explore that through. She's such a great actress.
BNG: The dying grandmother was really a nice core for the story for me as a viewer, because I lost my own a couple of years ago, and it was the same thing, sort of a protracted illness, so that resonated a lot for me personally. Beyond that, it really was a great emotional center for the film, and you guys handled it very well.
(At this point, the publicist chimes in with the one-minute warning)
Final question: If you had one role that you would show someone and say, "This is one of my best pieces of work," which would it be?
RS: Mine would be Saved By The Bell.
JL: You did Saved By The Bell? Who did you play on Saved By The Bell?
RS: I did. I played Deputy Dano. Those kids were lucky they aren't mine. That's all I gotta say. That, or a character named "Lowlife Number Two" for a soap opera.
He's obviously joking. More laughter around the table.
JL: Playing 'plucky mechanic' Kevin in Herbie Fully Loaded!
RS: No, I think that... I don't know. It's hard to say. The most recent work that I've done that I'm proud of, that I'm happy with, is this movie, Safe Spaces. It's such a beautiful role, and Dan trusted me to inhabit it. I also did many years on The West Wing that I'm really proud of. But no, my favorite show that I've ever done was a show called Relativity, where i played a Willy Loman-type character. I've always loved that character (Loman) and am desperate to play it. It almost happened in London, but one of these days, I'm gonna play that role.
FD: It would have to be Fran on The Nanny. I loved being Fran Fine! When we were working on the series, my personal life was really in a bad place. I was trying to figure out why I didn't feel well, and all the while, I had cancer.. my marriage was falling apart. I could not WAIT to get into her character every day, because she was so much happier than I was. I just loved going to work every day. I just loved the character, you know? Now, I was looking back on it over at my mom's, down in Florida. She still watches the show... we were home watching a part I didn't remember being very good, but we laughed out loud. It's one of those times that me and my family sat down together, as a family, and enjoyed something together. We laughed together as a family, That's a very fond memory, so I'm glad for that, you know. If I never do another thing that people see, I feel like I've got such gratitude for that.
RS: My mother still watches Saved By The Bell! We all say our goodbyes, and end the call at this point. I go back to drinking coffee in my Star Wars pajamas, and they (likely) plow right into another interview in a day full of film-premier-day hustle. All of them were gracious, friendly, and personable, and this was one of the best experiences I've had working with people in the entertainment industry. They did some beautiful work on this film, so do yourself (and them) a favor, and catch it whenever and however you can.
This is, to be perfectly honest, the kind of small, personal film that I would likely have completely overlooked, had I not reviewed it and interviewed the cast and director, but I am SO glad my work here exposed me to it. If you are looking to break the fatigue of 2019's mega-movie onslaught, look no further than this well-written, emotionally engaging story.
That's all for now, so until next time,
Keep it geek!
Benny No-Good
