I had the great good fortune of attending a screening of this star studded film in Santa Monica on June 2nd. Gregg was on hand afterwards to answer some questions. He said that his Marvel connections were very helpful in introducing him to Lumina studios in Santa Monica for the special effects in the film – which are really great. He also talked a lot about the theme of transformation that runs throughout the film. In the end, though, he came to the realization only after seeing the finished product himself that the film is also very much about being the father of a daughter – his own is 12.
Gregg described the experience of starring in and directing the film as being shoved out of a plane with three napkins and some string – exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. In order to secure financing for the film, he was helped by being able to draw on a number of pretty famous friends to star in the film alongside of him.
Among the many famous faces were Felicity Huffman, William H Macy, Amanda Peet, Allison Janney, Niecy Nash, Sam Rockwell, Paul Sparks, and Molly Shannon. Saxon Sharbino had her first starring role as Lydia and is surely a face we will be seeing a lot more of in the future. Macy’s part is really just a cameo, but he’s terrific as always. Huffman, Janney, and Rockwell all play the fairly stereotypical, sleazy Hollywood-types, but they do it so well, you learn to hate them in all new ways. Gregg’s character Howard is so utterly downtrodden and punished by bad luck that it is almost painful to watch, but it’s that sort of pain that is often funny when it’s happening to someone else. If you are a Boardwalk Empire fan, Sparks is about as far as he can be from Mikey Doyle.
It’s not long before you start really pulling for Howard, hoping he’ll finally catch a break. It looks like he finally does with Lydia, and the movie allows us to hope for the comic resolution it hinted at at the beginning of the movie. The entire movie is wonderfully paced. There are some moments of pure whimsy – watch for the butterflies – but there are also moments that make you wonder why anyone goes into the movie business. The self-centered sharks are diametrically opposed to the very ingenuous and self deprecating Gregg. One of the nice moments in the evening was when the discussion turned to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Gregg pointed out that in fact he should no longer be referred to as an Agent as he was the Director now.
If you want a break from the summer blockbusters, Trust Me is a great film. It will make you think about the movie business, but it will also make you think beyond it. It has great performances and the pacing makes the film simply fly... Catch it if you can!
