St. Louis is not typically a hot spot for Hollywood film shoots. So the premiere of One Night at McCool’s-a dark comedy set, in part, at Humphrey’s on Laclede Avenue-is a noteworthy event.
The film stars Liv Tyler, Matt Dillon, John Goodman, Paul Reiser and Michael Douglas and opens on April 27. A preview party at Humphrey’s last night featured a sneak peek of the film and a giveaway of McCool’s paraphernalia.
Screenplay writer the late Stan Seidel grew up in St. Louis. He graduated from Webster Groves High School and studied screenwriting at the graduate level at New York University. Seidel died last year of complications from Crohn’s disease. McCool’s is Seidel’s only screenplay to be produced.
One Night at McCool’s is based on events that Seidel witnessed when he frequented Humphrey’s in the `70s. Matt Dillon’s character, Randy, is based on Seidel’s best friend who tended bar at Humphrey’s. The movie revolves around three men’s obsessions with a woman they meet at the bar, Jewel (Liv Tyler).
Jewel ends up developing relationships with all three men. Tyler described Jewel as a character who focused on the immediate future of relationships.
The movie shows Jewel from all three men’s perspectives: the dirty mind of Carl (Paul Reiser), the idyllic view of Detective Dehling (John Goodman), and the realistic view of Randy (Matt Dillon). There is a murder thrown into the mix, which, along with Jewel’s motives, helps to fuel the plot.
Though most of the movie was filmed in Hollywood, St. Louis is the intended setting. St. Louis references are sprinkled throughout the scenes, including mentions of Mark McGwire and the St. Louis Police Department.
Clips of the movie indicate that it is a reasonably authentic depiction of the Midwest, if not St. Louis.
Michael Douglas produced the film, the first endeavor of his company, Further Films. Douglas’ most famous production effort was the 1975 adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Douglas said he is picky about which scripts he chooses, and that it was the flexibility of Jewel’s character that drew him to the film. “Jewel is `the Madonna’ and the whore, depending on what you’re looking for,” he said.
There will be a special screening of McCool’s on Thursday April 26 at Hi-Pointe Theater, and it opens nationwide on April 27.
