?He?s a rogue agent.I mean it ? he?s dangerous.

He took me on aplane to France!?

?The majority of us have gone through or will go through the process of getting married and meeting the new family,? says producer Bill Gerber, setting The In-Laws in its real-life context.?By the time you?re in your 20s you?ve at least been a guest at a couple of weddings and you?ve watched your friends or family members plan their own ceremonies often enough to know the kind of stress and chaos that?s part of it.I think all of us have our own war stories about that process.?

Now imagine that in addition to the logistics, scheduling conflicts, seating chart revisions and other standard wedding planning concerns, you have to deal with the father of the groom kidnapping the father of the bride and dragging him into a top-secret international arms-smuggling deal just days before the ceremony.Add to that a posse of federal agents, an insanely volatile foreign crime lord and his nuclear submarine crashing the party on the big day, and suddenly ?freesia or lilies of the valley? doesn?t seem like such an important issue anymore.

Inspired by the 1979 hit comedy of the same title, The In-Laws is the story of two fathers with dramatically opposite lifestyles and personalities who are thrown together on the eve of their children?s nuptials.At the same time, one of them ? who may or may not be working on orders from the CIA ? is trying to wrap up a very important case that could affect the safety of countless lives worldwide, not to mention put a serious crimp into the wedding plans.However, this is where the similarity to the original film ends.

?The original In-Laws was a great movie,? says producer Bill Todman, Jr., who began developing a remake of the classic comedy several years ago with his partner, producer Joel Simon.?But while we start with the same premise, we?ve walked pretty far away from the rest of the original storyline.This is a different movie for a different time and audience.?

Screenwriter Nat Mauldin, who confesses he was so impressed by Andrew Bergman?s 1979 screenplay that he sent Bergman a fan letter, provides some specifics. ?There is more attention this time to changes the father of the groom undergoes, whereas in the original it was primarily the bride?s father who experienced a transformation.Also, the young couple are more an integral part of our story and the groom?s relationship with his father gets a deeper exploration.?When screenwriter Ed Solomon came aboard in the latter stages of development, the focus was fully on Mauldin?s script.

To best serve the fresh storyline, the producers tapped director Andrew Fleming, known for his work on such films as Dick and The Craft, to helm the project.?Andy brings a young and unique perspective to the film,? explains Gerber. ?His movies are somewhat left of center, not generic or predictable.We were looking for someone who would have a different take on what is essentially a buddy movie and we counted on Andy for a sophisticated and original approach.??With Andy,? adds Todman, ?the comedy is all organic to the picture; it never gets in the way.?

leming, who was initially attracted by the story?s irreverence, sees weddings as ?a goldmine of comic inspiration.They become so complicated like giant machines that lurch forward on their own power.Even if the technical aspects come off without a hitch you?re still left with two strange families that are supposed to instantly bond and love one another and that?s rarely the case.We just took all that stress and emotional excess and amplified it by ten.?

On the subject of surviving your own in-law troubles, Albert Brooks offers this practical advice: ?It?s best to find some way to like your in-laws or at least accept them, no matter what. Now, if they live with you, that?s a different story.?

?C?mon, Jerry.We?re family.?  

?We?re Not Family.And stop saying that.?

Already sold on the story, Fleming was further enticed by prospect of Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks as the combustible duo. ?Weddings make people maniacal; they lose touch with reality,? he says. ?They?re supposed to be solemn events but they usually end up as psychodrama.Having Michael and Albert at the core of all this psychodrama was just too good to pass up.?

Renowned for his performances in such films as Traffic, Wonder Boys and Wall Street (for which he won an Academy Award), Douglas has proved equally adept at comedy, from Romancing the Stone to the wickedly satirical The War of the Roses, and was eager to return to the genre.?It?s been a while since I?ve done a comedy film,? says Douglas, who took on the role of loose cannon Steve Tobias with relish.?The In-Laws is broader in its humor than anything I?ve done before and that?s a real treat for me. It?s relaxing, not having to keep up that constant tension level you do with a drama.?

Not that doing comedy is such a breeze? Comparing the In-Laws experience to his stage performances, Douglas cites the somewhat unnerving feeling of performing in a vacuum, particularly disconcerting when you?re expecting a laugh.?I?ve done some plays in the past, and when you say ?da da da da,? there?s a corresponding ?ha ha ha? from the audience and you move forward,? he says, putting it into rhythmic terms.?Here, you say ?da da da da? and there?s dead silence.It takes some getting used to.?In those moments, catching glances of Fleming at the monitor with his hand over his mouth, suppressing laughter, really helped.

As to his character, Douglas explains, ?Steve is an undercover operative, brokering with arms dealers and drug dealers, setting up elaborate traps for them, and that means generally behaving the way they do a lot of the time.Thrill and risk have taken over his life and he?s been neglecting his responsibilities to his family.He has good intentions, but he?s an adrenaline junkie who gets a little wild and carried away with all the action and tends to forget about the things that really matter in life.As a result he?s separated from his wife and has reached a point where he?s almost forgotten that his son is getting married.?

Douglas credits Brooks for helping him set the tone for their onscreen interaction, spiking that energy level and trading one-liners.?Albert is so distinct, so precise in his timing,? he says. ?He?s a master at finding the right inflection or expression that makes the difference between getting a smile or a laugh. My biggest problem on this picture was trying to keep a straight face, especially when Albert is doing his scenes with [villain Jean-Pierre Thibodoux] David Suchet.Meanwhile, Andy was encouraging me to come up with ideas for Steve.Doing a movie like this lets you discover what?s funny about yourself that maybe you didn?t even know.?

Albert Brooks was the standout first choice to play Jerry Peyser.?Albert?s history as an actor, writer and director, and before that as a standup comedian, is phenomenal.He brings years of brilliant work to the table,? states Gerber.?When we talked about who should be the other half of the equation, it was unanimous for Albert as first choice because he really is a comic genius ? that?s not just a platitude in his case.?

Casting for this kind of banter-rich film is a make-or-break proposition, as producer Joel Simon points out. ?You can?t have similar personalities in these roles and that extends to mannerisms, speaking style and even physical appearance.A lot of the funniest moments in the movie are Albert?s expressions. They?re gold. You look at him and see he?s clearly having a meltdown.Meanwhile, you look at Michael?s calm face and you know there?s so much going on behind those eyes ? he?s planning, he?s scoping, he?s thinking how to manipulate the situation.It?s a perfect combination, even without words.?

Brooks? enthusiasm for the story was such that he arrived for a meeting with the filmmakers already in character, speaking Jerry Peyser?s lines from the script, and brimming with ideas on how to enhance the role.

?For the record,? quips Gerber, ?we?re not entirely sure which of Albert?s phobias are real and which ones he developed just for the movie.?

?Jerry is a happy man, a straightforward, conventional guy; married for a long time,? Brooks highlights his character?s stability. ?He?s serious about his work, maybe takes a vacation once every four years ? if that.His daughter?s wedding is the most exciting thing to happen in his life for years.Overall, this is a guy who has his life just the way he likes it and then Michael?s character barges in and all hell breaks loose. Like it or not, Jerry becomes progressively more a part of Steve?s world and less a part of the world he knew.He?d never admit it but, in retrospect, it?s probably a good thing.

?Every minute Jerry spends with Steve is terrible,? Brooks deadpans. ?He?s convinced this guy is a loser, then he?s convinced he?s a criminal and finally, some kind of lunatic.From the very first, when Steve is late for dinner and it?s really all downhill from there ? or up, if you count the fact that the first time they?re alone together Steve knocks him out and he wakes up on a stolen jet.Naturally, Jerry doesn?t like airplanes.He has the statistics to prove how unsafe they are.?

It was essential to Brooks that he balance the outrageous nature of the situations with a solidly believable characterization, explaining that ?there are scenes in this movie where the comedy is very broad, so I have to find a way to go crazy and yet ground it so we don?t look like the Three Stooges.The audience has to believe that this is a terrified podiatrist who?s being forced to parachute off a high-rise building in downtown Chicago -- not just an actor being funny.?

He credits Fleming for allowing him the freedom to fully develop Jerry?s screen presence, stating candidly, ?I wouldn?t have taken the job if I didn?t trust the director.This kind of comedy isn?t just working without a net ? it?s like working without a floor.I need to put everything I have into every scene and feel satisfied that, three months later, when Andy is sitting in the editing room he?ll know what?s great and what isn?t.?

Working with Douglas was another major draw for Brooks.?Since it?s a buddy film,? he says, ?I was interested in who the buddy would be.Michael?s one of the greats.I call him a ?virgin buddy? because he hasn?t done this sort of thing before.?

?The camaraderie between our leads was a critical element because essentially they play a duet throughout the story,? Todman believes, and Fleming concurs, adding that, ?Michael and Albert are perfect foils for one another because they?re both so intense and have such energy, but it?s completely opposite energy.One?s alpha and one?s beta, one?s yin and one?s yang. You cannot imagine their characters relating on any level.?

At first, Fleming admits, he was somewhat apprehensive about directing stars of such caliber, noting that Douglas and Brooks have not only distinguished themselves with a body of work as actors but also as filmmakers. By comparison, he says modestly, ?this is the first movie I?ve done that doesn?t include a scene by the lockers after chemistry class.I was a little anxious about it, but it turns out that they?re just a couple of goofballs like everyone else.? Ultimately, the director?s biggest challenge was trying to avoid laughing out loud on the set. ?It?s unprofessional to laugh during a take.Fortunately, we can edit out those few times when I really lost it.?

He wasn?t the only one.As Brooks deftly bottom-lines it, ?You have to have fun making a comedy or something is wrong.?

Meanwhile, keeping pace with Steve Tobias? clandestine activities is his eager partner, undercover agent Angela Harris, played by Robin Tunney, who earned an MTV Movie Award for her starring role in Andrew Fleming?s 1996comedy thriller The Craft.

?Angela and Steve trade banter and their relationship is a little flirtatious -- or at least she thinks so,? reveals Tunney. ?When Jerry enters the scene, Angela is jealous of this whiney guy who is suddenly getting all of Steve?s attention, and a certain degree of that is professional jealousy as well because he lands in the middle of a deal that she and Steve have planned for months and he has no idea what he?s doing.When Steve grows to genuinely like Jerry that just infuriates her even more.?

or Tunney, the major appeal of the role was the opportunity to play opposite two stellar leads.?Albert?s an American comedy icon and I was really honored to share the screen with him, and, honestly, who doesn?t want to be in a Michael Douglas movie?!?

Part of her training for the part involved kick-boxing lessons for some of the moves she?s required to execute, including a scene in which, Tunney ruefully admits, she inadvertently ?nailed Michael Douglas in the shin.It was awful.I mean, what do you do when you?ve tagged an international movie star in the shin, and pretty hard?!He was very gracious about it, of course, and I guess he still trusted me afterwards because he gave me some tips on how to handle my gun for another scene.?

For the roles of Mark and Melissa, the young couple who watch their wedding plans being alternately micro-managed and nearly destroyed by their fathers, the filmmakers cast Ryan Reynolds and Lindsay Sloane, both of whom had previously worked with Fleming: Reynolds on Dick, and Sloane on the series Grosse Pointe.

?My character has spent his entire life hiding the fact that his father is a deep-cover CIA agent,? Reynolds explains, ?and now he can?t even tell his fianc?, which creates a huge conflict for him. Mark and his dad have a contentious relationship, although they obviously care about each other.Steve has just never really been there for his son and now he?s overcompensating by meddling in the wedding plans and it?s driving Mark mad, it?s driving his wife-to-be mad, and it?s driving her family mad.It makes you wonder how much longer Mark can hold it together.?

Holding it together proved problematic for the young actor the first time he came face to face with one of his idols, Albert Brooks.As Reynolds relives the moment, ?I was on my way to the table reading.As I was taking the elevator up, who gets in with me but Albert Brooks.The first thing out of my mouth was, ?y?know, I?ve yuh yahah buh buh beh.?I made absolutely no sense. Afterwards, luckily, I realized what a great opportunity I had to ask him all the questions I used to think about while watching his movies.He was right there, next to me, and I could say, ?So, Albert, when you were doing that phone conversation in Lost in America, who did the looping on the other end?.?It was great.?

As Melissa, Sloane?s challenge was to balance her genuine affection for her father with her growing frustration at watching him transform her simple ocean-side wedding into a lavish production.Meanwhile, she?s weighing her love for Mark against his father?s increasingly erratic behavior.?It?s not as simple as saying ?this is a neurotic character,?? says Sloane, ?because Melissa is really fine ? it?s just that her Dad is driving her crazy.She?s become a bystander in her own wedding.I think a lot of people will relate, because I?m sure this happens all the time ? the kids want something simple and the parents go all out.Then, when you add the chaotic element of her fianc??s father, everything flies completely out of her control.?

The filmmakers sought Candice Bergen for the role of Judy, Steve Tobias? ex-wife ? possibly the only person in the world who intimidates the thrill-seeking agent.Judy makes her entrance at the rehearsal dinner with a rhapsodic smile and the unconvincing assurance that, ?Just because I hate Mark?s father doesn?t mean it?s going to be uncomfortable at the wedding.?

?This was a really tough role to cast,? says Fleming.?Judy is sort of a wacky character, but in an understated way; she?s a little off-kilter and her newfound devotion to meditation hasn?t done a lot to soothe her temper.It was important that whoever played her had a strong sense of humanity to carry it off so she wouldn?t come across as unsympathetic.We were lucky to get Candice ? she?s a real class act.Of course,? he adds, ?we?re thanking her by dragging her down with us into the world of craziness and humiliation but she?s been a good sport about it.?

?I loved the idea of working with Michael and Albert,? Bergen says, ?which is an inspired and completely unexpected pairing, but it was the script that really pulled me in.I thought it was crisply written, smart and very sharp.It was also incredibly funny ? I laughed out loud when I first read it, which is something I rarely do.?

Concerning her role, Bergen notes that ?Judy is nicely nuts.She?s just back from an ashram and in therapy to pull herself together after enduring a volatile life with Steve.She definitely has issues with her ex-husband.She?s ticked off.I think we can imagine it was a fairly toxic marriage,? she says with a sly smile, ?occasionally redeemed by great sex.?

The production happily reunited the actress with former neighbor Michael Douglas, who readily confesses, ?I?ve had a crush on Candy since I was 14 years old and she lived with her Mom and Dad down the street from my father.Working together gave us a chance to reminisce about old times.?

Joining The In-Laws? main cast is versatile, BAFTA-nominated David Suchet in a rare comic role as megalomaniac Jean-Pierre Thibodoux, ?a nasty piece of work? as Douglas describes him.

Suchet?s casting was unorthodox.While in the States for an HBO project, the London native was asked by his agent to participate in a table reading for a film starring Michael Douglas, with whom he had worked on the thriller A Perfect Murder.Suchet?s understanding was that he was just dropping by to provide the voice of Thibodoux in a proper French accent so the filmmakers could judge how the character played.?David is remarkable,? says Todman.?He came to the table as a favor and we hadn?t cast the role yet.He was brilliant.Everyone fell in love with him, he got huge laughs and there was no question about it ? here was our crazy villain. We offered him the part that same day. Luckily, he was able to make some adjustments in his schedule to do it.?

As Thibodoux, Suchet exudes a blend of deadly menace and cherubic charm, keeping his associates completely unbalanced from minute to minute. Fleming acknowledges the fine line, saying, ?If he was a truly dark, frightening person ? which David is quite capable of conveying ? it would weigh down the whole film.So he has to be scary and funny at the same time.You get a sense that this is a very dangerous guy, yet you want to laugh in his face.?

?He?s completely off the wall, an extraordinary character? says Suchet, who plays the villain in an understated manner, as a man who hasn?t the slightest idea that his insane behavior is inappropriate. ?He?s a sociopath who reads Deepak Chopra books to try to control his temper and not kill everybody he meets.When he sees Jerry, who is introduced to him as a legendary criminal named Fat Cobra, it?s love at first sight for Thibodoux, which complicates the deal that Michael?s character is supposedly facilitating for him.

?I haven?t done much comedy in my career, I?m usually the villain, the big heavy,? Suchet admits, ?so this has been a release for me and so much fun.?

ollowing her pitch-perfect audition, the filmmakers wasted no time in securing Maria Ricossa for the role of Jerry Peyser?s endlessly understanding wife, Katherine.?The character of Katherine is not simple,? states Fleming.?She?s married to a controlling, obsessive guy who can also be incredibly endearing.What kind of woman can stand by a man like that, see his good side and make the relationship work over the long term?When Maria came in, she had genuine warmth.She was funny.Above all, she spoke the lines in a way that made us believe that she truly loved this guy.?

?Jerry?s a handful and Katherine?s role, essentially, is to handle him,? says Ricossa.?She adores him though he has a thousand eccentricities; she?s the calming influence in his life, even when she doesn?t quite know what?s going on or what he?s talking about.?

Filmmakers Become Wedding Planners

Designing a movie wedding can be even more work than planning a real one ? especially when you know it has to sustain tsunami damage.

Production designer Andrew McAlpine, whose work on The Piano earned a BAFTA and an Australian Film Institute Award, approached the project with a sense of fun and glamour.Adopting a pink and white theme, the team used thousands of flowers to embellish the lush waterfront setting.?Since Albert?s character is determined to make his daughter?s wedding a flawlessly beautiful event,? he explains, ?we had license to be artistic and romantic.?

The scene?s structural challenge was preparing the specially constructed 100 x 40 foot canopied wedding tent to withstand a tidal wave of water ?and still look good afterwards while remaining mostly intact,? says McAlpine, ?so the appropriate safety precautions had to be taken to ensure that all the arrangements and the rest of the set dressing could collapse and not harm any of the guests.?

Equally elaborate as the wedding scene is the rehearsal dinner, which Steve Tobias has staged in the renowned Signature Ballroom high atop Chicago?s Hancock Building -- a space that McAlpine?s team spent eight weeks recreating on a soundstage.The production designer also made some stylistic alterations to the room that better suited the story and built a stage to accommodate a live band, which doesn?t exist in the original restaurant, and suggests playfully, ?maybe the Signature Room will put one of those in now.?

Another design job requiring a blend of reality and imagination was Chicago?s Quan Le Caf?, where the Peysers first break bread with the mercurial Steve.Leaving the exterior on-site footage for a separate shoot, the director commissioned McAlpine to create an interior for the Vietnamese restaurant that could accommodate a rush of simultaneous action.During the brief dinner, Steve breaks away from his table several times in order to confer with his partner, conclude his arms deal and do battle with an armed FBI agent in the restroom before sprinting out just as the kitchen erupts in flames.

?We have people moving in and out of doors, sitting at tables; there are five elements and different eye lines active at the same time,? McAlpine outlines.?It would have been impractical to shoot in an existing location so we decided to use a stage.Because of the restaurant?s large front windows, that also necessitated building a street outside and replicating the existing shops and neon signage across the road.We recreate the actual street, but the interior is totally unique to the film.?

Says Fleming, ?Since the movie is about a series of environments that keep surprising us, and it?s important that the sets, the textures and the overall look reflect the energy of the story.Andrew?s done an amazing job.He?s unbelievably resourceful; if something can?t be done one way he?ll come back with two more ways to go.?

Costumes for The In-Laws were designed by Deborah Everton, whose creative collaboration with Fleming dates to the director?s first film, the 1988 thriller Bad Dreams, and includes Dick, The Craft and the recent Threesome.Having established a rapport early in their careers, the two now often anticipate each other?s ideas.

In preparing wardrobe for Douglas and Brooks, Everton considered not only their individual personalities but their look in tandem, since so many of their scenes are shared.?Any time you have actors next to each other,? she explains, ?you think of it as a still life painting or a photograph.You?re always aware of how they fit together in a frame.?She provided the dashing agent with cool tones and crisply tailored lines, and contrasted the conservative podiatrist in warmer tones and textured fabrics for a more approachable look.

Wardrobe was especially important to help convey an identity for Steve?s ex-wife Judy, played by Candice Bergen.Because Judy has to establish herself in a relatively limited amount of screen time, ?the clothes have to work a little harder to give detail to the character,? says Bergen.?Judy has been at an ashram for anger management.So Deborah found some ashram beads with Hindu gods, and I wore an Indian jacket, one of my own coats and other items that have a quirky ethnic quality, and topped it off with a lot of curly ashram hair.?

Utilizing resources from both her Los Angeles office and temporary digs in Toronto, pulling together everything from Armani to thrift-shop items, the designer?s most extensive assignment was outfitting 200 people for the climactic wedding scene.?Imagine how long it takes for you to pick out your own outfit for a wedding,? Everton says with a laugh.?Now imagine doing that for absolutely everyone at the wedding, from their socks to their earrings.Plus, you need multiples of everything because the party gets hit by a tsunami and everyone is drenched. It was a massive undertaking.?

When asked for a final count on the costumes she designed, found, modified or somehow put together for the film, Everton throws up her hands.?I haven?t had time to total them up yet.I usually do that some time afterwards, when I get to thinking ?gosh, I?m tired.Why am I so tired?!?Then I do the math.?

?Do A Little Dance, Make a Little Love?.?

The In-Laws features a disco-fevered rendition of ?Get Down Tonight,? performed on screen by the group that made it a million-seller in 1975 and helped power that decade?s disco phenomenon: K.C. and the Sunshine Band.Today, with disco enjoying a resurgence, many of the Grammy-winning band?s best-known songs have become karaoke favorites for a new generation, as is the case with lovebirds Melissa and Mark, who sang ?Get Down Tonight? on their first date and made it their song.

As Gerber sets the scene, ?Steve wants to make up to the kids for having wrecked so much havoc on their wedding preparations.He asks Mark the name of the song they sang together at karaoke and Mark thinks it?s just an idle question.But when the band shows up at the rehearsal dinner it?s a magnificent moment.It?s 2003 and yet here they are, looking great and playing the heck out of this song.The kids can?t believe that Steve pulled this rabbit out of a hat for them.?

The grand gesture earns Steve some points with his future daughter-in-law but Mark, though equally delighted with the show, has seen this kind of thing from his Dad before and remains wary.With Steve, life?s best moments usually occur right before or right after some kind of disaster.

KC and the Sunshine Band aren?t the only legendary artists rocking out to The In-Laws.Music producer and composer Ralph Sall, who serves as Executive Music Producer for the film, has compiled a lively and eclectic collection of songs to complement the on-screen comic chaos and touch on the story?s underlying romance, including the previously unreleased ?A Love For You,? written and performed by Sir Paul McCartney.McCartney contributed two additional songs, ?I?m Carrying,? and a never-before-heard version of his 1973 Grammy Award-winning ?Live and Let Die,? newly mixed by Sall.All three pieces are heard in the film and included on ?The In-Laws: Music From the Motion Picture,? produced by Sall and released on Bulletproof Records/WSW/WMG Soundtracks.

Among the soundtrack?s highlights are familiar favorites such as Elvis Presley?s heartfelt rendition of ?It?s Now or Never?; the 1970 hit ?No Matter What,? from British rockers Badfinger; the Bee Gees? buoyant?Wedding Day?; and perennial party song ?Don?t Bring Me Down,? from Electric Light Orchestra; as well as selections from a diverse range of artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Chic, Cameo, B.J. Thomas, Mel Torm?, Michel Legrand and Claudine Longet.Even 1950s Peruvian vocalist Yma Sumac is on hand, with the thoroughly unique ?Gopher Mambo.?

Locations Include Chicago, Toronto Landmarks

Filming on The In-Laws began in Toronto on July 22, 2002 and continued until early October, when production moved to Chicago for a week before wrapping. Over 25 major locations were used, including one of the most famous landmarks in Chicago, The John Hancock Tower.

Other Chicago locations included the stylish Gold Coast area (where the Peyser?s townhouse is located) and the diverse Uptown neighborhood, where the potential in-laws struggle through their bizarre get-acquainted dinner at the Quan Le Caf?.

In Toronto, the production used the Boulevard Club?s shoreline location for the beautiful - if disastrous - wedding site, as well as the Hamilton Airport and Warplane Museum, and many of Toronto?s busiest intersections.

Production designer Andrew McAlpine found Jean-Pierre Thibodoux?s contemporary glass and steel slab-suspended mansion in the Kawarthas, a resort area in Northern Ontario, which doubled for Northern France.The town of Cambridge, built by Scottish masons in the 1870s, stood in for the location in Eastern Europe where Steve sets up the purchase of the mysterious ?Olga.?

ABOUT THE CAST

MICHAEL DOUGLAS (Steve Tobias) is a two-time Academy Award-winning producer and actor with a gift for choosing projects that reflect current trends and public concerns. Among his earliest successes was his role in the popular television series The Streets of San Francisco. Douglas earned three successive Emmy Award nominations for his performance on the primetime series and directed two episodes.

Long interested in making a film of Ken Kesey?s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo?s Nest, Douglas purchased the movie rights from his father and formed a partnership with Saul Zaentz to produce the film.The 1975 release won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress and went on to gross more than $180 million at the box office. His next producing project, the controversial thriller The China Syndrome, in which he starred with Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon, was nominated for three Academy Awards. Douglas subsequently served as actor and producer for the 1984 hit Romancing the Stone and was named Producer of the Year by the National Association of Theater Owners. The following year, he re-teamed with costars Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito for The Jewel of the Nile.

Starman, executive produced by Douglas, was the sleeper hit of the 1984 Christmas season and earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Jeff Bridges.Douglas would later create a TV series based on the film.

After taking a break from acting, he returned to the screen in 1987 in two of the year?s biggest hits: opposite Glenn Close in the phenomenally successful Fatal Attraction, and as a ruthless corporate raider in Oliver Stone?s Wall Street; the latter role earning him an Academy Award for Best Actor. He went on to star in Ridley Scott?s thriller Black Rain before re-teaming with Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito in the black comedy The War of the Roses.

In 1988 he formed Stonebridge Entertainment, which produced Joel Schumacher?s Flatliners.Basic Instinct, in which he starred opposite Sharon Stone, was one of the top-grossing films of 1992. The following year he gave one of his most powerful performances in the controversial drama Falling Down and produced the hit comedy Made in America. His next starring roles were in Barry Levinson?s Disclosure, with Demi Moore, Rob Reiner?s The American President, with Annette Bening, and David Fincher?s The Game, with Sean Penn.

Douglas formed Douglas/Reuther Productions in 1994, which produced The Ghost and the Darkness, starring Douglas and Val Kilmer, John Grisham?s The Rainmaker, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and John Woo?s thriller Face/Off, starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.

In 1998, Douglas starred with Gwyneth Paltrow in A Perfect Murder, and formed a new production company, Further Films. Further?s first film, One Night at McCool?s, starred Liv Tyler, Matt Dillon, John Goodman, Paul Reiser and Douglas.Also in 1998, Douglas was named a Messenger of Peace for the United Nations by Secretary General Kofi Annan. His two main areas of concentration are nuclear proliferation and small arms control.

In 2000, Douglas starred in Curtis Hanson?s critically acclaimed film, Wonder Boys, earning both Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his performance, as well as being named Best Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Also in 2000, Douglas co-starred with Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Amy Irving, Dennis Quaid and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Steven Soderburgh?s Traffic, which was named Best Picture by New York Film Critics, won Best Ensemble Cast at the SAG Awards, and was recognized on over 175 critics? top-ten lists.The following year he starred in the psychological drama Don?t Say A Word.

He recently produced and starred with his father, Kirk Douglas, his mother, Diana Douglas, and his son, Cameron Douglas, in the family drama It Runs in the Family, co-starring Bernadette Peters and Rory Culkin, and directed by Fred Schepisi. Last year, Douglas received an Emmy nomination for his sitcom debut in the popular series Will & Grace.

Douglas is married to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones.They have a 2-year old son, Dylan, and are expecting their second child.

Albert Brooks (Jerry Peyser) is among the most inventive practitioners of motion picture comedy, as well as one of its most incisive commentators on contemporary life.Brooks began his career as a stand-up comic, and went on to become an award-winning actor, writer and filmmaker.

Brooks has directed six feature films, including Defending Your Life (which he also wrote and starred in), The Muse, Mother, Lost in America, Modern Romance and Real Life, all of which he co-wrote and starred in.Lost in America and Mother were honored by the National Society of Film Critics with the Best Screenplay award; Mother also won the New York Film Critics? Circle Award for Best Screenplay.

Brooks made his acting debut in Martin Scorsese?s 1976 classic, Taxi Driver.His other acting credits include such films as Private Benjamin, Unfaithfully Yours, I?ll Do Anything, Critical Care, Out of Sight and My First Mister.He earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance in Broadcast News.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Brooks studied drama at Carnegie Mellon University before starting his perfoming career in 1968 doing stand-up comedy on network television.He began on The Steve Allen Show, later became a regular on The Dean Martin Show, and performed on such variety programs as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Merv Griffin Show and The Hollywood Palace, and had over forty appearances on The Tonight Show, starring Johnny Carson.

Brooks has recorded two comedy albums: Comedy Minus One and A Star is Bought, the latter earning him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Recording.

His first directorial effort was in 1972 for the PBS series The Great American Dream Machine.He adapted an article he had written for Esquire Magazine, ?Albert Brooks? Famous School for Comedians,? into a short film.Following this, he created six short films for the debut season of Saturday Night Live.

Brooks has been honored by the American Film Institute with a retrospective of his work at the First U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado.

ROBIN TUNNEY (Angela Harris) most recently starred in the Sundance Film Festival hit, Cherish.Prior to that, she was seen on the big screen opposite Chris O?Donnell in the mountain-climbing adventure film, Vertical Limit. In 1999, Tunney starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gabriel Byrne in the apocalyptic thriller End of Days. She will next be seen in Alan Rudolph?s The Secret Lives of Dentists.

RYAN REYNOLDS (Mark Tobias) is quickly emerging as one of Hollywood?s most sought-after young leading men with a unique flair for comedy.He received critical acclaim last year for his comedic performance in the title role in Artisan Entertainment/Tapestry Film?s National Lampoon?s Van Wilder.

Reynolds recently wrapped production on two independent features: Foolproof, an action/heist film produced by Atom Egoyan and School of Life, with David Paymer, a humorous story about the friendship between two teachers.

Next, he will begin shooting Robert McKittrick?s indie feature Waiting, revolving around a group of 20-somethings wasting their lives in dead-end jobs at a chain restaurant.

Reynolds? other feature film credits include a co-starring role opposite Kate Capshaw, Stanley Tucci and David Arquette in the comedic drama The Alarmist, as well as Buying the Cow, Finders Fee, Dick, Coming Soon, Ordinary Magic and Teen Monster.Reynolds also appeared in several made-for-television movies including Truman Capote?s In Cold Blood and The Magarethe Cammermeyer Story, starring Glenn Close.He received a Youth in Film Award nomination for Best Young Actor for his work in the Nickelodeon series Fifteen.

Reynolds is fondly remembered for his hysterical portrayal of medical student Michael Berg in ABC?s Two Guys and a Girl.The show was a comedic success for four seasons.

A Canadian native, Reynolds divides his time between Los Angeles and Vancouver.

CANDICE BERGEN (Judy) is ?a beautiful actress who projects intelligence, humor, vulnerability and self-reliance, all more or less simultaneously,? wrote critic Vincent Canby in the New York Times.She proved this every week for ten years as Murphy on the critically acclaimed CBS comedy series Murphy Brown, for which she earned five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Prior to her successful run as Murphy, Bergen received extraordinary critical and audience response for her performances in Getting Straight, Mike Nichol?s Carnal Knowledge, and Starting Over, for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

She recently starred with Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama, with Gwyneth Paltrow in A View from the Top, and opposite Sandra Bullock in the hit comedy Miss Congeniality. Her additional film credits include Rich and Famous, with Jacqueline Bisset; Richard Attenborough?s Gandhi; and The Wind and the Lion, with Sean Connery.

Bergen had her own talk show on the Oxygen Network, Candice Checks It Out, where she tapped into current trends and interviewed people from all walks of life.Two years ago, she hosted Exhale, a nightly one-hour talk show, also on the Oxygen Network.

She attended the University of Pennsylvania and, while still in college, commuted to New York for modeling assignments. Bergen was still a student when she made her motion picture debut as the mysterious, glamorous Lakey in The Group.Combining her acting career with an insatiable desire to see the world, Bergen then traveled to Taiwan to star opposite Steve McQueen and Sir Richard Attenborough in Robert Wise?s The Sand Pebbles; to Greece, to appear in The Day the Fish Came Out; and to France to star with Yves Montand in Claude LeLouche?s Vivre Pour Vivre. She also starred in T.R. Baskin, The Adventurers, Soldier Blue, The Magus, 11 Harrow House, Bite the Bullet, A Night Full of Rain, and what she refers to as ?other films too horrible to mention.?

Bergen made her Broadway debut, replacing Sigourney Weaver, as Darlene in the critically acclaimed Hurly Burly, directed by long-time friend Mike Nichols, which also starred William Hurt, Judith Ivey and Ron Silver.

In addition to Murphy Brown, her television credits include three movies for CBS: Mayflower Madam, Murder: By Reason of Insanity, and most recently, Mary & Tim.

Also a gifted writer and photographer, Bergen has produced numerous magazine articles and photographic essays that observe the world with a keen eye for detail and humor. Her work has included cover stories for New York, Esquire and Life magazines. Her autobiography, Knock Wood, which she worked on for five years, was released in April 1984 to critical acclaim and enjoyed several weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

Bergen is the mother of a 17-year-old daughter, Chloe, by her late husband, film director Louis Malle.She is married to Marshall Rose and they split their time between New York and Los Angeles.

One of Great Britain?s most distinguished actors, DAVID SUCHET (Jean-Pierre Thibodoux) has become well known in the U.S. through his role as Agatha Christie?s legendary detective Hercule Poirot in the television series broadcast on PBS, as well as his performance in the award-winning independent film Sunday, and such popular features films as A Perfect Murder and Executive Decision.

Suchet joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1973 (he is currently an Associate Artist) where his many celebrated roles include that of Achilles in Troilus and Cressida, Caliban in The Tempest, Mercutio and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Orlando in As You Like It, Iago in Othello, and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. He has also performed in many West End productions, including Who?s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Oleanna, Timon of Athens, Separation, and most recently as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus, all of which were nominated for Olivier Awards.Suchet reprised the role of Salieri inLos Angeles, where he was awarded Best Actor of the Year, and then on Broadway, where he received a Tony Award nomination.

In addition to numerous performances on BBC Radio, Suchet has acted in a number of television movies in England and Stateside, among them George Carman QC, The Way We Live Now, Murder in Mind, Victoria and Albert, RKO 281, Seesaw, Solomon, Moses, Secret Agent, Separation, Bingo, Once in a Lifetime and Cause Celebre, and is currently filming the ITV production of Henry VIII in the role of Cardinal Wolsey opposite Ray Winstone?s Henry. He has played the lead role in no less than four major television series including Freud in The Life of Freud; Blott in Blott on the Landscape; John Borne in The NCS (National Crime Squad), and Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie?s Poirot.

Suchet has worked on feature films throughout the world, including Foolproof, Live From Baghdad, Sabotage, Wing Commander, Deadly Voyage, The Lucona Affair, Big Foot and the Hendersons, When the Whales Came, Iron Eagle, Gulag, Hunchback of Notre Dame, A Song For Europe, Falcon and the Snowman, The Last Innocent Man, Red Monarch and A World Apart.

Last year, he was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to drama in Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II?s birthday honors.

LINDSAY SLOANE (Melissa Peyser) was last seen on the big screen in Bring It On, co-starring opposite Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Bradford.The opening dance sequence starring Sloane was nominated for a 2001 MTV Movie Award for Best Dance Sequence.

On television, Sloane most recently appeared on The WB network?s short-lived but critically acclaimed series Grosse Pointe, as Marcy, the ambitious starlet.Her additional television credits include a series regular role on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, as Sabrina?s best friend, Valerie.

Sloane was also a series regular on Mr. Rhodes, and had a recurring role on The Wonder Years. She has also appeared on That ?70s Show, Dharma and Greg, Working, Promised Land and My So-Called Life, as well as the made-for-television movie, Between Mother and Daughter.

Born in New York, Sloane grew up on the West Coast and began her acting career at the age of eight.

MARIA RICOSSA (Katherine Peyser) has appeared in scores of movies and television shows since making her feature film debut in Class.Most recently, she appeared in Map of the World opposite Sigourney Weaver. In 1999, she co-produced and acted in the short film Jimmy Pacheco, directed by her husband, John Bourgeois.

On television, Ricossa has been seen in the television films The Gisella Perl Story, Bojangles, Never Let Her Go, and Her Best Friend?s Husband, among others.Her numerous and diverse series work includes appearances on Odyssey 5, Earth: Final Conflict, Doc, Twice in a Lifetime, Due South and Traders.Ricossa was a regular on the Canadian series Street Legal and Riverdale, and can currently be seen in the recurring role ofKate on the popular Canadian series, Degrassi: The Next Generation.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

ANDREW FLEMING (Director) co-wrote and directed the political comedy Dick, a satire about the Nixon Watergate scandal, starring Kirsten Dunst, and The Craft, a comic thriller about teens involved in witchcraft, starring Fairuza Balk, Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell and Rachel True.For the independent feature Threesome, a romantic coming-of-age comedy starring Lara Flynn Boyle, Stephen Baldwin and Josh Charles, Fleming was both director and sole screenwriter.