At The Movies

First-time filmmaker Jake Kasdan makes a promising debut.

SERENA DONADONI

Special to The Jewish News

T

he common refrain among
the children of Hollywood
who decide to follow in
their parents' footsteps is
this: Your name may pique curiosity,
but it will only get
you so far.
For writer/director
Jake Kasdan, the
Detroit-born 22-year-
old son of filmmaker
Lawrence Kasdan

(Body Heat, Silverado,
French Kiss), a well-
known name wasn't
what got his first film
made. It was the fact
that early on, Jake
Kasdan knew what he
wanted to do and
determinedly geared
his life toward that
goal.
The reward is that
at an age when most
of his peers are facing
post-collegiate career decisions, he's in
Los Angeles publicizing his film, the
quirky and thoughtful mystery Zero
Effect.
But that famous name, with all its
potential for recognition, has its share
of drawbacks.
"I never met him before I did this
movie, but we had similar kinds of
reference points, [including] the feel-
ing of not being able to go out there
and fail anonymously," said Ben
Stiller, one of Zero Effect's stars.
"My parents [Jerry Stiller and Anne
Meara] have done things that don't
have to do with filmmaking per se,"
actor/writer/director Stiller added.
"[Jake's] dad directed and wrote The
Big Chill in addition to all those other
movies. That's pretty heavy to have to
be compared to that. So I was really
impressed with him not being intimi-
dated."
Jake Kasdan's forthrightness and
composure impressed veteran produc-

Serena Donadoni is a Detroit-based

freelance writer.

2/6
1998

110

ers Janet Yang (The Joy Luck Club) and
Lisa Henson, (former president of
Columbia Pictures and daughter of
Jim Henson), who had recently
formed Manifest Film Company. The
$12.5 million Zero Effect is their first
completed film.
"We had our reservations when we

was rolling camera, you would have
thought he had already made many
films. I think that many people had
the feeling that they were seeing some-
body major at an early point in his
career."
"I thought [filmmaking] looked
pretty good before I probably under-
stood what it really
meant," Jake
Kasdarr said of his
early impressions
of his craft.
"When I was a
really little kid, I
was just fascinated
with what these
sets were like, and
the scope of the
endeavor and the
sort of military
aspects of it."
Kasdan grew to
be what Henson
called "a beloved
general on the
set," earning the
respect and sup-

Above: Jake
Kasdan, left,
directs Kim
Dickens on the
set of "Zero
Effect."

Right: Ben
Stiller and Bill
Pullman star in
"Zero Effect."

first read the script knowing that he
was a first-time director and 22 years
old," said Yang. "But after meeting
with him, and being pretty wowed by
his level of confidence, we thought,
`This guy's not lacking at all.'"
"As the process unfolded, he
became ever more impressive,"
Henson continued. "By the time he

port of a seasoned crew.
But the genesis of Zero Effect began
on another set, that of Lawrence
Kasdan's The Accidental Tourist (1988),
where a 13-year-old Jake Kasdan met
actor Bill Pullman.
Their friendship continued during
the making of Wyatt Ealp (1994),
where the younger Kasdan worked on

a book about the making of the film,
and Pullman had a small role.
Pullman and Jake Kasdan stayed in
touch. During those years, Kasdan
began to write and direct plays in Los
Angeles, and took a few stabs at uni-
versity life, briefly attending
Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass.,
and the University of California at
Santa Cruz.
"No school could hold him," said
Pullman with a laugh. "He said, 'I
think I better go and do it myself"'
Pullman used a development deal
he had with Castle Rock to get the
Zero Effect ball rolling, and Kasdan
created a phenomenal role for the
multifaceted actor to crawl inside of:
Daryl Zero, the world's best private
detective. A brilliant, highly eccentric
control freak, Zero's defensive outer
shell comes crashing down when he
unexpectedly falls in love.
"He's so smart, I knew you could
believe the genius of the guy," Kasdan
said of Pullman, "and you could also
believe the hollowness and the sore-
ness of his soul."
But despite Bill Pullman's
assertion that Jake Kasdan is
interested in exploring a char-
acter's emotional wounds,
Kasdan-said his own family life
was far from dysfunctional.
His parents, Lawrence and
Meg Kasdan (they co-wrote
1991's Grand Canyon), met as
students at the University of
Michigan and lived for awhile
in the Detroit area. Jake's
maternal grandparents, Irving
and Doralee Goldman, still
live in Franklin, as does his
aunt, Carol Klein, and her
family.
"Like a lot of parents of
their generation, they told me
I could do whatever I wanted to do
and that I just have to work hard,"
said Jake Kasdan.
"The truth is I have a great rela-
tionship with my parents," he contin-
ued. "We're really close. They're
incredibly supportive and provide a
ton of guidance."

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