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thought maybe they'd end up
running a law firm together.
"No one would have guessed
we'd go to Hollywood," says
Diamond.
The film, like their friend-
ship, is about beshert, or meant
to be.
They bonded at 15, the day
they vowed to see as many
movies as possible (they manage
five). "We found in our friend-
ship and our mutual love of
movies an escape from the loneli-
ness and the insecurity of adoles-
Teo Leoni and down at my sister's house in
cence," Diamond says. "From
Nicolas Cage
Oklahoma.
that day forward, we never
star in "The
"Strangers would come up
,
walked down the hall alone.
Family Man." to me in restaurants, saying,
The two Davids visited Israel
`You really should let Brett
together and even dressed alike
direct this movie.'"
in geeky Kmart fishing hats and hunt-
After Cage signed on, the screen-
ing vests. "We called each other, 'Guy,'"
writers found themselves taking a 2
Diamond recalls. "'Guy' was the name
1/2-hour meeting at the actor's red
of our friendship."
brick mansion in Bel Air, Calif. At a
Cur to the late 1980s, when NYU
subsequent meeting, Cage's butler
grad Diamond quit his L.A. movie
served smoked oysters in the lavish
development job and was looking for a
drawing room. Diamond couldn't eat
free place to live while writing his own
any. "I keep kosher," he says.
screenplay. He moved in with
When The Family Man com-
Weissman, who was earning a master's
menced production in an Orthodox
degree from the University of
neighborhood in New Jersey in
Wisconsin after studying Chinese lan-
1999, the filmmakers had to consult
guage and history at Hebrew
with the local rabbi about how to
University in Jerusalem. While subsist-
handle the Christmas decorations.
ing on boxed potato-and-cheese mix,
Finally, a solution was reached: Signs
the friends decided to pen a script
would proclaim that the decorations
together, a semi-autobiographical
were for set design purposes only.
coming-of-age story about two pals
Ratner ingratiated himself with the
trying to make it big in business and
locals by leading them in a rousing
the girl who comes between them.
version of "Dayenu."
When the check arrived from the
"He knew all the verses," Weissman
sale of their first screenplay in 1994,
says, impressed.
the partners moved into separate
The screenwriters' families were
apartments. A year later, they got the
impressed, in turn, during The Family
idea for the film that would place
Man's star-studded premiere last week.
them among the ranks of the A-list
Diamond showed up wearing the
screenwriters in town.
same outfit he'd bought for Weissman's
The Family Man began when the
wedding.
scribes envisioned a character awaken-
Leoni showed up with comedian
ing one morning with an "instant
Garry Shandling, since her husband,
family." The concept came at a time
the actor David Duchovny, was away
when both were grappling with issues
filming Diamond's and Weissman's next
of marriage and family.
movie, a sci-fi comedy called Evolution.
"I wanted to be in a relationship,"
Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Dave) is
says Diamond, who now has a wife
directing the movie, which also stars
and a 19-month-old daughter. "I was
Julianne Moore and will be released by
emotionally crippled," quips
DreamWorks in summer 2001.
Weissman, who married in September.
Will Jewish values emerge in future
Turns out they sold the idea to the
Diamond-Weissman screenplays?
first buyer to hear their pitch; it didn't
That's a given. "It's how we see the
hurt that the Beacon Pictures execu-
universe," Weissman says. "It's part of
tive had attended Akiba.
who we are."
Before long, director Brett Ratner
(Rush Hour) was so taken with the
project that he frenetically lobbied for
The Family Man, rated PG-13,
the job. "He stalked me," recalls pro-
opens today in area theaters.
ducer Marc Abraham. "He tracked me
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