Beth Wells (talented digital designer and creative) knows a lot of interesting and quirky people. And because of her, I found myself in Leicester Square watching the film, “Honeymooner” which was directed by her friend Col Spector. Not only does this guy make good films, he also has a cool name.
Fran (Gerard Kearns) is 29 and we meet him in bed. Dumped. A couple of weeks before his wedding. Understandably, he’s feeling pretty shite about it and having opted out of spending his honeymoon on his own, he’s spending his time in bed. Alone.
After bumping into his ex who has moved onto a new boyfriend remarkably quickly, Fran realises that she’s not going to change her mind and with the help of his somewhat unstable friends, Ben (Chris Coghill) and Jon (Al Weaver) he begins a half-hearted search for a new soulmate. Ben and Jon are in rather unsympathetic situations – whilst both their other halves are devoted to them, they appear pretty nonplussed with their girlfriends and are more than happy to aid Fran pick up girls. As Fran picks up the pieces of his shattered life, we share his transition from despair and frustration to realisation and finally, to acceptance and the future.
True to the subtle realities of life, Honeymooner is a film well worth watching.
Watch the trailer for Honeymooner here:
The piece de resistance of the night was realising that Col had decided to watch the film that evening too. It’s quite awe-inspiring meeting the person who made the film you just watched and getting to quiz them about their work.
Challenges
From watching the final piece, I’d never have guessed that casting would have been an issue – everyone seemed to fit their parts well. However, Col had given himself 3 months only to finalise the script, cast and crew. Without an official casting director, Col spent much of his time asking those in the business for casting advice. Once the cast was fixed, the next big challenge was obtaining the perfect performance in single takes – quite a feat when you consider there were non-professional actors mixed in with a professional cast.
Strangely, a calendar proved to be Col’s best friend – dates were set for each section of the process to be achieved by and this kept the film on track and under control.
Most enjoyable moment
“Wonderful takes where the actors excelled themselves.”
The Characters
Friends of Col beware! He is quite likely to base his characters on friends and acquaintances although the situations he puts them in may not all have happened.
Inspiration
Whilst the Honeymooner wasn’t inspired by any particular film, Col is greatly influenced by Manhattan, Husbands and Wives, Old Joy, Greenberg, Superbad (high fives for this one), Kiarostami movies, Buffalo 66 and Eric Rohmer movies. All these will be going on my list of films to watch…
Looking Back
Having known he wanted to be a Director aged 18, Col’s got a fair stack of films behind him. He is most proud of Someone Else (starring Stephen Mangan) and the short News Year’s Eve (again starring Stephen Mangan and Keira Knightly).
What’s Next?
Col has revealed his next big project is on a coming of age comedy set in the mid-90’s at one of LA’s most notorious record labels. Am wondering if he needs any extras to fly out there for the shoots…
Leave a Reply