The Problem With People: Colm Meaney on his new film
Colm Meaney and Paul Reiser in The Problem With People.
Colm Meaney and Paul Reiser make for enjoyably squabbling bedfellows in The Problem With People, a new Irish comedy about the return of a long-lost cousin.
Meaney and Reiser play Ciáran and Barry, two estranged cousins, one in Ireland, one in New York, who are reunited at the behest of an ailing family member.
The extended olive branch leads Barry to make a long-overdue trip to Ireland to meet his relatives - but a row over an inheritance and a patch of land threaten to derail the progress they’ve made.
Co-written by Reiser, the veteran US star of screen and stand-up comedy, the movie gave him a long-awaited opportunity to work here.
The two leads share a banter both on and off screen. “He was looking for Brendan Gleeson!” quips Meaney, when Reiser is asked if he wrote the role with his co-star in mind.
“I read it and I was thrilled by it,” adds Meaney of first reading his co-star’s screenplay. “It was a page turner for me and I read it through in one go. I was delighted with the characters and the dialogue and but most importantly, with how well observed it was about Ireland today.”
Reiser’s agent mentioned the market for ‘grey comedies’ on hearing about the script, says the actor (68) as he feigns offence at being described as such. But he might be on to something - there is a shortage of family-orientated dramas in cinemas in recent years, and movies that target older audiences tend to do well.
“I thought this is certainly going to find its audience in a more adult crowd, but we had a screening at the University of Southern California cinema school, and it was all students, 20 year olds, and they loved it,” says Reiser. “I thought: Ok, this is going to reach everybody. They've never seen two old guys move that quickly!”
Still, the dearth of dramas targeted towards older audiences in cinemas is reflective of an industry where blockbusters are king and studios put a huge amount of emphasis on opening weekend.
It has made it difficult, says Meaney, for low-budget films to capture the attention of audiences. “The problem with the industry at the moment is getting it out there, getting the right distribution, getting them to put some resources behind the publicising and getting an audience in.”
It helps, he says, that Ireland has such a good and long-established reputation for storytelling - in particular the crews that are crucial in getting films made. “It always was. I mean, I remember films like The Commitments and The Snapper, 30 years ago we had terrific crews. They work really hard but they're smart, and they're on the ball.”
Shot on location in Blessington and Valleymount in Co Wicklow, the movie came about after Reiser came here on holidays and fell in love with the landscape. “I had never worked here, that was my goal. I had been here first in the early 90s, my wife and I took a 10-day vacation with another couple, drove around. I just loved the country, and was determined to make a movie here.
“It's an American's love letter to Ireland. This was me saying, I want to move here and I think if it was, it was ridiculing or criticising, it would have been a little bit of an irritant. But I think everybody got that this was a movie that was based in respect and affection for the country.”
Meaney, who turned 71 this year, remains one of our busiest actors following a career that has seen him star in some of Ireland’s most memorable movies. His work on The Barrytown Trilogy includes a starring role in The Commitments, frequently voted among Ireland’s most-popular films, while he played a Clannad-loving detective who steals the show in the star-packed Intermission.
International roles have included such hits as Con Air and Layer Cake. To many, he will be forever known as the quirky Chief Miles O’Brien in Star Trek.
The Dubliner will feature in two anticipated releases in the coming months. “I have a film with Barry Keoghan and Chris Abbott called Bring Them Down and a series with Jack Gleeson and Charlie Murphy, set in Rotterdam and Antwerp, called Safe Harbor.” The latter comes from Ozark co-creator, Mark Williams.
- The Problem With People is now in cinemas
