Connecticut Jewish Ledger

Actors based new movie partly on his Jewish family

NEW YORK — Paul Reiser is a well-known screen, TV and stage actor, stand-up comedian, author and musician. He was co-creator and star of NBCs critically acclaimed series, Mad About You, and he has starred in such movies as Get Bruce, Beverly Hills Cop (1 and 2), Aliens and Diner. Reiser recently starred in two original movies for Showtime (Strange Relations and Men vs. Women) and he made his theatrical debut in Woody Allens Writers Block.

Reiser is the author of Couplehood, which sold more than two million copies and reached the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list, and of Babyhood, also a New York Times bestseller, which is a humorous look at the adventures of being a first-time father.

Reiser was born and raised in New York City, where he attended Stuyvesant, the highly regarded Manhattan public high school. Reiser graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he majored in music, with a special interest in piano and composition. He co-wrote the theme song for Mad About You.

Reiser has recently written his first motion picture screenplay, entitled The Thing About My Folks. The movie, starring Reiser, Peter Falk and Olympia Dukakis, follows a father (Falk) and son (Reiser) on an impromptu road trip after the mother decides to quietly and secretly leave her husband of 47 years. Reiser captures the complexity of human relationships and interactions and writes dialogue which is both humorous and elicits sympathy for its characters (Reiser also serves as the films producer.)
In one scene, Ben Kleinman (Reiser) is driving his car and engages in a heated discussion with his father, Sam Kleinman (Falk). Ben loses control of the car and crashes into a tree, and the car needs to be towed to a garage in a small town in upstate New York. When the two realize the car will take a long time to repair and that there is no rental car place nearby, Sam eyes a recently restored antique car which he remembered from his youth. Ben is shocked when Sam impulsively buys this dream car.

Reiser explains that this scene is based on a real-life episode in his fathers life: his father was in college and bought a cool car that he wanted; but his father made him return it. Reiser reports that his father cried, because he was upset that he had disobeyed and disappointed his father.

Reiser, his wife, Paula Ravets, and their two children, Ezra, 10, and Leon, 5, live in Los Angeles. Reiser spoke with the Ledger by phone from his New York City hotel, following the New York screening of The Thing About My Folks, which will soon be released nationwide.

Q: Tell us about your life-long interest in your co-star, Peter Falk.

A: Many years ago, I was watching my father watch Falk on TV and watching the way my father laughed. My father loved Peter Falk movies, and I did, too.

When I was seven or eight, my father took me to see Falk in Robin and the Seven Hoods, and Pocketful of Miracles. I took to him - the way he was sweet, funny, intriguing, the way he grabbed his nose! I loved this guy. I think I got my appreciation of Peter from my dad.

Peter Falk was the inspiration for The Thing About My Folks. In 1983, I was visiting my parents and my dad was watching a Peter Falk movie on TV. I think it was The Cheap Detective by Neil Simon - and he was belly laughing.

And he never really belly-laughed. I said, Huh, Peter Falks the only guy that always makes my dad laugh. The next morning I woke up and thought, okay, Ive gotta make up a movie or something with Peter Falk as my father.

I just had those two people in mind, and they merged.

Q: Tell us about your own parents. How similar are they to Sam and Muriel Kleinman in the movie? Did your mother work for your father, too, and did your father go overseas during World War II like Sam Kleinman?

A: I grew up in Stuyvesant Town in New York City and had a pretty great childhood. My parents were happily married until my father died in 1989. The story in The Thing About My Folks is not real, but the conversations were real - I heard my parents having them. For the dads of that generation, work was a priority. Their major concern was with being a provider. My father was a great guy who wanted to make life better for us (Im the last of four children, like in the movie). My father was in the health food business in 1939, long before its time, when it was just a couple of wackos. He had a great business sense and he loved the work. My mother worked for him. Work conversations were the backdrop to our house.

The origin of the movie was my wondering how did my parents get to be the people they are. We are all victims of our routines - work and home. How did they become who they are?

Q: Please tell us about your familys involvement in Jewish life when you were growing up.

A: We were pretty Jewish! We were probably more Jewish growing up than my parents had been when they were growing up. We didnt have a very religious house but we were culturally Jewish. We had seders and celebrated Chanukah. We were not synagogue people, but we went to Hebrew school. I had a bar mitzvah. In fact, I still have a bar mitzvah check that didnt clear! My bar mitzvah was at a synagogue on Eighth Street in Manhattan - it is not there anymore. We had a reception at a catering hall near the grounds of the 1964 Worlds Fair. My bar mitzvah was a great moment!

Q: Did the script really take 20 years to write, as the production notes suggest?

A: Not really. Actually, I was always writing scenes, but I had no story. I would put it away and come back to it every couple of years. But all the scenes I observed over the years with my parents led up to it - it was fun to write.

Some friends and I were talking a few years ago and one asked, If you hypothetically had one year to live, what would you do? I told them Id write the movie faster!

Q: You have many jobs and roles: TV, movie and play acting, stand up comedy, writing, being a dad and spouse. What is your favorite role?

A: My best job is being a dad. It is the best job and the best title. Nobody ever calls you, Hey, writer! In the last six years, I have mostly been at home, writing. It has been great. I have been able to spend a lot of time with my wife and my two kids.

Howard Blas is freelance writer based in New Haven, Conn.