The Extra Man
Short description
The Extra Man follows Louis Ives, a young man who leaves his teaching job behind and moves to New York hoping to become a writer. There he becomes the lodger of Henry Harrison, an older, eccentric intellectual who earns a living by escorting wealthy widows to social events on the Upper East Side. The two men form an unlikely household, and Henry takes his younger roommate under his wing as Louis tries to find his footing in the city.
The film is a comedy directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, who also wrote the screenplay with Jonathan Ames. It is based on Ames's 1998 novel of the same name. Kevin Kline plays Henry opposite Paul Dano as Louis, with Katie Holmes, John C. Reilly, Dan Hedaya and Alicia Goranson in supporting roles. It was the directing duo's third feature, following American Splendor in 2003 and The Nanny Diaries in 2007. Made on a budget of about 7 million dollars, it drew a modest response: it holds a 5.8 rating on IMDb from roughly 5,600 votes and the same score on TMDB from a much smaller base of 107 votes, while a critics' rating of 5.5 from 70 reviews puts professional assessments close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- When Henry drives Louie to the theater for the first time, he demonstrates that he is a reckless driver who doesn't care about other drivers or pedestrians. At one point, a voiceover shouts, “Idiot!” The same phrase was shouted by Otto when he raced through London in the film “A Fish Called Wanda” (1988). Both characters – Henry and Otto – were played by actor Kevin Kline.
- One of the patrons at Sally's bar is the author Jonathan Ames, who wrote the novel on which the film is based.
- Henry takes Louis to his first party at the Neue Galerie New York, a Manhattan art museum literally meaning New Gallery New York, which specializes exclusively in Austrian and German art and decorative arts of the 20th century. When Meredith mentions someone being surpassed by Klimt, she is referring to a painting called Adele Bloch-Bauer I, which can be seen in the film. It was painted by Gustav Klimt in 1907.
- Louis's car, a 1974 Pontiac Grand Ville, is a two-door model that was the last full-size convertible from Pontiac. The Pontiac Grand Ville was a top-of-the-line model in its lineup from 1971 to 1975. It replaced the Pontiac Bonneville, which had been the top model since 1958.
- In New York and Palm Beach high society, men who provide escort services are often called walkers.
- The wedding scenes at the end of the film, as well as the scenes where rice is thrown in the street, were filmed at New Middle Collegiate Church on Second Avenue in the East Village, New York.
- When the main characters are driving in a convertible outside the city, shots of a cemetery in the background are repeatedly shown.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
