Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Main Street

Mary Ann Cook

Acclaimed film shot fast and on a shoestring

ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET: He didn't win the Oscar, but he did win the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance by an actor from the independent filmmakers organization. He's been picking up awards from all over the world ever since he appeared in In the Company of Men. He's Aaron Eckhart, the son of Mary and Jim Eckhart of Los Gatos, and he plays the lead in this independent film.

The story of its filming is amazing, as well as fortuitous. It was shot in just 11 days on a veritable shoestring--$25,000 borrowed from a friend who had just come into an insurance settlement. The location was Indiana, where writer/director Neil LaBute was teaching at Indiana University, and Eckhart had to hitch a ride on a big rig to get there from New York.

Eckhart and LaBute had been classmates at Brigham Young University in the film studies program, and an early version of the film had been produced there. For the Indiana shoot, the actors were quartered in a house that was to be vacant for 11 days: hence the speed of the filming.

LaBute had arranged to mow the lawn in exchange for use of the house. Plus they wanted to get it ready--and did for the Sundance Festival--where they not only got in but won a Filmmakers Award.

Their film has been described as a black comedy and the writing compared to David Mamet's. Film critics Siskel and Ebert gave it two thumbs way up. In fact, Siskel said he thought Eckhart should win the acting Oscar for his performance.

Eckhart's mother, Mary, describes the film as harsh, since it's about misogyny, but she's seen it five times nonetheless. After one showing, a woman in the audience came up to her son and beat on his chest, saying, "I hate you, I hate you." The movie is now out on video for anyone who wants to see what the fuss is about.

Eckhart had to put on 40 pounds for his role inYour Friends and Neighbors, the second film he made with LaBute. In that one he plays a nice guy. Then he had to drop that extra weight to work on an MGM film with Elizabeth Shue, which is shooting now.

Stacey Edwards of the TV show Chicago Hope and the movie Primary Colors is also in In the Company of Men. Matt Malloy is the third principal in the film. Eckhart grew up in Australia and England, and he's appeared in TV commercials for DuPont and Miller beer.

OFF-OFF-BROADWAY: When his father died a few years ago, Paul Bargetto made a promise to himself to commemorate a short story his father had written. Now he has fulfilled that vow. A show he wrote, produced and directed based on his father's story opened this month and played for two weekends off-off-Broadway.

The play's title is partly in Italian but translates roughly as Farmer's Revenge. Paul's father, Larry Bargetto, was a drama coach and English teacher at Lynbrook High School and directed many of San Jose Theater Guild's productions. The younger Bargetto followed this path himself, starting at an early age.

He played baby Jesus when he was 6 months old in a production staged by his father. This infant Jesus managed to pull Mary's halo off and wailed so loud during the play that he was replaced with a doll shortly thereafter. This calamitous debut failed to daunt him, however, and he went on to appear in area productions throughout his school days.

The show he produced in New York is based on a real incident that happened to his great-grandfather. His mother, Pat Bargetto, senior Los Gatos librarian, and his sister, Gina, working on her master's in audiology at San Jose State University, journeyed to New York for a celebratory five days to see the show. Bargetto works on Wall Street when not treading the theatrical boards.

EARLY HOLLYWOOD: Cari Beauchamp has written a book called Without Lying Down, the story of women in the early days of Hollywood, particularly women directors, and she appeared recently as part of a panel about Gloria Swanson on the TV show Biography on the A&E channel.

Beauchamp's title refers to those who didn't succumb to the infamous casting-couch route of gaining roles and recognition. The Los Gatos connection is that Beauchamp is the daughter of Catherine (Crisp) and Blake Beauchamp, and Catherine grew up here.

She is also the granddaughter of Fred Crisp, a real estate agent in Los Gatos famous for his freewheeling ways. Cari earlier wrote Hollywood on the Riviera, a book about the Cannes Film Festival. This can be found in the Los Gatos Library. The Museum of Modern Art in New York based a film program on her most recent book about women directors.

TURNOFF: TV-Turnoff week is slotted for the last week in April as a means of conquering chronic couch potatoism. The Wooden Horse will help bridge the gap with games, arts and crafts and storytelling. Weekdays 7:30-8:30 p.m., by reservation: 356-8821. Saturday 1-4 p.m. stamp art.

NEEDED: Donations are sorely needed for the LG Library's used-book tables. Check your own shelves for possible discards.

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