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Exclusive Interview With Phil Morrison On All Is Bright

I absolutely love Christmas. It's hands-down my favorite time of year and many of my favorite movies are set around the holidays. So naturally, I jump at the chance to see any Christmas movie I can, even when it's not full of elves and reindeer. One of this year's new holiday films, All Is Bright, definitely isn't filled with traditional cheer and goodwill, but it's still a quality, darker spin on a Christmas tale.

All is Bright

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WGTC: Why do you think it is that Paul Giamatti can never seem to play the nice guy?

Phil Morrison: I can’t speak for other people who’ve cast him. In the case of this movie though, we didn’t cast against type. Paul Giamatti and Paul Rudd are 100% cast for type. I think it’s because part of what I think this movie is about for each of those characters is kind of the experience of being saddled with being 55% a certain kind of person, so the world demands that you be 100% that kind of person. In a way, it was meant to be Rene and Dennis, their characters, are meant to live up to their types, as much as Paul Giamatti and Paul Rudd are consistently cast in a certain way.

WGTC: I thought they were incredible together on screen, how was it working with those two?

Phil Morrison: Oh great. They were so generous and patient. These guys have been in a lot of really, really big movies, and this was the kind of movie that you had to take the subway to set. You weren’t going to have a limo. They were great about it. It seemed like they really had a good time together.

I could tell that they really respected each other. I could constantly see them looking at each other and thinking, “Wow, I wish I could do that.” Even though I think they both can do a whole lot more than they realize. I could see that they both really admired each other, and not in a bullshit, ass-kissy way.

WGTC: Anything exciting planned that you can tell us about?

Phil Morrison: Nothing that’s financed. I’ve been trying really hard ever since Junebug to make Fathers and Sons, an adaptation written by Angus MacLachlan, who wrote Junebug, of the Ivan Turgenev novel Fathers and Sons. We’ve been working really hard to get that made, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that some day we actually will.

That concludes our interview, but I’d like to thank Phil for taking the time to talk with us. Be sure to pick up All Is Bright on Blu-Ray when it releases on November 19th!