Seeking Perfection

Glenn Gordon Caron is probably still best known for creating the landmark ‘80s ABC series “Moonlighting,” which was nominated for 42 Emmys and nine Golden Globes, among other honors. He made the leap to feature films in 1988 with the downbeat but well-received drama “Clean and Sober,” starring Michael Keaton.

His next two films, however, the quirky 1993 Debra Winger comedy “Wilder Napalm” and the 1994 remake of “Love Affair” with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, were disappointing.

Caron, 43, has high hopes for his latest film, “Picture Perfect,” which opened Friday. Jennifer Aniston stars in the romantic comedy as Kate, a talented advertising director who is having trouble advancing her career. Because she is unattached, her boss (Kevin Dunn) won’t even consider promoting her.

So her best friend (Illeana Douglas) invents a fictional fiance for Kate and even supplies their boss with photos of Kate with the young man (Jay Mohr), whom she briefly met the week before at a friend’s wedding. Kate reluctantly goes along with her friend’s idea and finds her career on the fast track. She also attracts the attention of the office’s handsome Lothario (Kevin Bacon), who dates only attached women.

Caron recently discussed his life after “Moonlighting,” his latest project and why he hasn’t returned to television.

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Question: How did “Picture Perfect” come about?

Answer: I purchased a book called “A Place to Fall,” about the television business, written by Roger Director, who worked for me on “Moonlighting.” I needed to place it with a studio. I had two appointments--one in the morning at Universal and one in the afternoon at Fox. I went to the one at Universal and it took me a minute and a half to sell the book. I literally had nothing to talk about when I got to 20th Century Fox.

I went in and sat down and Tom Rothman, who is the president of 20th Century Fox [film production], said, “What do you think of Jennifer Aniston?”

I said, “I think she’s marvelous on the show [“Friends”].” This was in February of last year. He said, “We’re committed to making a movie with her this coming summer. Would you read the script?” I read it and thought it needed an awful lot of work, but I was really intrigued with working with Jennifer.

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Q: Did you two meet before making the decision to do the movie?

A: I met with her and we hit it off instantly. I liked the idea that this was a movie that had to get made on a certain date. We had to start at the end of May, because that was when her hiatus started, and we had to finish at the end of July, because she had to go back to “Friends.”

So it was a big blind date. We all sort of locked hands, meaning myself, Jennifer and 20th Century Fox, and we said, “Let’s all jump in the pool together.”

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Q: Did you change the script radically when you became the director?

A: The essence of the idea is the same; a lot of the particulars are mine and very much changed.

I am a big believer in “ache.” To me, it’s a very important foundation for any comedy to work. So I sort of felt it was my job to put the ache in the movie. Once I had the ache in the movie, then I could put the funny in the movie.

I was literally rewriting right through shooting. We were still making changes. Also, there were some unresolved questions. The studio had points of view about things I didn’t share and I had points of view about things they didn’t share.

The movie isn’t heavy by any stretch of the imagination, but I think they were hoping for maybe a frothier movie, so it took us a while to get on the same page.

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Q: You’ve made just four films in nine years. Are you extremely choosy about your projects?

A: It just happened to work out that way. I did “Clean and Sober” and then I got involved with what eventually became “An American President.” I was doing it with Robert Redford. That was about a year [in development], and at one point he decided not to make the movie.

Then I spent seven or eight months with Dustin Hoffman preparing a movie that eventually became “With Honors.”

But the big down time was spent preparing “Evita” at Disney. It was literally, with one exception, the same cast. In fact, I was the first director who brought Madonna to the project. It was Antonio Banderas as Che. We were talking to Jeremy Irons about playing Juan Peron. Jeffrey Katzenberg was running Disney, and the famous Katzenberg [cost-cutting] memo came out. I think, politically, it was going to be very difficult for Jeffrey to fund a movie that was that expensive at that moment, and so it became clear we weren’t going to make the movie.

So you turn around and something like four years have gone by and you go, “My God. I haven’t made a movie.”

Then I was offered “Wilder Napalm” and I thought while I was making it: “I’m hitting this thing out of the park. This is just the greatest movie ever made.” Then we put the movie together, and I guess it was far stranger for audiences than I had comprehended. It was so near and dear to me, I was just devastated. It played in one theater in Los Angeles and one in New York for a week, and then it was gone. It got what has to be the worst reviews ever given.

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Q: How did you hook up with Warren Beatty for “Love Affair”?

A: Literally since “Clean and Sober” came out, Warren Beatty had been asking me to do a remake of “Love Affair.” I wasn’t interested, but when it was clear that “Wilder” wasn’t going to get the sort of send-off I had hoped, frankly I became scared and I wondered: “Am I ever going to work again?”

Suddenly the idea of doing a movie with big movie stars became something I really had to think about. I like Warren, and he’s a tremendous filmmaker and brought wonderful people to this project.

I always felt there was a better movie in there than the one that we made. The whole thing was very painful for me, and I am sure it was very painful for him. I wish we had both done better for each other. Having said that, he earned the right from his work over the years to produce the movie and have the final cut and make the decisions that he made. I would be naive in the extreme if I didn’t admit to knowing that going in.

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Q: Have you ever thought about creating another TV series?

A: I would like to do work in features that is as good as the work I did in television before I return to television again. I am very proud of “Moonlighting.” The truth is I didn’t aspire to television. From the time I was 12, I wanted to be a filmmaker, but you go where they have you. At the beginning of my career, the place they would have me was television. But I have always loved film.