‘No Stranger Than Love’ to close film festival
Nick Wernham can rattle off a list of modern directors who have influenced him: Wes Anderson, Alexander Payne, Joel and Ethan Coen.
When he set out to make his first feature-length film, though, the Toronto resident tapped the style of a director whom he believes influenced all of them — even though it might take an ardent film buff to see the connection.
“I love Frank Capra,” Wernham said by phone Wednesday, a day before his romantic comedy “No Stranger Than Love” was set to close the Newport Beach Film Festival. “‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is one of my favorite movies. I think he’s such a brilliant filmmaker.”
Capra’s style — sometimes deemed “Capra-corn” for its unabashed sentimentality — imbued such populist classics as “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” and “You Can’t Take It With You.” Wernham’s film, set in a small town where American flags hang prominently along the street and the local jamboree is a major cultural event, seems torn out of that tradition, right down to the conclusion where townfolk of all walks of life band together to help a resident in peril.
But then, Capra’s heyday wound down in the 1950s, and “No Stranger Than Love” adds some subject matter more in the vein of Anderson or the Coens. At the start of the film, Lucy, a young high school art teacher (and the mayor’s daughter) who appears to be the object of desire of nearly every man in town, is about to embark on an affair with a married colleague when a hole mysteriously opens in her living room floor and swallows him.
Soon, Lucy realizes that her colleague has a group of thugs on his trail, and her relationship with one of them takes an unexpected turn. Along the way, she fends off the advances of a student in her class who also crushes on her and even appears to sketch her in the nude.
According to Wernham, screenwriter Steve Adams finished the original version of the script nearly 15 years ago, and one of the film’s producers recommended it to him for his feature debut. Wernham, who had made short films previously, found the process both exhilarating and exhausting.
“As a director, you don’t get a lot of sleep,” he said. “I can’t sleep after a day of shooting. I think I averaged about 90 minutes of sleep a night for the six-week shoot.”
Among the rewards Wernham got for his troubles was the closing-night spot at Newport. After the screening of “Stranger,” festival organizers will wrap up this year’s event with an after-party by the Lido Live theater, with entertainment, hors d’oeuvres and a hosted bar open into the wee hours.
Gregg Schwenk, the festival’s CEO and co-founder, said his team had no specific criteria for the closing-night film — a slot that went to the Jon Favreau comedy “Chef” last year.
“My programming team loved the film and wanted to be able to end with a world premiere of a wonderful romantic comedy,” he said of Wernham’s film.
When the party finally winds down at the Lido, it will put a cap on 2015’s activity. According to Schwenk, that won’t amount to much of a break.
“We’re already starting to plan out next year’s film festival,” he said.
If You Go
What: “No Stranger Than Love”
Where: Lido Live, 3459 Via Lido, Newport Beach
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Cost: $95 for film and gala; $65 for gala only (21 and older)
Information: (949) 253-2880 or https://www.newportbeachfilmfest.com