Viggo Mortensen recently starred in a film from Argentina, Everybody Has a Plan. It recently debuted in Los Angeles and New York, but other than it, it’s likely to sink without a trace (theatrically speaking). And Viggo thinks that’s a shame.
In the film, Mortensen plays two Argentine brothers–a doctor and a beekeper–who get themselves and each other into trouble. But he’s more upset by the timing of the release (too late for Oscar consideration) and the general lack of attention. As he told The Wrap recently, “The reactions have been really positive, especially after the premiere at Toronto,” he said, but Fox (who distributed the film) acted like most Hollywood studios when it comes to Spanish-language films: they pretty much dumped it.
“Typically in the United States, a movie that comes from Spain, unless its [Pedro Almodovar], goes to a couple of art-house theaters where it’ll be largely an Anglo audience,” he noted. “Film buffs. That’s the way they always do it. They’re afraid it’s not possible to get a crossover, a movie people would like.”
Mortensen, who speaks fluent Spanish, comes by his interest honestly: though he was born in New York, his family lived in Venezuela and in Argentina when he was a boy, and he’s happy to return to his childhood haunts regularly. “I’ve always wanted to do an Argentine movie,” he told the Wrap, “but the ones I thought were interesting have been unavailable and the rest of them I didn’t think were that good.”
Read his whole fascinating story here, on TheWrap.com.
…and here’s the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QhOFv1ABTM
