It just seemed like a small move to me that reaches much further as a movie. [Acting like a playboy] is an international disease.

Mick and Dave, they've been on the movie a year and a half. Before we even started shooting they were on it. Through the dailies, Dave was on the set ... He'd show [the cut footage] to Mick and what evolved was lines like 'There's a sadness grinding in your bones' that I don't think you write in 10 minutes,

This process is getting a little more absurd the further we move,

I don't think it's a small move in this direction; I think it's a huge move.

It's his downfall. It's what gets him at the end, that he won't let the love in. He's incapable of it,

To call them emotional comedies sounds cloying. Like Billy Wilder said, 'You want to make them laugh and you want to make them cry,' and it's very hard to do so. If you ground it in reality, you get a more honest comedy. You don't have to reach for jokes to manufacture situations as much. And I think it's a type of film I do best.