This weekend, with other millions of people, I saw “Iron Man,” and let’s hear it for not only Robert Downey Jr.’s inspired performance but also for a superhero movie that actually doesn’t take place in New York City or an imaginary city such as Metropolis or Gotham.
Los Angeles served as the perfect background for this story about a selfish billionaire turned selfless crime-fighting machine.
It may not have made perfect sense for a weapons company to be based out of Hollywood, but for Downey’s character, Tony Stark, his personal evolution was portrayed perfectly through his extravagant and secluded Malibu mansion and through his blasting right through the mansion’s ceiling in the final act to stop the bad guy in time.
While the setting of a film may seem an arbitrary decision about what kind of weather occurs during the film or where the film shoot is taking place, the backdrop of a movie can be just as central an element as the characters receiving top billing.
When Woody Allen left New York City behind in favor of London for “Match Point” in 2005 and “Scoop” in 2006, he ended up with a pair of commercial duds despite featuring prominent names such as Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Hugh Jackman.
When John Hughes of “The Breakfast Club” and “Christmas Vacation” left behind his silent muse, Chicago, for New York City for films such as “Home Alone 2,” he quickly faded into obscurity after one hell of a heyday in the ’80s.
Some screenwriters and directors such as Allen and Hughes write what they know best ““ their hometowns.
Other times it may be the cynical heroine of Los Angeles, the superficial villain from Miami, or the clued-out, naive protagonist stuck in Smalltown, USA.
But either way, filmmakers should be aware of the underlying short-term as well as long-term emotional repercussions of location.
If the locale doesn’t match the character or the story, it makes it that much harder to believe, and sometimes location can make a bigger statement than you think.
Would “Steel Magnolias” make sense anywhere but the Deep South?
Would Romy and Michele ever be able to survive more sophisticated metropolises such as Boston or Washington, D.C.?
Would “You’ve Got Mail” have half the charm it has without Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan sharing correspondence over their love of New York City’s fall smell of freshly sharpened pencils?
Another perfect example is the upcoming “Sex and the City” movie.
At this point it wouldn’t make much sense to move the four fashionistas out of New York City after six seasons of Manhattan loving, and even thinking about the concept of the show anywhere else proves difficult.
Remember when the ladies went to Los Angeles, and Carrie had to deal with a crazed Matthew McConaughey, and Miranda found herself on a date with a TV screenwriter with an eating disorder? Weird! Make it stop!
My screenwriting instructor, Paul Castro, borrowed off the real estate slogan “Location, location, location!” to emphasize “Emotion, emotion, emotion!”
But I’m starting to think it was right the first time.
If “Iron Man” rocked your socks, too, e-mail Stanhope at kstanhope@media.ucla.edu.