Brett Ratner: the billion-dollar boy sits down with the maverick producer for an old-fashioned showbiz swinger session

Brett Ratner was obsessed with movies--and the movie business--almost from the get-go: Born and raised in ritzy Miami Beach, he wrangled his way onto the set of Brian De Palma's Scarface (1983) at age 12 and wound up with a part as an extra; and as a student at New York University's prestigious film school, he roped in funding from Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment to complete his thesis project, a movie entitled Whatever Happened to Mason Reese (1990). His first professional jobs were directing music videos for the likes of Jay-Z and Mariah Carey, but after he hired Chris Tucker to be in a Heavy D video, the comedian recommended Ratner to direct his first big-budget feature, Money Talks (1997). Ratner later reteamed with Tucker for the first entry in the runaway hit Rush Hour franchise, which put them both on the map.

In the past several years, Ratner, who made his mark doing high-octane action-comedies, has even moved into more traditionally dramatic fare like The Family Man (2000), starring Nicolas Cage as a high-rolling banker who wakes up one morning in the throes of domesticity; Red Dragon (2002), the last installment of the Hannibal Lecter trilogy; and the recently released After the Sunset, starring Pierce Brosnan as a supposedly retired career criminal and Woody Harrelson as a federal agent still looking to bag the dashing thief in a battle of wits. Along the way, Ratner's films have grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, and with unflagging ambition and a rare ability to make movies that connect with audiences, the kid who once had to scrap and hustle just to get on a movie set is now a bona fide movie-industry mover with enormous commercial clout, burgeoning creative credibility, and an ever-growing cadre of famous friends.

Displaced for more than a year by renovations to his new home in Beverly Hills, the 35-year-old filmmaker sat down with his good friend and, most recently, roommate, Robert Evans, in the most notorious of Hollywood haunts--the master bedroom at the legendary producer's Los Angeles estate, Woodland--for an old-school tete-a-tete.

ROBERT EVANS: I've missed you, big guy. But I don't understand something: You come to my house to spend the weekend, you end up staying a year and a half, then suddenly someone comes in to take your clothes out, and I don't hear from you. Where have you been?

BRETT RATNER: I've been living at the [Regent] Beverly Wilshire Hotel for about a month now. RE: What's wrong with having breakfast in bed served here? I know you love the eggs here. BR: The eggs you serve--and the bacon. You are definitely a connoisseur of fine food. I've never had a better breakfast than the ones I've had at Casa La Evans.

RE: So how come you moved out?

BR: I'm back!

RE: Thank God! Now we're getting some laughs.

BR: I miss sitting on this fur comforter.

RE: Forget the fur comforter. I'm just glad you're back. I've missed you. You think you're going to move into your new house, but you're not allowed to go there. We've had more laughs here in this last year--even though you're responsible for blowing up my damn projection room. I should really take your head off for that.

BR: That was a sad day at Woodland. When I saw the fireman's report and we realized that it was the wedding gift I bought you, that television that malfunctioned and burned the screening room down, I really felt bad.

RE: I don't know whether to love you or hate you.

BR: I had some of the best times in that room. I could fall asleep in that room. I could get romantic in that room.

RE: And you could burn that room down.

BR: [laughs] I know you are going to build another one. It's going to be bigger and better.

RE: It won't have the heritage, but I'm going to do something rather special there. There were more deals made in that room, both legal and illegal.

BR: That was where you watched the dailies for The Godfather [1972] and Chinatown [1974].

RE: The history of the room--do you know that Jack Nicholson took one of my old chairs that I was embarrassed to have in there because I couldn't afford to buy new ones at the time? I had six of them. He said, "Can I have them?" So I said, "Of course, you can have them." He sold one of them for a lot of money. But you burned the whole thing down, so I have nothing.

BR: Well, you know what? The memories shared serve each differently.

RE: You're right, and there are three sides to every story: yours, mine, and the truth.

BR: [laughs] And no one's lying.

RE: The terrible thing is I wish I had never gotten married so you didn't have to send me that gift.

BR: [laughs] I've got to tell you, though, I'm going to really miss sitting on this bed, because of the stories, first of all-

RE: How can you miss them? You're not leaving.

BR: [laughs] But sitting on this bed at different times when I'd come in here in the middle of the night to show you a rough cut of my movie, After the Sunset, to get your opinion.

RE: I imagine it was a bit after midnight. The picture was two hours and ten minutes long at that time. I loved it the way it was, so I'm dying to see what you've done with it!

BR: Wait till you see the final cut.

RE: It moved so fast already. And the performances are extraordinary. It was like a real Hollywood great movie.

BR: Well, what's funny is that it reminds me of the movies of the 1970s, which I think is one of the best eras in movies. But, honestly, Bob, being able to come to you with a rough cut of my movie, or when a girlfriend of mine is breaking up with me and getting you to help me woo her back, or talking to you about whether I should take a job or not--having you as my friend and roommate has been so valuable. Not many guys my age are going to be able to say that they lived with Bob Evans for a year.

RE: Some girls can say that.

BR" [laughs] But not many guys.

RE: You have this quality, Brett, that I have not only not found in this town, but in this country or anywhere really: I have never once heard you speak badly about anybody--about a competitor, about another guy, about anybody. It's a quality that is totally original. It's not bullshit. You're enthusiastic like a kid. There have been very few kids in this world--maybe Walt Disney. Walt Disney was a kid. Michael Eisner is a kid. And you know who else is a kid?

BR: Hmm . . . [pause]

RE: You! [Ratner laughs] And that's a quality you can't be educated with. You can't factor that into the job of a headhunter. A kid can read through the difference between what is genuine and what is not. I look at you as my kid, all right. I can't help it.

BR: The thing that I love most--that I eat, sleep, and breathe--is movies. Every time I walk into this room there's a meeting going on. I get jealous when I see Wes Anderson or David O. Russell in here talking to you, when I see you with all these directors. But the truth is, I'm happy that they are smart enough to come to you for the experience. When people say, you know, 30, 40 years from now, "What was your relationship with Bob based on?" I'll say it was based on our mutual love of movies.

RE: I remember one night when we were sitting up, you said, "I would love you to see some of my music videos." So I said, "Okay, put them on." I wasn't that interested in watching them at first, but you showed me 20 music videos that I didn't believe you did.

BR: I don't need to reminisce about it, but I love the work. When I watch the movies you've made I realize that a lot of people can make good movies. But to make a great film, it's very important for you to have taste. And that's the one thing that you have. You had taste in casting the director the way you cast Roman Polanski for Chinatown, or the way you cast Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather. Just knowing that you were behind those movies makes me feel special just being around you, and we haven't even worked together yet.

RE: How many times have we looked at The Kid Stays in the Picture [2002]? I was proud of that picture, by the way, as I am of anything I've done, because you can laugh and cry within an hour and 40 minutes. It's an original.

BR: The first time I saw that movie was the first time Ali [MacGraw], your ex-wife, saw it. I sat next to her, and It was so moving for me to watch her watch that movie because she was crying, seeing you talk about her the way you were. It was so emotional because you really did it in such an elegant way.

RE: You know what is strange, and I hope others can relate to it, but sometimes the smallest acorn can grow the largest forest. I wrote the book to begin with for my son because he went through a lot of hell with me. I wanted him to know--

BR: Who his father really was.

RE: I didn't care if two people read the book: just him and me. And that started the whole career change for me, and today I feel better and have more going for me than I did 40 years ago.

BR: Well, that's why I'm so excited that I'm here as you're writing your new book, The Fat Lady Sang. As you know, I've been reading chapters of it, and if people like The Kid Stays in the Picture, then this is the next level. Instead of doing a documentary, we're going to have to do a narrative version for the movie of that book.

RE: I think we both know who's going to play me--I can't say. But you know who is going to direct it? Brett Ratner. Who knows me better? You did that film, The Family Man, and we didn't know each other well then, but I cried during that picture. I had tears in my eyes, and I never thought we would even be close at the time. If you give the story of my life the emotion that you got from The Family Man, it'll touch it with magic. It will leave an imprint.

BR: I think The Fat Lady Sang is going to be my epic picture.

RE" It may be my last picture. You know why? I don't think I can beat it. So, your reputation I'm going to retire on. You know, Brett, you're just starting out, and you could work 20 months a year if you wanted to. But you are too good to be tarnished. Make movies because you love it, not because you're part of a package deal that you've been put in to sell a picture. Go for the magic.

BR" I follow my instincts.

RE: And I'm proud of you for it. Liam Neeson gave me a quote that I think is rather extraordinary. He said, "Bob, don't look to be a tycoon or a mogul. Think of writing. Never forget that most authors will be remembered far longer than Napoleon." And it's true. All the billionaires, they come and go. But the artists, the Shakespeares, the great directors, the great actors, the big painters will stay. Forget schedules, forget necessity. Just do what's in your head. It's all that matters. Stick with it, will you? I beg of you.

BR: I will.

In addition to a full slate of film projects, Robert Evans is currently completing his second book,

The Fat Lady Sang.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Brant Publications, Inc.
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