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"My Super Ex-Girlfriend" First Look In Theaters July 21, 2006 Wilson Trivia: Luke Wilson is the younger brother of Owen. Luke was born Sept. 21, 1971, while Owen was delivered on Nov. 18, 1968.
STARRING: Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson, Anna Faris, Eddie Izzard, Wanda Sykes, Rainn Wilson Wild About Movies Grade: D
“Even though the female lead character is a superhero, Don’s script wasn’t a comic-book story,” says Reitman. “This is not a superhero film. It’s a comedy grounded in reality. Even if you don’t like comics or superhero films, there’s a lot for you in MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND. Don’s dialogue was naturalistic, contemporary, sharp – and funny.” Payne’s love for comedy – evidenced in his work on perhaps the greatest comedy series of all time, “The Simpsons” – is coupled with what he calls his “pure nerdom.” “I grew up reading a lot of comics, and I love comics to this day, much to my wife’s chagrin,” Payne says. “It’s a nerd fantasy to have a superhero for a girlfriend, and I thought it’d be a fun idea to have a regular guy dating a superhero to disastrous results.” Payne notes that the notion of a super-enabled woman dating a regular guy had been explored previously; the television sitcoms “Bewitched” and “I Dream of Jeannie” are two notable examples. But Payne adds a new twist to the idea. “I wondered what if the relationship between a superhero and a regular guy ended badly? What if he begins to realize that she’s kind of nuts? “That’s not going to be the kind of crazy ex-girlfriend you want,” Payne says, in a super-sized understatement. Payne’s superhero is Jenny Johnson, a seemingly typical, contemporary New Yorker who works in an art gallery. Jenny, like most single people, wants a special person in her life. But she’s continually frustrated in her efforts to find “Mr. Right” due to her other “job”… as the superhero G-Girl. “Jenny’s save-the-day feats become old for her,” says Reitman. “She doesn’t have the temperament to be a superhero, or the temperament for romance.” When casting the part of Jenny/G-Girl, Reitman knew he had to find an actress who could handle the character’s stunt-heavy superheroics and who had the requisite comedic skills. According to Reitman, there was only one option: Uma Thurman. “Who else could play the part?” he asks. “Uma is a special effect in real life! She’s a wonderful actress, gorgeous, and she has done rigorous stunt work before, in the ‘Kill Bill’ films.” Thurman was eager to tackle Jenny’s superheroics and super-neuroses. “I loved the idea that Jenny is neurotic, vulnerable and a superhero,” says the actress.
At first glance – or first date – Jenny appears to be quite a “catch”; after all, she’s a vivacious, vibrant, and beautiful woman. But, as Reitman notes, it doesn’t take long for the story’s protagonist, Matt Saunders, to realize that there’s something “off” about Jenny. “She’s a very verbal person,” says the director. “Basically, she talks too much and hasn’t yet learned the fine art of self-censorship.” Jenny is too much – way too much – to handle for a regular guy like Matt. Matt, played by Luke Wilson, is a successful architect who, like most single people (including future girlfriend-from hell Jenny), is looking for love. He is the story’s straight man and, says Reitman, the heart of the film. “Luke really embodies the quintessential American everyman,” says Reitman. “He’s a likable guy with great comedic timing.” “I thought the script was very funny and, equally important, it had a lot of heart,” says Wilson. “It’s a very relatable story; everyone’s been through a rocky relationship, and Matt and Jenny’s connection is definitely rocky…and then some.” Given Jenny’s abilities, even lovemaking becomes a risky proposition. Indeed, MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND answers the much-debated question: What would sex be like with a woman with superpowers? “Our sense was that it would be terrific AND painful,” says Reitman, who worked closely with Don Payne to find an original way, within the boundaries of a desired PG-13 rating, to depict super-powered sex. Jenny and Matt’s first time involves a bed rocking back and forth against a wall; another amorous encounter finds Jenny and a near-hysterical Matt joining the “Mile-High Club”…minus the plane, of course. In the aftermath of their supercharged couplings, and Matt’s growing awareness of Jenny’s relentless neuroses, he realizes he must break up with her. But hell hath no fury like a superwoman scorned, and Jenny wants revenge. For starters, she smashes through his ceiling, leaving a gaping hole. Then, she hangs him off a point in the crown of the Statue of Liberty, and wrecks his Mustang before putting it in perpetual orbit. And that’s just for starters. Jenny is also determined to destroy Matt’s burgeoning relationship with colleague Hannah, played by Anna Faris of “Scary Movie” (1-4) fame. Hannah, coming off a less-than-satisfying relationship with a vacuous underwear model, and Matt share a deep friendship that quickly blossoms into passion.
Faris was working on “Scary Movie 4” when she got the call to play Hannah in MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND. The schedules for the two films overlapped, so Faris found herself shuttling between the productions. Wilson plays Matt’s soulless and shallow best friend, Vaughn Haige, whom Reitman calls a “fountain of bad advice to Matt, and probably the worst advisor in the world.” Adds Rainn Wilson: “Vaughn explains to Matt that the most important thing in life is sex.” How has he come to this conclusion? “Vaughn thinks he’s incredibly hip and a ladies’ man, but in reality he is neither.”
“Bedlam was unceremoniously dumped by Jenny,” says Izzard. “So he bears a huge grudge. His goal – really his life’s mission – is to bring her down. He’s become a genius and incalculably wealthy, and he has assembled an extensive criminal record just to get Jenny’s attention.”
As conceived by screenwriter Don Payne, Jenny/G-Girl is a sexy, attractive, modern superhero. But, Payne wondered, what does a contemporary and gorgeous superhero look like? What does she wear? Payne at first envisioned outfitting G-Girl with one iconic outfit, like the classic superheroes. Always with an eye to realism, Ivan Reitman suggested that Jenny have many designer outfits. After all, Reitman points out, “She’s a woman and would want to mix it up a bit.” Most superheroes have secret retreats. Where would Jenny house her most important accoutrements: the extensive G-Girl “collection”? The obvious answer: the world’s largest closet, which is bigger than most apartments. There, Jenny stores hundreds of outfits, attesting to the fact that while she may be invulnerable, her wardrobe is not. Thurman, like Shannon, wanted the designs to maintain the notion of “girl power” – that G-Girl’s look and outfits would be more than a male fantasy of a female superhero. The costumes had to be relatable to women, and would make G-Girl feel empowered from the inside. The costumes help delineate G-Girl’s character arc. In her early scenes, she wears what Shannon calls more “girlie-girl” outfits. “The outfits have a powerful undertone, but are quite feminine,” says Shannon. As the story progresses and G-Girl becomes more unhinged, her look becomes tougher and meaner. “She starts getting a little more ‘commando’,” Shannon continues. “We cover her up more, adding a hood, then an Yves St. Laurent-designed military jacket, which had a powerful, sculptured couture feel.” Every superhero bears a signature insignia, but G-Girl’s is different from most. Her “G” emblem, which appears on all her outfits, is not affixed, as it would be with your garden-variety superhero. G-Girl’s “G” is an accessory, ranging from a pendent with a “G” fashioned from diamonds, to a platinum broach with diamonds, to a platinum “G”-buckle on a black leather belt.
Stunt coordinator George Aguilar worked with Ivan Reitman to create several spectacular action sequences, while maintaining the realistic tone mandated by the director. “We didn’t want any stunt – no matter how outrageous – to look cartoonish,” says Aguilar. “The fight and flying scenes had to have a gritty, ‘New York’ kind of feel.” One of Aguilar’s biggest challenges was helping to design, with visual effects supervisor Erik Nash and director of photography Don Burgess, a huge fight sequence between Anna Faris’ Hannah, who has become newly super-enabled, and Uma Thurman’s G-Girl. This super-battle, which Rainn Wilson calls “the hottest catfight in the history of superhero comedies,” was staged on and above Second Avenue in Lower Manhattan. Aguilar choreographed the scene, working first with stunt doubles, then with the principals for three weeks of preparation and filming. “It was a tricky and complicated stunt,” says Aguilar. “We had two people in the air, fighting and plummeting to earth – and looking great the entire time!” Thurman, who had trained for more than a year in wirework and the martial arts for the “Kill Bill” films, needed little rehearsal for this and other big action/stunt sequences. Faris, too, had had some wirework experience from her work in the “Scary Movie” films. Luke Wilson, who takes to the air with Jenny for the high-flying lovemaking scene, was a newcomer to the world of fight-and-flight stunts, and his learning curve was somewhat steeper than that of his two leading ladies.
“In a movie with a superhero character, visual effects are important,” notes Ivan Reitman who, having directed the effects-heavy “Ghostbusters” (and its sequel) and “Evolution,” is familiar with that highly-technical world. “But I didn’t want effects to rule the story.” Echoes visual effects supervisor Erik Nash: “We have a lot of visual effects, but the film is not about the effects. It’s a comedy, and the effects are there to add to the humor and fun.” Reitman wanted G-Girl’s flying to have a distinct look. “We discussed the idea of G-Girl creating a visual disturbance in the air – which we called a ‘vortex wake’ – that would make her more visible when she’s flying at super-speeds,” Nash recalls. “She travels so fast she bends the light in the air around her. It’s her signature trail,” made possible by the miracles of computer generated imagery. What good is having the ability to fly with vortex wakes, if you can’t devise creative ways to torment your ex? G-Girl, as imaginative as she is crazy, throws a live Great White shark through Matt’s apartment window. The shark lands on his bed, before thrashing savagely around the apartment in a wave of destruction. The shark sequence is a big visual effects showpiece and one of the film’s most complex sequences. “It’s an incongruous and fantastical idea,” says Reitman. “You had to believe the shark could be there and interact within that environment and with the characters.” The shark was a digital creation – a streamlined, darker and even meaner version than an actual Great White. To map out the scene’s beats, Nash and his team prepared elaborate pre-visualization storyboards. They then animated and choreographed the scenes. When camera positions were determined, they cut together a preliminary or test version of the scene, called an animatic, which became the template for the shark attack. Sharks, airborne sex, super-catfights…they’re just a few of the many surprises of MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND. But as Ivan Reitman points out, these all work to service a story relatable to anyone. “We all had relationships go bad,” he says. “We’re just taking that notion to another level.”
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