From the "People" Archives:

by Andrea Meyer

What does it take to make it in the land of independent filmmaking? Luck? Talent? Brains? A good personality? One thing is for sure -- it takes more than just a good film. Do you need to be driven by shameless ambition? Married to somebody famous? Have the recipe for some magical concoction that includes all of the above?

Noah Baumbach, director of "Mr. Jealousy," which opens in New York and LA this Friday, attributes his recent good fortune in the film biz to a combination of ambition and naivete. When I asked him what he considered the key to his success, he replied with a story about his college interview at Brown, a school he didn't get into. The interviewer asked what he wanted to do with his life, and he replied proudly, "'I want to write, direct, and star in my own movies.' And then when I graduated from Vassar, I decided that now was the time that I write and direct movies. At the time I thought there was no way I could fail. I think being naive and ambitious at the same time is a huge help, because you only know the possibilities, or at least you think you know the possibilities. The pitfalls don't show themselves." This from the guy who also had a story published in "The New Yorker" when he was a mere bright-eyed college grad.

Baumbach's first film "Kicking and Screaming" was released in 1995, after its premiere at the New York Film Festival. He'd written the screenplay immediately following college graduation. Then in 1996, he was named one of Newsweek's "Ten New Faces of 1996." Baumbach had already started thinking about "Mr. Jealousy" before he made "Kicking and Screaming." In fact, he's been nursing the idea for the last nine years. He says, "It was always exactly the movie I wanted to make next. It was like--I'm making 'Kicking and Screaming' and then I'll make 'Mr. Jealousy.' I was gearing up for it, and ever since that was finished I was constantly trying to get this financed and then making it. I never really stopped to think."

"Mr. Jealousy," a Lion's Gate release, tells the story of Lester Grimm, played by Eric Stoltz, a man in his early thirties who is plagued by irrational jealousy every time he is involved with a woman. His particular affliction is an overwhelming obsession with his girlfriends' past lovers. Baumbach, who claims that the film is only autobiographical "in an abstract way," believes that men have a hard time dealing with the fact that their girlfriend might have "a sexier past than you have. Like when I was sixteen and had my first girlfriend, she'd already gone out with someone who was twenty-five. And I'd barely made eye contact with a girl. A lot of men haven't gotten over that, and they're well into their thirties."

In Lester's case, he becomes fixated on the ex-lovers of his girlfriend Ramona (Annabella Sciorra) to the point that he joins the therapy group of her ex-boyfriend, best-selling novelist Dashiell Frank (Chris Eigeman). He poses as his best friend, Vince (Carlos Jacott) whose problems he starts confessing in order to find out what's so great about ex-boyfriend Dashiell. This behavior might seem particularly obnoxious, but both director and star feel that this craziness can be seen as a natural progression of the usual jealous urges that relationships often inspire. Eric Stoltz explains, "We've all been in a relationship where the partner has had more experience, and I think for the guy that's much more uncomfortable. And rather than sit back and enjoy the benefits of her previous erotic encounters, I took the opposite tack and started acting foolishly, obsessively, and much comedy ensues."

Of course the whole scheme blows up in Lester's face, when everyone involved learns what a pathetic sneak he is. Along the way, there are some hilarious conversations about the relationship game and interesting insights into the ugly green monster that's hounding the poor schmuck. A great cast, especially indie stars Sciorra and Stoltz, lend believability to a film that could otherwise have amounted to an urban tall tale. Stoltz even admits jokingly that in real life, "I became a little obsessed (with Annabella). I had a little crush. I became a little curious about her ex-s and her life. That's what we do. That's what I do. There's a point where you know this is a job and you don't bring it home. But basically one of our jobs is to fall in love with the person that we are falling in love with on film." Part of the film's effectiveness lies in Lester's credibility as a character. Even as he lies to Ramona, deceives Dashiell along with his entire therapy group, and otherwise acts like a complete creep, he remains a sympathetic character, because we understand what drives Lester's lunacy.

"Mr. Jealousy" has an interesting premise, but not that much more interesting than scores of other dialogue happy independent films about young New Yorkers struggling with life and love and ultimately translating that struggle into art. This particular film, however, attracted a couple of stars and a distribution deal, which supports the theory that Noah Baumbach has a guardian angel out there somewhere.

No sooner had Baumbach's second film "Mr. Jealousy" wrapped than Baumbach shot "Highball," a comedy about three parties in one year, that Lion's Gate will also release. He just used the cast and crew from "Mr. Jealousy" and shot the film in one location in six days. Baumbach explains, "It's always easier to keep shooting than it is to break down and start up again. And you're in such a flow that you think anything is possible." This is definitely becoming a theme. The man has super-human faith and self-confidence, he has some talented friends who connect their names to the projects, and voila -- movies happen, distributors pay attention, a career evolves.

Noah Baumbach now claims to recognize the difficulties associated with filmmaking, even if he hasn't been their victim. He admits, "I don't think it's possible to get your first movie made without being woken up to how hard it is to get a movie made." He says of "Mr. Jealousy," "Hey, this film could tank." And quickly knocks wood.