Catching Up With... Jon Poll

[Above: Jon Poll and Robert Downey Jr.]

To say Jon Poll's career has been successful would be a pretty extreme understatement. He's edited some of the highest grossing cinematic projects of the past decade, including the two Meet the Parents films and all three movies of the Austin Powers franchise. He also executive produced The 40 Year Old Virgin. When deciding on his proper directorial debut, he read more than 100 scripts before finding a pair that he liked. The first, Juno, was snatched up by Ivan Reitman and is now a Best Picture nominee. The second was Charlie Bartlett, which hits theaters today.

"Charlie Bartlett is a movie about a kid who goes into his school’s boys room and councils the kids in the public school he goes to," Poll says. "He sits in one stall and the kids sit in the stall next to him, and he listens to their problems. He tricks a bunch of shrinks, cause he’s a smart little guy, and he gets the prescription drugs that he believes these kids need. Eventually he realizes the errors of his ways with the help of Robert Downey, Jr. who plays the principal and antagonist. We're playing around with the idea that maybe kids shouldn't be given Ritalin and other drugs so easily. In a way, we're showing an alternative, which is pretty simple. It's 'listening.' It sounds like a message movie. It's not. It's a comedy. We have a lot of music and humor."

Paste: It's kind of ironic for Robert Downey Jr. to be playing a role as a principal getting upset about drug selling. I guess that wasn’t lost on you guys when you chose him?
Poll: No, no, no. This is the first movie I’ve directed and I can’t believe I got Robert Downey Jr. in my movie. Robert really responded to the movie and the script. When I first spoke to him on the phone I said to him, "Robert, if this movie was being made 20 years ago, you would have been the star of the film. And now here we are and I’m going to ask you to play the principal, the antagonist." You know, he’s a man of great generosity and bravery both on screen and off. He really tackles some issues in the film that are mirrors and reflections of his past. I think some of the things his character has to say in the film have an extraordinary level of relevance because of where he’s been and come back from. And it’s really an honor that he graced the movie for us.

I feel like I should talk about Gustin Nash who wrote the script.

Paste: Yes, please.
Poll: He wrote the script four years ago when he was 26. He was working at the Burbank Mall at Ritz Camera selling memory cards. He was hanging out with teenagers who worked at Ritz and Hot Dog on a Stick. They were always disappointed and let down by the films Hollywood was making, saying, "These are for you." They didn’t feel like these movies were speaking to them. And he kind of took it as a challenge to write a movie that would appeal to these kids and make them feel like there was a real voice for them.

Paste: There are some parts in the movie that are, at first, predictable. The new kid at school (Charlie) getting beat up by the bully. But you put in some nice twists. The actor who played the bully…
Poll: Tyler Hilton. He was Elvis in Walk the Line.

Paste: It was funny in the way he changed.
Poll: This is a spoiler of sorts. Tyler ends up getting to go out with a cheerleader in the film. And that girl, Megan Park, in real life, they met on the first day of shooting and they are still together.

Paste: There have been a lot of high school films over the years—Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Valley Girl, Rushmore and others. What do you feel this film brings that those other films didn’t?
Poll: A big part of what I liked about Charlie was that, although it has a lot of humor and it’s playing fast and loose with some edgy subjects, I really feel like the heart of the film, and the heart of that character come through in a way that reaches some people. I have a 14-year-old daughter and she was very much in my head as I was making the movie. I’m not a huge teen-movie fan. People often ask me what was the inspiration. To be honest, the film I used as a model when pitching the tone I’d like to use in Charlie was Harold and Maude, a film by Hal Ashby who’s also an editor-turned-director. I was trying to make a film that was a throwback to the '70s in that there’s a lot of serious stuff going on and a lot of humor as well. And there are tone shifts in the movie that are quite difficult. Some of them I think we succeed at really well and some not as well. But we’re taking some chances there. A lot of teen movies maybe aren’t taking the same chances. You mentioned some films that are amazing. Rushmore is astounding. People compare this to Rushmore. They both have main characters who were kicked out of private schools and go to public schools and wear prep school jackets. In a lot of teen films, adults, for the sake of humor, are played as buffoons. Look, Robert Downey Jr.’s and Hope Davis’ characters both have some serious issues with substance abuse. There’s no question that their generation is a little bit responsible for some of the things that go wrong in the movie with Charlie.

Paste: There are a lot of producers on this film.
Poll: I’ve been an editor for 20 years, and on every movie I would hope to meet half the producers. On this film I’ve met all of them but one. Jay Roach is a great friend and a mentor and a collaborator of mine. I’ve worked with him for 10 years and cut all of his movies except for the first Austin Powers. He was a godfather of sorts to [Charlie Bartlett]. Sidney Kimmel runs Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, which is the company that produced this movie after every studio in town said, "There is no way we will make this movie nor anyone else will ever make this movie. You’re out of your mind, Jon." S.K.E. has made a series of great films, all really interesting films that no one else would make—The Kite Runner, Breach, United 93, Lars and the Real Girl, Death at a Funeral, Alpha Dog. Tons of movies that all have a certain amount of edge and outsider quality to them, and a lot of heart as well. Sidney is actually from the schmata business and a great philanthropist.

Paste: Schmata business?
Poll: Yes. I’m a Jewish guy from New York. That’s the clothing business. It may not translate.

Paste: What advantage do you feel that an editor’s eye brings to being a director?
Poll: It’s a little hard for me to know exactly. But being an editor, you’re a judge of performance and you’re the person, along with the director, who goes through all the footage and creates a pace and a rhythm and a style, but primarily chooses the moments that are human that connect with an audience. And having sat in dark rooms for years doing that I think I have a very good sense of performance. And beyond that, also a good sense of what it takes to be able to put a movie together. And, oftentimes, first-time directors, when they get to the end of the process, they go “If only I had known what I know now, then, I would have done things so differently.” But really, I’ve considered myself a filmmaker. I went to USC Film School. I made short films that were in festivals and won awards. Then I found myself working [as an editor]. And I was so lucky to have a great career. I’ve learned from Mike Meyers, Jay Roach, Danny DeVito, Peter Weir. I mean, I’ve been able to work with incredibly talented people. And hopefully I was smart enough to soak some of that up.

I think when people see Charlie Bartlett, it’s a movie that doesn’t have a huge amount of camera movement but doesn’t feel static. It’s got a lot of energy that I think comes from the editing.

Paste: You’re kind of a part of, I don’t know what you want to call it, that “Rat Pack” group of guys that have gone on to do other things. Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill, Judd Apatow...
Poll: It all comes from Judd. I was lucky enough to be a part of 40 Year Old Virgin, which was kind of like a big time film school. I got to watch Judd make a great movie and be there to consult on the set and in post and be as helpful as I could. You know, it’s funny. Comedy is the hardest genre to pull off. I’m sure there are people who would disagree with me. But there’s a lot of analytical science to it, and a lot of flying by the seat of your pants and a lot of improv and risk-taking and gut-checking. I think it’s the most interesting genre to work from. Judd actually was an uncredited writer on Meet the Fokkers. I first met Judd through Jay. There is, to a certain extent, a small circle. I’ve been very lucky to have been associated with these talented people and some great movies.