Kelly and I had a blast at the Newport Beach Film Festival, where we saw for the first time the movie made from my novel “Lonely Street.”
The comedy, starring Jay Mohr and Robert Patrick, was well-received by the audience, which laughed a lot and applauded at the end. As the credits rolled, four of the producers, screenwriter/director Peter Ettinger and I stood in front of the screen and talked about the project and took questions from the audience. My moment of Hollywood glory.
The independent film is to have a “limited theatrical release” before coming out on DVD on Aug. 8. “Limited release” usually means New York and Los Angeles only, so we may never see it in a Redding theater. (I keep mentioning the Cascade Theatre to the producers!)
“Lonely Street” was my first published novel, coming out in 1994. It introduced Bubba Mabry, a low-rent Albuquerque private eye who’s hired by what may be the living Elvis. I’ve since written six other novels and a novella that star Bubba, reporter Felicia Quattlebaum and other characters first introduced in “Lonely Street,” so I feel like they’re old friends of mine.
It was more than a little strange to see these familiar folks portrayed on a movie screen. The film is very different from the book, naturally, and I spent most of the viewing tensely listening for the lines I wrote way back when. (A lot of the funniest lines were added by Peter, and the whole film is more of a comedy than the book is, though the book’s pretty damned funny, too, if you ask me. Har.)
Jay Mohr makes a great Bubba, never quite as smart as he thinks he is, but Robert Patrick steals the show. An Academy Award-winning makeup team did the makeup and prosthetics that made Patrick (currently on the TV show “The Unit,” but always the melty “Terminator 2” to me) look exactly like a 75-year-old Elvis. He performed the Elvis voice and mannerisms perfectly, and it was easy to believe the King still lives.
Albuquerque looks great in the movie, and Peter did an amazing job of making it appear the whole story was set there when, in reality, most of the film was shot in the Los Angeles area. I visited L.A. during the shoot and spent a couple of days on the set. It was extra fun to see the scenes that I had watched being filmed come alive on the big screen.
We went to an “after-party” in the showroom of a nearby Jaguar/Land Rover dealership. The crowd was young and glamorous, the music was really loud, and I felt positively ancient. But the wine was free. We didn’t stay too late; we’d gotten up at 4:30 a.m. to catch a plane to LAX, and the long day took its toll.
I went to bed happy that I’d finally seen the movie, with the film’s cool theme song (“When the Rebel Comes Home”) still echoing in my head.
The film shows again Thursday afternoon at the film festival. To see more info and a quick video preview, click here.
Here’s a photo of us addressing the crowd after the screening:
From left: Steve Brewer, director Peter Ettinger, executive producer Cori Fry, producer Chris Brinker, actor/producer Kevin Chapman and producer Patrick Newall.
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Our trip only lasted about 36 hours, but we made the most of it, packing in a lot of sightseeing and drinking fine dining, so it felt like a vacation. We could write a travel guide called “Southern California on $600 (and 3,000 calories) Per Day.”
We cruised around Hollywood and Beverly Hills in our rented Dodge Charger (vroom!), then made our way to the UCLA campus, where the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books was going full tilt. Thousands of book lovers roamed hundreds of booths and attended panels and speeches. We visited the mystery fiction booths, where we saw lots of authors and booksellers who are friends of mine, and we heard a hilarious talk by actress Cloris Leachman.
We also spent time at the beach, where I got a red nose (sunburn, not booze), visited Balboa Island, and cruised the Pacific Coast Highway.
A great trip. Memories made. Calories consumed. A fun film. Thanks to all who made it possible.
