Following its Sundance premiere, there was a great deal of buzz for Obvious Child, and judging by the fact I screened it twice in a week, I have to agree with the acclaim. Writer-director Gillian Robespierre and star Jenny Slate have crafted a very humorous film that riffs on a lot of the crappy romantic comedy tropes out there by being honest and refreshing. But more than anything it is a film about what it means to live in modern-day America and all the pressures and realities of that. It’s genuinely hilarious, capable of holding up to multiple viewings, and also touches on some really important issues in a serious and real way without making it feel like those things have to be talked about in only a serious tone. There is humor in life and Obvious Child mines those for a lot of quality entertainment.
During their press tour in Dallas I got a chance to speak with Slate and Robespierre. Among the topics were whether any of them actually wear Crocs, their thoughts about how a particular scene plays later in the movie and how they were surprised it garnered laughs, whether anyone has ever stolen jokes from them, and even the research they did on the abortion clinics and trying to bring a sense of reality to the situation. One can read the entire conversation below.
The Film Stage: One thing that I love is that you touch on shoes in this film. Specifically the slip on, boat shoe-style and Crocs. And I really, really dislike Crocs. I find them hideous.
Jenny Slate: Me too. They’re the ugliest shoe.
Okay, so, I see you, Gillian, shaking your head. Do you wear them?
Gillian Robespierre: I didn’t wear them until the movie. My brother and his wife and all of his kids have Crocs as an indoor shoe. And I make fun of them because they’re so stupid. But then I tried them on over Thanksgiving and I had the same reaction that Max did. That these were little pieces of magic on your feet. That’s why the scene is in there. But I’m now the proud owner of the orange Crocs.
Oh no!
Robespierre: I traipse around my entire one room apartment in them.
[Jenny and Gillian laugh]
But you don’t go outside in them?
Robespierre: No way!
[Laughs]
Slate: I would much rather wear Crocs than wear those shitty shoes with the individual toes.
Oh, yes. The Vibram Fivefingers.
Slate: Those are disgusting.
Yeah, those are weird too. It’s funny because they do crop back up.
Robespierre: I thought you just said “Croc back up.”
[Jenny and Gillian laugh]
Ha. I’m not that quick. But they do come back up in the clinic scene. You can tell who is paying attention very closely when they see the shoes because they’ll laugh. The other half is just like, “What’s funny about this?”
Robespierre: To be honest, I never thought people would laugh at that scene. For us it is that Donna is in a state of twilight and she looks over and sees the Crocs and is reminded of her mom and Max — everything we just watched for 83 minutes. It’s sort of an indicator for her and her past. That was all. We were trying to be a little more poetic and people are laughing. I’m down. I like that you work on something for a very long time in this small bubble and you unleash it and people have their own perspectives.
Slate: You put it in their hands.
I’ve heard this a few times, especially from a good friend, that the scenes in the clinic are spot-on. How much research did you put into that and why weren’t there cookies? Apparently there are cookies involved.
Robespierre: There were little cups of Sprite or ginger ale. I don’t think we had the cookies because we just didn’t have time. We worked with Planned Parenthood. We sent them a draft of the script. They were great partners in just letting us know. First of all, they loved it. They were really excited to partner up with us and let us shoot in Planned Parenthood. But other than that, more than just a location, we wanted to check in and make sure that everything the nurse was saying was true and nothing was a PSA off my brain. We wanted to create as authentic of an experience as we could in a movie that is still an entertaining romantic comedy.
There’s a very funny scene that almost seems to be an inside joke amongst comics when David Cross looks at your notes and you admonish him and say, “Don’t look at my shit!” I’m curious about that. I know Gillian wrote the bulk of the initial stand-up and then you collaborated together from that point. Is that something any of you have experience before?
Slate: No one can steal my jokes because they’re all stories about my dad.
[Laughs]
Slate: So, it would be really weird if someone else got up and started talking about how my dad wears a nightgown. Yeah, nobody can steal my material because it’s not like bits. It’s just stories. I hope nobody starts ripping off my style. That would suck.
Robespierre: But it’s also a compliment, right?
Slate: Yeah, but I don’t even know what my style is. It’s just storytelling. You can’t copy someone’s personality, at least not well. That’s Gillian’s moment right there — she put that into the scene.
Robespierre: I’m just a fan of comedy. The research I did was just go watch Jenny perform.
[Jenny laughs]
Robespierre: I listen to a lot of Marc Maron podcasts because they’re really entertaining. “Well, I guess I have to do this research and listen to Molly Shannon talk about her life.” Which was amazing. I don’t think it was too far-fetched that somebody would snoop. I don’t know if it was just stand-up comedians that do that. He was just trying to weasel and get closer to her.
Slate: Yeah, he’s annoying.
Obvious Child is now in limited release and expanding throughout the coming weeks. One can also watch an extensive conversation with the filmmakers above.