Christian Slater is talking about God. Cameron Diaz looks brave but a trifle shaky as she sidesteps a question about her recent break-up with Matt Dillon.
Pretty sober stuff, considering that it comes from the two stars of what must be the blackest black comedy ever filmed.
Very Bad Things is that comedy, and promoting it brought Slater and Diaz to our town this weekend along with co-stars Jon Favreau, Daniel Stern, Jeremy Piven and Jeanne Tripplehorn, and writer/director Peter Berg. Yes -- that Peter Berg, of TV's Chicago Hope and such movies as The Great White Hype and The Last Seduction. Who knew?
The film had a sparkly premiere here Friday night as part of the Toronto film festival, where audience response was such that Slater felt free to give filmmaker Berg a big, fat smooch on the lips, imitating a scene from the film. Amusing.
Very Bad Things is the story of a stag party gone wrong, and the escalating murder and mayhem that follow.
Diaz plays a determined young woman who will let nothing stand in the way of her wedding plans. Favreau is her fiance.
Slater is one of the guys who goes along to Vegas for the last, wild bachelor party. And Slater becomes the ring leader when things start to go awry. Think psycho Diner.
Meanwhile, both Slater and Cameron have had amazing ups and downs in the last year. He was in jail. He was in Hard Rain. We wouldn't recommend either. Now he's in tip-top shape. Thought he was cute before? Wait until you see him clean and sober.
Cameron is the star of There's Something About Mary, the hit comedy that just returned to the No. 1 box office spot. Very Bad Things is yet another laff-fest under her belt. But then the Matt Dillon thing kind of yanked the carpet out from under her feet ...
She claims making people laugh comes naturally, and Diaz is certainly breezy and amusing -- that smile -- in person.
As for coping with her new-found fame, she says, "There's no course in being a celebrity. I take it one day at a time." And, she confesses, she doesn't much like to look too far down the road. "It's like, I'm the girl who can't make dinner reservations. I just go spontaneously."
Of Very Bad Things, she says it's mostly harmless and that Slater plays the only person who is truly bad. "And he gets what he deserves," she says, smiling broadly.
Certainly, her character is a strong woman. "Yes! She happened to save the day," agrees the actress. "And without getting a single spot of blood on her beautiful white wedding dress."
Slater, whose turn it is to speak next, notes that he wasn't particularly looking for a dark character. "But I read the script of Very Bad Things and felt an immediate connection," he says. "Like with love at first sight. Or lust."
He continues, "I played so many roles and characters in the last 10 years. I guess I was really looking for myself. I was concerned about what other people thought about me. What other people think about me is really none of my business."
He talks about change, epiphany, opportunity. The whole jail thing, the whole crisis. "That's all behind me," he states.
"My opinion is, God works in retrospect." Then he grins, and adds helpfully, "That's a great quote."
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