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WAKING UP IN RENO - OFFICIAL PRESS KIT
"Relationships can be a lot like a road trip..."
Meet Roy (Patrick Swayze) & Candy (Charlize Theron) and Lonnie Earl (Billy Bob Thornton) & Darlene (Natasha Richardson),
two close married couples who thought they knew one another, until they decided to take their dream vacation together.
Now, they're hitting the road in a brand new, fully loaded SUV - and having the time of their lives - until a funny thing
happens on the way to the Monster Truck Show in Reno, Nevada. Lonnie Earl, it seems, has a thing for Candy and when
evidence of this starts to surface, this fun-filled road trip really heats up.
WAKING UP IN RENO takes the romantic comedy on a brash and sassy ride, as two married couples at a crossroads might
just discover that their love for one another is as true as their beloved truck's suspension. But first, they'll have
to survive a hilarious detour into marital madness.
WAKING UP IN RENO is directed by Jordan Brady from a script by Brent Briscoe and Mark Fauser. The producers are Ben
Myron, Robert Salerno and Dwight Yoakam.
It was Billy Bob Thornton who first envisioned a sexy farce in the vein of the classic couple-swapping comedy "Bob
and Carol and Ted and Alice," being set in the Deep South, one of the last frontiers for a romantic comedy. Thornton
came up with the idea at a lunch with producer Ben Myron who urged him to write what they dubbed a "true redneck
romantic comedy," stripped of the form's usual pretensions and urban characters.
In the meantime, though, Thornton made the Oscar-winning "Sling Blade" and became a major Hollywood phenomenon as
both an actor and director. He never had time to get back to his Southern couples comedy so he turned the project
over to two writing friends he trusted with the material: newcomers Brent Briscoe and Mark Fauser, who had written
for the series "Hearts Afire," in which Thornton starred. Briscoe and Fauser were fascinated by Thornton and
Myron's concept - and picked up the story from there.
"We saw it as the story of two terrific couples destined for disaster," says Fauser. "It's a great situation
because these four best friends are supposed to be on a joyful vacation together, but all this other stuff - temptation,
guilt, cheating and complete misunderstandings - throws them for a loop. Best of all, they have nowhere to hide, because
they're all stuck for 2,000 miles in the same truck and the same motels with the very same people who are driving them
crazy."
It was Briscoe and Fauser's idea to have the couples take a road trip to Reno - the working man's paradise, and the scene
of a massive Monster Truck show complete with the famous car-eating Robosaurus. "We just thought about what would be the
ultimate dream vacation for these two couples and this was it - the lights, the shows, the monster trucks, what could be
better? Vegas was too large and glamorous for them, but Reno was somewhere they could just let loose," says Fauser. "And
they do, of course, with a vengeance."
Although Briscoe and Fauser hail from the Midwest, they're certainly not strangers to the wonders and joy of the down-home
style of life. In fact, Fauser admits that Lonnie Earl and Darlene Dodd are loosely based on his in-laws, who do in fact
own a car dealership. Also shaping the characters were Briscoe's remembrances of the people he grew up with in his home
town of Mobile, Missouri. "We know and love these types of people and that's important," says Briscoe. "We never looked
down on them, but instead we really celebrate them. We wanted to capture the incredibly funny but truthful ways they
talk and handle situations. I think everyone can relate to them because, no matter where you're from, you've probably
struggled with best friends and spouses. Pretty much, when it comes to love, we're all just people muddling along."
To get a taste for the raucous road trip for themselves, Briscoe and Fauser even traced the steps of the two couples
themselves. "The first thing we did before writing the script was to call AAA and get a Trip-Tik that detailed the route
from Hot Springs, Arkansas to Reno, Nevada. Then, we were off and running," notes Fauser. The screenwriting duo even
explored such daunting Americana as the infamous 72-ounce steak at the Big Texan in Amarillo - which is almost the undoing
of Lonnie Earl Dodd.
"They did a fantastic, funny job on the script and we were very pleased with it," says Billy Bob Thornton. "Basically,
the writers are hillbillies, just like me. They respected the characters as people but they also show how funny things
happen to them because of where they come from and who they are. The minute I finally had a break, I was ready to jump
in and play Lonnie Earl Dodd."
Adds producer Ben Myron: "What really stood out as more people read the script is that the comedy connected with people
from all over. The characters might be from Arkansas, but their emotional mix-ups and marital dysfunctions are things
we all can relate to, and laugh at."
With the script completed, the filmmakers still needed to find a director, and they decided to take a chance on newcomer
Jordan Brady, another Southerner. Brady drew acclaim for his first indie feature, "Dill Scallion", which was described
by The Chicago Tribune as "a funny 'Spinal Tap' for country music." The absurd situations and people encountered in
"Dill Scallion" echoed the tone and spirit of WAKING UP IN RENO, and everyone involved was convinced Brady would have
a unique handle on the material.
Brady was attracted to the non-stop down-home charm of WAKING UP IN RENO. "I loved that this film is about four strong
characters who come from small town America, just like myself," says Brady. "It could have been done in a very broad or
mocking way but I wanted it to be a true situational comedy, where the people are very real and very human, and the humor
comes out of the crazy situations they find themselves in."
Says Ben Myron: "Jordan immediately saw WAKING UP IN RENO as comedy with heart and emotion. He knew that, in order for
it to work, the performances had to be dead-on, straightforward and very honest - and what makes it so hilarious is
watching these people, with all their foibles and funny ways of doing things, deal with the infidelity among them."
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