Is there life after divorce? Amy Landecker gives an enthusiastic ‘yes’ in her new rom-com
The new movie “For Worse” feels like a throwback to the golden age of romantic comedies.
Chicago native Amy Landecker wrote and directed the film about a woman named Lauren who has just gone through a divorce. Lauren gets invited to a younger friend’s wedding, where, despite being sober, she ends up acting more like a drunken 20-something bridesmaid.
It’s a classic storyline: Lauren acts like a mess in public, hits rock bottom and eventually makes it through to the other side, a little wiser and better off than where she began. The film — which Landecker says she made in under two weeks, with less than $500,000 — draws heavily from her own experience with divorce.
She has called divorce the worst period of her life. But in her sweet 90-minute watch, it has been infused with charm and humor.
“In my real life, I have a really lovely happy ending, and I wanted to bring in the hope of coming out the other side of that situation, whether it's divorce or a breakup,” said Landecker, 56.
Part of her own happy ending includes meeting her husband, Bradley Whitford (“West Wing,” “The Diplomat”), who also stars in “For Worse.”
As Landecker prepared for the opening of “For Worse,” she spoke with WBEZ’s Courtney Kueppers about the filmmaking process, her love for the genre and what comes next. The film is now in theaters and will be available for at-home rentals starting April 3. This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.
You wrote, directed and starred in this movie. When did that process begin?
When I was probably still just separated, I got invited to a wedding of a much-younger friend of mine, and I went with a group of younger people, and I had this very fish-out-of-water experience. Instead of practicing some form of self-care and going to bed as the evening devolved into wedding madness, I sort of joined in. It was one of those kinds of nights where you're like, “Why am I awake? Like, I'm a mom. I should be in bed.” But the experience was so hysterical that almost immediately, I started thinking about how it would make a good movie.
There is so much of your own story in this script. Is there any sort of healing in making it into a film and telling this story in a way that is very real, but also has a good amount of humor?
Oh, for sure. I mean, humor is pain plus time. I feel like now, as someone who's come out the other side so well, it is my duty to share with people that they're going to be OK.
Especially for women who are older, it's like, “Oh, well, you can't. You can’t go dating again in your 40s or your 50s, or you're not going to get a job, or you're not going to have a new life.” And I've really been able to have a different experience than that. My first real role on camera that sort of put me on any map at all was when I was 40. I directed my first film at 55.
It takes time, and you fall apart, and you act like an idiot. You think you're going to die. But then, time heals. That's what I'm representing here.
On screen, Landecker’s character, Lauren, has just gone through a divorce when she gets invited to a much-younger friend’s wedding and ends up making a fool of herself in public. Landecker said it’s a story about falling apart and coming out the other side. It is inspired heavily by her own lived experience.
Courtesy of “For Worse”
This film feels like sort of a throwback to the glory days of romantic comedies. Is that something you were aiming for?
I'm a huge rom-com fan, like, just huge. I'm referencing “My Best Friend's Wedding” a lot. That was a Chicago movie, and a lot of Chicago actors were in that movie, including Paul Adelstein, who plays my ex-husband in my movie. And it really struck me because it was both a rom-com and also sort of serious, like she was having a legitimately hard time, and she was kind of being a legitimate jerk. And so I thought that felt tonally like what I was doing.
There's something very satisfying about that formula and the threat that it's not going to work out and then it does. It's comfy, cozy and inspiring, and that's why I like them so much.
Your husband, Bradley Whitford, stars in this film with you and co-produced it. What was it like acting across from him?
What was really wild is, on the second day of shooting, we do the biggest scene that we have together, and I was sort of like, “OK, here we’re going to find out whether we have chemistry.” And it was like butter. It was so easy. It was one of the most beautiful scenes in terms of tone and clarity and connection. And I felt so much relief because I watched the movie, and I feel like I'm watching two other people. I'm into their story and other people seem to feel the same way.
You insisted on a theatrical release for this film before streaming. Why was that important to you?
Most of the rom-coms that I'm seeing are really straight to streamer, but I was really hopeful to get a theatrical release, because I went to a bunch of festivals with this movie, and it is so much fun in a group. It is uproarious. There's literally, these audible responses to stuff that you just wouldn't normally get at home on your couch.
It's a very different thing to laugh with other people where you're all identifying with each other, and I just think that's very special. So I'm hoping people will get their girlfriends together or take their partner and go see this little film we made.
Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.