These characters’ interlocking stories are broken into various temporally asynchronous narrative shards, so that we pick up various arcs at different points and sometimes return to moments in time that we’ve already seen, but from different perspectives. And, as if that weren’t enough, halfway through the film we are introduced to Ian Warfield (Alex Wolf), a troubled teen nihilist with a skeevy uncle and a questionable background with whom Shannon becomes involved. Her involvement with the theater also brings into her life an awkward professor who wants to be the theater’s artistic director and is clearly romantically interested in Carrie. Meanwhile, Quint’s increasingly restless wife, Carrie (Marisa Tomei), finds inspiration in her life by renovating an abandoned theater, the funding for which she needs from her husband, who sees no long-term gain. A former gambler who can’t resist passing up an seemingly good opportunity, Drew borrows the $300,000 minimum to invest and then lies on the SEC forms about his net worth, a decision that comes back to haunt him when things turn south. When Drew thinks he hits it off with Quint one morning over a game of tennis, he asks to buy into his hedge fund, which he does not have the financial backing to do. Thus, the question of who was at fault is central to the film’s tension, although Meyers ( My Friend Dahmer) and screenwriter Oren Moverman ( The Messenger, The Dinner) are clearly more interested in the oscillating interpersonal dynamics among the major characters, who cover a broad range of the socioeconomic spectrum.Īt the very top of that spectrum is Quint Manning (Peter Sarsgaard), a cocksure millionaire hedge fund manager whose teenage son, Jamie (Fred Hechinger), is dating Shannon (Maya Hawke), the daughter of Drew Hagel (Liev Schreiber), a struggling real estate agent whose much younger wife, Ronnie (Betty Gabriel), is pregnant with twins after several miscarriages. We see the accident in the film’s opening scene, although we do not find out who was driving the car that hit the cyclist until late in the film. Marc Meyers’s Human Capital, an adaptation of Stephen Amidon’s 2004 novel that was previously made into a film by Paolo Virzì in 2013, is a familial drama in which the fates of a half-dozen characters become interlocked with the central, binding event being a hit-and-run accident that leaves a waiter who was riding home on his bicycle at death’s door. Stars: Liev Schreiber (Drew Hagel), Marisa Tomei (Carrie Manning), Peter Sarsgaard (Quint Manning), Maya Hawke (Shannon Hagel), Fred Hechinger (Jamie Manning), Betty Gabriel (Ronnie Hagel), Alex Wolff (Ian Warfield) That was really helpful for me.Screenplay: Oren Moverman (based on the novel by Stephen Amidon and the film Il capitale umano by Paolo Virzì) There's a great collection of 70s photography I found on Flickr - from the National Photo Archives - of teenagers in high school in the Midwest in the 70s. I really enjoyed all aspects of the research. And likewise, I loved reminded myself and researching how people spoke then - the slang terms kids used. I loved getting into the music of the region & era - there's a lot of punk music and hot tunes from the era in the film.
I loved researching the mid-to-late 70s - what the world was like then. And then we filmed at many of these actual locations in Akron, OH - including the real Dahmer home. I understand the environment in more detail.
Including - I went to Jeffrey Dahmer's childhood home. Basically, the author gave me a personal tour of his book - showing me the actual spots that informed his graphic novel. And he took me to the high school, showed me the roads they drove down, their childhood homes, and walked through the woods. I also spent several days with the author in Cleveland & Akron, where they grew up. Having the book, which is highly researched was an amazing starting point. OF COURSE delving into the character of Jeff was fascinating.