Who Plays Who?

Sandra Bullock Thomas Haden Church Bradley Cooper Ken Jeong DJ Qualls Keith David Howard Hesseman Beth Grant Katy Mixon M.C. Gainey Holmes Osborne Delaney Hamilton Jason Jones Carlos Gómez George Sharperson Luenell Christina Carlisi Joe D'Angerio Shanda Laurent

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Mary Horowitz Hartman Steve Angus Howard Corbitt Mr Horowitz Mrs Horowitz Elizabeth Norm the Truck Driver Soloman Little Deaf Girl Vasquez Rescue Supervisor Rescuer Protestor Lydia Teacher ABC News Producer Bus Driver

What Do The Critics Say

"All About Steve is far better than would be expected from a title long buried by Fox. A more than competent cast and full of solid and unpredictable verbal jokes, this comedy about a temporarily insane cruciverbalist who falls for a news cameraman is more a personal journey than it is a romance.The absurdity of news, particularly cable news, is a fixture here. The narcissistic anchor gallops from oddball drama to oddball drama prizing his hair and his histrionics over the stories he’s meant to report. Not without its good bits. Even if you have to watch some supposedly nice guys be mean to get to them." Sara Schieron BOX OFFICE MAGAZINE "In this refreshingly quirky comedy, Sandra Bullock is Mary Horowitz, a Sacramento crossword–puzzle writer who is geeky and hyperactive and generally too much to bear. Writer Kim Barker and first-time director Phil Traill aren’t afraid of big jokes (deaf kids down a well), but they also pay attention to the small details of character. Although Bullock initially struggles with a character she’s probably too old to play, she ultimately makes Mary funny and sympathetic without softening her innate weirdness. The actress also earns points for daring to co-produce a Hollywood comedy that isn’t about a wedding." Chuck Wilson L.A. WEEKLY FILM & TV

"Mary is a character with enough contradictions to attract the likes of Bullock, who's all for a challenge. Her role as a demon boss in "The Proposal" earlier this summer is a case in point. Gamely portrayed by Sandra Bullock, she's extremely bright if socially clueless, ultra-chatty about things that interest her (though not necessarily her listeners) and a tad obsessive. Despite her downward-tilted head and her nattering ways, Mary really does want to connect. Watching her realize this isn't deep but it is sweet." Lisa Kennedy DENVER POST "I went into All About Steve fully prepared to dislike it. I found myself actually enjoying the lunacy of this ridiculously off-kilter romantic comedy, which throws all caution to the wind and dives headfirst into its narratively fractured and utterly nonsensical screwball slapstick about misplaced romantic obsession. If it didn't come from a major studio, I would think the film is a satire of romantic comedies, or at least some kind of avant-garde experiment in testing the limits of audience identification." James Kendrick Q NWETWORK FILM DESK "All About Steve is a film that hinges on Sandra Bullock's impressive ability to play the goofball. It's a sort of anti-romance romantic comedy, and though uneven, it's a lot smarter than most films in the genre. Under the laughs are a handful of insights about round pegs and square holes; you laugh with people in this movie, not at them. Bullock, whose absolutely fearless comic abilities are the real draw here, manages to put across a fairly serious message and get you to laugh while she does so." Liz Braun JAM! MOVIES

The Inside Story Kim Barker’s interest in creating a story built around a crossword constructor didn’t stem from an interest in puzzles. She was more intrigued by the type of person who possessed the abundance of information necessary to generate the intricate wordplay. "I’m not really good at crossword puzzles unless it’s the online version, which tells you instantly what answers you’ve gotten wrong and then you can fix them," Barker ("License to Wed") admitted. "But to take pen to paper, I just can’t do them." Nonetheless, Barker began a daily regimen of crosswords and visited several websites and message boards, gaining additional insight into the realm of the professional crossword puzzle creators. Barker’s research reinforced her initial thoughts about shaping Mary Horowitz into a one-woman storehouse of information on innumerable subjects. With the socially-challenged cruciverbalist at its center, Barker’s script for "All About Steve" mixed classic comedy elements with dramatic and offbeat situations. This mix appealed to Bullock and her frequent producing partner Mary McLaglen, who has enjoyed a longtime collaboration with Bullock, beginning almost ten years ago with "Hope Floats". "For me, the great draw for this script was the Mary Horowitz character, which is so quirky and is all of a sudden thrust into a world where she feels she needs to fit in. Everybody can relate to it on a certain level." There definitely was something about Mary (Horowitz) that garnered Sandra Bullock’s attention when she first read Kim Barker’s screenplay. At the center of the comedy was the peculiar crossword constructor who seeded the story with heart and a raucous bite. As both an actor and producer, Bullock is known for her discerning eye for good material (as witnessed with her recent role in the comedy smash "The Proposal") and she sparked to the idea of a comedic character that harkened back to the type of roles she relished. Mary Horowitz is truly unique. "Mary is this incredibly brilliant person whose been raised in this bubble by her loving, overprotective parents," four times People's Choice U.S.A Award winner Bullock explained. "So she’s grown up to be exactly who she’s supposed to be without any outside influences: and that’s the problem." Bullock says getting into character wasn’t always easy. "At first, I didn’t know whom to model Mary after, so I had to start taking pieces of people whom I knew. I took a three and a half year old. I took Kim Barker, our writer. I took myself at my most amped and manic. Then I just pieced it all together." The world isn’t too accepting of a true individual like Mary, and the film’s comedy reflects that with absurdity and brazenness at every turn. "What’s exciting about "All About Steve" is finding the right balance of comedy styles," says Bullock ("Speed"). "It’s pretty true to life and it can be cruel. We’re pushing the comedy envelope. It’s edgy and I like that." "There are so many Marys in the world," Barker notes. "They may not be the popular kid at school; they may not have tons of friends because they’re not 'normal'. Mary is different from most because she happens to be extremely intelligent. She hasn’t managed to find other people like her. I enjoyed embracing those differences." It became evident to Bullock, McLaglen and Phil Traill that Bradley Cooper ("Yes Man") fitted the bill as the handsome cameraman Steve, who elicits a passionate response from Mary during their very brief first date. Cooper’s rugged good looks, innate charisma and impeccable comic timing, most recently on display in his lead role in the blockbuster comedy "The Hangover", proved to be an irresistible combination. When Bullock saw Bradley in "Wedding Crashers", she said to herself, "That is Steve." What was it that attracted her. "He has the ability to play the cad believably, yet can still evolve into someone who’s misunderstood." Cooper says the feeling was mutual and taking on the role was an easy decision. "The draw for joining the project was Sandy (Bullock)," he recalls. "The prospect of working with such a wonderful actress was enticing, and I thought it would be a great experience." The films director, Phil Traill ("Hiccup"), who was born in the U.S. but raised in the United Kingdom, brought his own brand of offbeat humor to the project. His comedic sensibility; evident in his directing of the popular British sketch comedy series "Snoops" and for his award-winning short film "Dangle", was certainly a good fit for the project. But it was a marathon conversation with Bullock that sealed the deal for him to tell us; all about Steve. Traill recalls that following a weekend reading of the script, "Sandy and I were on the phone for three hours. "It was just so easy to talk with her about the film, and I had quite a lot to say, actually. Sandy made it so easy for me; she had thoughts to which I would feel comfortable enough to reply, 'I wouldn’t do that, but I would do this.' Everything just fell into place, and then we pretty much rolled into making it." "I knew Phil could do "All About Steve", based on his short films and his TV show," says Bullock, "but the first conversation I had with him clinched it for me. He just got it." With Traill aboard, casting became the top priority. Barker’s locker room-tinged repartee between the other principal characters: the pompous reporter Hartman Hughes, the impudent cameraman Steve and the beleaguered field producer Angus; leapt off the page, and the filmmakers wanted to ensure that whomever they cast could rise to the challenge. Bringing together actors Thomas Haden Church, Bradley Cooper, and Ken Jeong proved to be a combination of kismet and lots of hard work. The role of Hartman Hughes had originally been scripted as a suave, effete Prada-wearing reporter. But once Academy Award nominee Thomas Haden Church ("Sideways") appeared on the filmmakers’ radar, they quickly realized the six foot two inch Texan could give the character an element of machismo: upping the ante on the gamesmanship between Hartman and Steve. "Thomas is brilliant," Traill stated. "He brought this aura of an arrogant, camouflage-wearing combat reporter with the wind-blown hair to the table for Hartman. His charisma on camera and off is compelling." "My agent called me and said, 'Sandra Bullock has gotten a hold of your phone number, and I think she’s going to call you.' And sure enough," he said, "one day I was going through my caller I.D. and there was a call from [Bullock’s husband] Jesse James. I put it together, called her back and we talked for two hours." For the role of harried field producer Angus McCormack, Bullock, Traill and McLaglen cast comedian and actor Ken Jeong, whose breakout role in Judd Apatow's comedy smash hit "Knocked Up" had impressed the three filmmakers. Jeong has gone on to make audiences laugh with his roles in the Apatow-produced "Pineapple Express" and "Step Brothers", the comedy hit "Role Models" and most recently in the smash "The Hangover", in which he played the part of crazed Las Vegas crime boss, Mr Chow. The scripts offbeat comic sensibilities appealed to Jeong, who appeared in an episode of "The Shield" as Coroner Myron Okubo (2007). His fresh-faced field news reporter Angus doesn’t quite fit in with veterans Hartman and Steve. "They treat Angus pretty much like an intern. Angus desperately tries to fit in with them, often to disastrous results." As for the films offbeat humour, he notes: "It has a universal message about being comfortable with what you are, and I think that resonates with almost everyone." Jeong, Church and Cooper settled quickly into an easy, bantering off-screen relationship, which was often reflected on-camera. Their immediate chemistry was not lost on the actors. "I don’t know how they did it, but Phil, Sandy and Mary definitely got three people who jelled right away," says Cooper, who played Will Tippin in fourty six episodes of "Alias" (2001 and 2006). "It was a blast and Phil let that play itself out on film." The actors’ uncensored, testosterone fueled bits occasionally enhanced the scripted dialogue. "We had this beautiful script that we all loved, and actors who love to adlib," McLaglen commented. "As much as you want the written word to keep your story line going, we let Bradley, Thomas and Ken go as much as possible." It was a different story when it came to Bullock’s loquacious puzzle-head character Mary. Shehas rapid-fire dialogue exploding with facts and figures, so veering off the page was done judiciously. "You can’t improv a lot with Mary," four time Teen Choice Award winner Bullock (1999, 2001, '05 & '06) explained. "When I did attempt to improv, I’d have to know the origin of the word, every definition, and three different language versions of that word. So I’d have to pick a subject that I’m very familiar with, and just ramble. I was able to do it a couple of times. It was very challenging." While exploring the numerous idiosyncrasies of Mary, her clan and her friends, Barker’s script takes a caustic look at the all too prevalent media blitzkriegs triggered by stories of personal calamity. Barker says she was inspired to incorporate this element by the super-saturation of coverage surrounding a few hot-button stories happening at the time. "The media just latch on to these stories and won’t let them die. It often gets to the point where they start doing montages of their own coverage. It just gets ridiculous." While watching TV 'talking heads' endlessly pontificate, Barker also took notice of the hundreds of people who rally around such causes celebres, and who always seem to have an opinion to share on camera. Barker’s examination of the press and spectator circuses, intrigued Thomas Haden Church, who plays wannabe anchorman, Hartman Huges. "What really appealed to me about the script is its commentary on the media. It’s something that Phil (Traill), Kim (Barker) and Sandy (Bullock) continued to discuss in depth. The script turns the idea of media manipulation on its head, in that the manipulators become in some way entrenched in their own machine." Embracing the spirit of the open road, the production team and cast hit the asphalt for much of the shoot. Various Southern California locations stood in for everything from the lush mountains of Colorado to the parched desert highways of rural Texas. The suburban communities of Lancaster (where dual Oscar ® winner "Witness" was filmed"), Santa Clarita-Newhall, Valencia and Irvine provided the bulk of the film's locations during the ten week schedule. The production endured weeks of record high temperatures topping 115F (46.1C), as well as rattlesnakes and wind whipped twisters of dirt aptly named 'dirt devils'. Everyone persevered: barely. "Unless you’ve experienced these extreme conditions, you can’t describe what they feel like," McLaglen noted. "We just had to endure it. Those of us working behind the scenes were fine, but to keep the actors cool was a challenge. Then to add to it, we had strong winds pelting us with dirt. They were all such troupers. They would just stand there, suck it up and take it in." The last weeks of filming were spent on soundstages just south of Los Angeles, shooting Bullock and Church, in a damp, muddy, often-claustrophobic set: an abandoned mine. Synopsis

Mary Horowitz is a cruciverbalist: a crossword puzzle constructor. Her brain spins at warp speed with an endless stream of arcane information. She can come up with the perfect word; and dozens with the same meaning, in a flash, but 'normal' behavior eludes her. For example, she lives with eccentric parents. Then there's her inability to engage in social intercourse without dropping a litany of twenty-dollar words and unleashing a tsunami of trivia. And there’s the matter of her omnipresent fire-engine red go-go boots. For Mary, nothing is typical, especially relationships. When she is set up on a blind date with a handsome CRN news cameraman, Mary thinks the chemistry is undeniable: that Steve is 'the one'. He, on the other hand, thinks she's crazy. When besotted Mary loses her job, she decides to pursue Steve as he crisscrosses the country, covering breaking news stories.

The Verdict "Following on from the success, "The Proposal", Bullock's latest venture, "All About Steve", takes audiences on a zany road trip in which Mary, a recently sacked cruciverbalist, pursues TV News cameraman, Steve, who she met on a blind date organized by her slightly eccentric parents. It's fair to say that Mary doesn't have much of a life outside of writing one crossword puzzle a week for the towns newspaper. She has little or no social skills: she can't sustain a conversation, she dresses wierd and always wears bright red, knee high boots. Now, after one very short date in the back of her date's van; all she wants is Steve. Fortunately, along the way, Mary will reveal her true self and find what she really needs in her life. The journey to self-dicovery is punctuated with plenty of laughs and, a big finale`. If you're easily offended by a lack of political correctness, it may pay to steer clear of Bullock's latest film, "All About Steve". Worth a look at. 3 STARS." The Production Team

Director Writer Producers Original Music Cinematography Film Editors Casting Production Designer Art Direction Set Decoration Costume Design

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Phil Traill Kim Barker Sandra Bullock & Mary McLaglen Christophe Beck Tim Suhrstedt Rod Dean & Virginia Katz Juel Bestrop & Seth Yanklewitz Maher Ahmad Austin Gorg Gene Serdena Gary Jones

Run Time 98 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2009 - Fox Films - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2009 All Rights Reserved The Movie Pages - Protected by Australian & International Copyright. Trademark Laws Apply.