A Moment That Ricochets For A Lifetime

Summary

The website content discusses the actor Frank Langella's reflections on the nature of life-altering choices as depicted in his new movie, "Match," and the unique experience of filming it.

Abstract

Frank Langella delves into the profound impact of pivotal moments in life, as portrayed in his latest film, "Match." Directed by Stephen Belber and based on his own play, the movie condenses Langella's character Toby's life into a 90-minute narrative, focusing on a crucial decision that reverberates through time. Langella contrasts the fleeting shock of unconventional choices in film, such as Brando's in "On the Waterfront," with the enduring consequences of Toby's choice in "Match." The filming process was swift and immersive, with the cast living within the set of an ordinary New York apartment, further blurring the lines between actor and character. Langella expresses his hope that the trailer will pique interest and curiosity in the audience to watch the full movie, which is set to release in theaters on January 14 and on VOD and iTunes on January 16.

Opinions

Langella is intrigued by life's moments that have a long-lasting impact, which is a central theme in "Match."
He appreciates the compression of a character's life into a brief cinematic experience, finding it appropriate for capturing the essence of significant choices.
Langella values the element of surprise and unpredictability in acting, particularly when choices made by characters are unexpected.
He believes that the method of filming "Match

A Moment That Ricochets for a Lifetime

Watching a trailer is an odd experience. Everything is compressed, short-circuited. In the case of my new movie, Match, almost five weeks of work reduced to two and a half minutes. But not inappropriately. The movie compresses my character Toby’s life into 90 minutes.

I’m fascinated by those moments, incidents, encounters that go on ricocheting about for years. We make choices and move on, and mostly those choices simply blend into our lives. But not always — every so often a choice, decades old, knocks on the door, makes the phone ring, or walks ’round the corner, and BLAM, everything will never be the same again. That’s the story of Match, directed by Stephen Belber and adapted from his Tony-nominated play, in which my character, a Juilliard dance teacher, faces one of those very moments.

Every moment of our lives we are making some kind of a choice, and actors make ‘choosing’ a career.

Even when I was very young I think it was this that made acting — well, movie acting — so fascinating. The differences between watching choices being made that were conventional, anticipated, predictable, almost, and those that were surprising and, most of all, unanticipated. The tough longshoreman Marlon Brando played in On the Waterfront picking up Eva Marie Saint’s white glove and trying it on, playing with it. Shocking!

Shocking… but momentary. Not like Toby’s choice in Match… life changing.

We had to choose quickly filming Match. No multiple takes. All made easier by the unique — for me — experience of living on/in the ‘set’. An ordinary New York apartment. My costars, Matthew Lillard and Carla Gugino, and I ate our breakfast at Toby’s kitchen table. I napped on his bed. Opened his windows to get a breath of air. I hope you are intrigued by this trailer for Match. And I hope it makes you curious to see the movie.

Match arrives in theaters on January 14 and VOD and iTunes on January 16.