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First printed at www.movingpicturesnetwork.com

By Elliot V. Kotek
(from Moving Pictures, spring issue, 2011)

There are few actors more dependable than James Caan, and his performance in “Henry’s Crime” again bears that out. An Oscar nominee for his indelible portrayal of Sonny Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” and a multiple Golden Globe nominee for memorable turns in such films as “The Gambler” and “Funny Lady,” Caan gives a tour de force performance as the streetwise ex-con Max in Malcolm Venville’s romantic comedy. Caan and Venville, who previously directed the film “44 Inch Chest” and is an accomplished photographer as well, sat down with Moving Pictures in Toronto to talk about “Henry’s Crime,” in which an aimless toll collector (Keanu Reeves) is sent to prison for a bank robbery he didn’t commit and then, after his release, sets out to rob the bank for real.

Moving Pictures: James Caan, Malcolm Venville, congratulations on the film “Henry’s Crime.” It seems like you guys have a fun rapport. What was the first meeting like between the two of you?

James Caan: Mating or meeting? [Laughs]

MP: I don’t know what you guys were up to during the first meeting.

Caan: No, we didn’t mate. We didn’t mate. [Laughs] He — he’s like this. He’s just, you know, a very friendly, open guy, you know … I don’t know — I knew he was a friendly guy.

Malcolm Venville: We had a great meeting, and it was such a buzz to meet Jimmy because, you know, I’d grown up watching all his movies.

Caan: I don’t think that’s so goddamned necessary [to say] that you grew up [watching my movies]. [Laughs] I mean —

Venville: I —

Caan: — you know, it’s not like you’re, you know, 11.

Venville: Yeah. Well, I — you know, I —

Caan: I understand. It’s OK.

Venville: Yeah. But anyway, it was a great meeting, and —

Caan: He makes me feel like Anthony Quinn all the time. [Laughs] No, but I think the nicest thing was for me, when I — I hadn’t read anything that I really, you know, cared to do, but this was a really sweet [film] … There was no, you know, any political message in there, I don’t think, unless you hid one in there.

Venville: There is one. There is. Yeah.

Caan: Oh, yeah. Well, he hasn’t told me about it.

Venville: Yeah.

Caan: And Malcolm is and was very, very open to, you know, some ideas I had that would hopefully please him and me, you know. … I think [Max] was written more like a Woody Allen character, you know, pedantic and used a lot of words and lectured, and I just wanted to make him a — just really a lovable — I mean, a very good con artist, but not harmful. … I mean, everything was very positive, but it was all bullshit, you know. And he liked the idea, and we worked together on that. And it made it a lot of fun for me. And every once in a while I’d even see Malcolm laugh behind the camera, so — [Laughs]

Venville: No, Jimmy’s sense of comedy is one thing that I really learned from on this. You know, Jimmy’s … turns of phrase and his careful improvisations were beautiful, and it really took the movie up to the level where it needed to be.

MP: Malcolm, what comedic films of Jimmy’s had you seen that made you think, “Yeah, I want to bring him in for this”?

Venville: Well, you know, Jimmy’s movies that he’s done, just a broad range of work all the way from, like, the drama — from “The Godfather,” you know — all the way down to “Rollerball” to “Elf” to “Misery.” You know, so it was just —

Caan: Musicals.

Venville: Yeah. “Guys and Dolls.” [Laughs]

MP: Jimmy, you sang in “Elf” as well.

Caan: Well, I did [a musical] with [Barbra] Streisand — (“Funny Lady”) — and one with [Bette Midler] — “For the Boys.” I did that, too. Anyway, but go ahead. I’m just trying to get my credits in. Go ahead.

Venville: You know, and so there were such brilliant moments — and they just really brought the movie up, you know. Really enhanced some of the humor. Some of the stuff that Jimmy brought wasn’t in the script, so I’m really grateful to you, mate.

Caan: That’s OK. I didn’t see anything extra in my check, but thank you. [Laughs]

Photo: Malcolm Venville and James Caan; photo by Scott McDermott