Brett Ratner brings his energy to the 'X-Men' saga
By Christopher Wallenberg, Globe Correspondent | May 21, 2006
NEW YORK -- Brett Ratner, director of ''X-Men: The Last Stand," may have a well-chronicled reputation as a ladies' man, including a budding friendship with a certain Hollywood starlet who's a fixture in the gossip rags, but it seems there's only one woman the 37-year-old, cherub-faced party boy will drop everything for: his mom.
When Ratner's cellphone rings during a Manhattan press event for the latest ''X-Men" movie, he doesn't hesitate to answer it -- even if he's surrounded by a handful of journalists with tape recorders in hand.
''Mom, I'm doing an interview right now. . . . I've got to go. . . . I love you. . . . Call me later." He closes the phone. ''Sorry about that," he says to the amused throng, who clearly get a kick out of the exchange and want to know if Ratner's mom always phones while he's working.
''Oh, all the time. My mom calls me 10 times a day. . . . I can't escape [her]," he says, with a loving smile.
Today, we're seeing the soft side of Ratner, a guy who seems to generate as much ink for his romantic escapades as he does for his films. Ratner has dated a bevy of famous beauties, including tennis star Serena Williams and Romanian model Alina Puscau, his reported current girlfriend.
Of course, on this day Ratner declines to discuss his love life or the Page Six rumors concerning Lindsay Lohan (Ratner maintains they're ''just friends"). He's here to talk about ''The Last Stand," which opens Friday.
For a man with his reputation, Ratner isn't what you'd expect in person. Short and stocky, and sporting de rigueur facial scruff and a Hollywood tan, the sharp-dressed director is a whirlwind. Chewing ice and fidgeting in his seat, he is affable and easygoing, if a bit distracted, as he talks about taking over one of the industry's signature superhero franchises.
Although he created the wildly popular ''Rush Hour" films starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, Ratner faced several considerable challenges when he signed on to direct the climactic final installment of ''X-Men." First, he was taking the reins from original''X-Men" director Bryan Singer, who left in 2004 to helm ''Superman" (a film that Ratner had previously been slated to direct). Most dauntingly, Ratner was grabbing the wheel in midstream, just eight weeks before production was set to commence. Yet he says that things went smoothly and that he wasn't concerned about putting his own stamp on the series.
''[Bryan] did a brilliant job of establishing the tone of the first two," Ratner says. ''So I wanted to keep it consistent, to make a movie that fit into the trilogy, so that there was a symmetry. . . . My focus was on the emotional arcs of these characters."
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What most attracted Ratner was the chance to tackle the comic's ''Dark Phoenix" saga, in which the split personality of a reborn Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) emerges, unleashing her psychic powers in a devastating manner. There was also Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg's metaphor-rich story, in which a ''cure" for mutancy is developed, sparking anger within the mutant population.
Although the central metaphor of ''X-Men" -- mutants as society's minorities -- had been explored in the first two installments, the theme perhaps resonates most provocatively in ''The Last Stand."
''All these people who have been outcasts and rejects from humanity for their entire lives, they now have a choice," says Aaron Stanford, the Westford native who plays bad-boy flame thrower Pyro. ''They can either remain unique as themselves -- and persecuted. Or they can take this cure and they can fit in with everybody else but essentially lose who they are."
While both Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen), a Holocaust survivor, adamantly oppose the cure, otherX-Men aren't sure where they stand. Those include furry, blue-hued newcomer Beast (Kelsey Grammer), a favorite of fans of the comics, as well as Rogue (Anna Paquin), whose ability to absorb other mutants' powers make her a danger to anyone she touches.
''Here's a young girl who will never be able to have children, kiss somebody, hold hands with somebody, touch a child. So it's completely understandable that she might want to be free of [her powers]," explains Hugh Jackman (Wolverine).
While the themes and character developments in the script had the cast excited about ''Last Stand," many were apprehensive about losing Singer. Yet the actors seem to agree that Ratner was a great choice to continue the series, and they laud him for bringing passion and a tireless work ethic to the set.
''He's a massive, frenetic bundle of energy. I've never seen anything like it," says Stanford. ''During these long nights of shooting, everyone would start to lose steam. So Brett would leap out from behind the camera and start turning on dance tunes and demand that everyone dance the jig with him, or something equally ridiculous."
Ratner says that his relentless energy stems from a hunger to make movies and to succeed at what he's doing. ''I want to win," he says. ''But I also love what I do. . . . And if you love what you do, who wouldn't have the energy and the passion for it? It's the only thing I know how to do."
Ratner's passion was first sparked as an 8-year-old growing up in Miami Beach when he began making short home movies. By 16, he had enrolled in New York University's film school, where he made the short ''Whatever Happened to Mason Reese," about the former child actor, earning him awards and some money from Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. After college, Ratner showed the film to record label honcho Russell Simmons, who helped launch Ratner's career as a music video director. When he was only 26, his first feature film, ''Money Talks," starring Tucker and Charlie Sheen, became an unexpected hit. He went on to create the ''Rush Hour" franchise and direct a handful of features, including the 2002 ''Silence of the Lambs" prequel, ''Red Dragon."
With a career that's been more notable for its flashy action flicks than art-house projects, Ratner acknowledges the catcalls from some quarters that he's good at managing big-budget spectacles but is far from a visionary auteur. He seems to take the criticism in stride, however.
''There are very few filmmakers in the world who can do a movie like ['X-Men'] -- maybe only a handful. So while I have it in me to make these big movies, I'm going to do it. . . . I want to reach as many people as possible, especially if it's a movie that has a message and that people really care about. That's why I make movies -- to tell stories. And there's no better feeling than having people line up outside the theater for your movie."
As for his ladies' man reputation, Ratner admits to his fondness for the fairer sex. ''I appreciate women. But my focus is my work," he says. ''I'm a serious filmmaker. I think, eat, sleep, breathe, and dream film every day. And the people who I work with know it. So whatever is [written] in the tabloids, you can't really take seriously. That's not the real me."
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
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