The latest film on our docket is RLJE’s “Neighborhood Watch,” a feature that skillfully blends criminal drama with dry humor.
When Simon (Jack Quaid) witnesses a kidnapping in broad daylight, he tries to alert the authorities, but his history of mental illness makes it difficult for him to get anyone to take him seriously. Eventually, he persuades his neighbor Ed (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a wannabe security guard, to join him in investigating the case. As this unlikely duo digs deeper, they uncover more than just clues, they begin to discover a deeper understanding of themselves and each other.
We caught up with director Duncan Skiles to delve into the making of the film, including an unexpected prop theft and other behind-the-scenes stories.
This excerpt from the interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What drew you to the script and to wanting to direct this film?
I thought it combined genres very well and it was like a full meal and a fun ride, I was in the mood to do something fun after my last movie, “The Clovehitch Killer,” which was kind of dark. The characters are what really drew me in. The relationship between the two guys and how it was kind of snarky and dry, but ultimately very heartwarming and life-affirming without being too cheesy. I really wanted to do something like that.
You talked about your directorial debut feature, “The Clovehitch Killer.” I’m curious if you took anything from that experience into this film?
Even though I was less experienced, it was easier. We had more time, we had like another week to shoot, and we had a little bit more money. But what I learned from that was really to trust my instincts because before I made “The Clovehitch Killer,” I was doing a lot of like straight comedy stuff, and I just had a reckoning with myself about what I was really interested in and what I liked to watch. And what I liked to watch was kind of like minimalist suspense. And so that’s what I wanted to make, and people responded well to it. That was a very affirming lesson for me as an artist to kind of focus on what I find interesting and focus on the process and let the results kind of take care of themselves after that.
Jack and Jeff have such great chemistry on screen. It’s funny because at the beginning of the film, they’re really not supposed to get along, but they do. When you were going out to find the two of them for these roles, what were you looking for, and what made them the perfect fit for them?
I was looking for people who understood the contrast between the exterior and the interior of these characters, particularly, with Ed, you know, he’s kind of full of himself, and he’s his own character. He’s kind of like a cowboy. He wears boots and a corduroy jacket, and he’s got a theme song playing in his head. And he thinks a lot, he thinks very highly of himself. But then you have the interior kind of vulnerable side of Ed, where he’s a really sad and lonely guy. Jeff seemed to get that from our conversations. I also felt like he physically embodied that because he’s got this rugged handsomeness, also these very sad, expressive eyes. Same with Jack. Jack is like an incredibly thoughtful actor and spent a lot of time with me trading research materials and talking about the backstory of Simon, which the writer Sean [Farley], supplied like a multi-page backstory for all the characters. We all just cared about what these characters were going through, and everybody thankfully was on the same page, or the relative same page because we didn’t have any time for rehearsal. So it was kind of like, I hope this works, but we pulled it together.
Featured Image Courtesy of RLJE Films
“Neighborhood Watch” is now in theaters.