My friend PL and I went together at the Best Man Wins premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival last Friday. Tim was set to attend, but unfortunately was held up at the last minute by the filming of Frankenstein, to his great disappointment (and director Stéphane Dumonceau’s).

The venue was very casual, and we got to chat with director Stéphane Dumonceau and co-writer Frederick Waterman. Both were very nice with us, and didn’t seem put off by our great love for their lead actor, making us travel from Madison and Upstate New York to see their film.

Left, with Stéphane Dumonceau. Right, with Frederick Waterman.

Among the little tidbits of our conversation with them, we learned that Tim was always Stéphane’s first choice to play Edward, the main character. Tim was originally not available (filming White Collar), and Stéphane contacted a couple different actors, but when it fell apart and production got delayed, Stéphane contacted Tim again, who was then available and agreed to do the film.

Both men sincerely appreciate Tim, saying he was great to work with, and Frederick said that he particularly appreciated that Tim brought beers for everyone at the end of each day of shooting. 😉

Interestingly, everything was shot in studio. No actor set foot in an airport. When Tim’s character looks at the flight listing, he wasn’t actually looking at anything.

Finally, and that is probably the most important thing Stéphane mentioned, they’re hoping to release the movie on iTunes within a few months. Crossing fingers here!

The film was part of a collection of short films all linked to New York, and definitely the highlight of the program. It was fast-paced and intense, managing to keep the efficient rhythm of the original short story while expending it just a little bit, to make a 2 page story into a 20 minutes story. The cooking sequence was particularly strongly edited.The music, composed by Luca Ciut added a very enjoyable suspenseful cheerfulness to this fast ballet.

Tim was of every scene, and held the film from start to finish. His performance was magnetic and with just the right dose of ambiguity that you’re never sure of how far his revenge is going to go, and yet, never departing from his humanity hinting behind the mask of fake casualness.

In case you missed it, here is PL’s own review of the film:

Tim’s steely, forceful portrayal of the wronged husband charged Best Man Wins with such energy and anticipation. The packed TriBeCa Festival premiere audience was riveted as his character schemes a most compelling, no-holds barred confrontation with his cheating friend and wife. Director Stéphane Dumonceau and Writer Frederick Waterman were delighted at the reception Best Man is receiving. They each raved about working with Tim. The man has some mad chef skills, too.

 

In short, keep eye on any short film programming near you, it’s really a film not to miss!