Ahead of the UK release of Miss You, Love You on HBO Max, we had the pleasure of chatting to Academy Award Winner Jim Rash, the writer and director of the film.
Miss You, Love You is the fantastic two-hander story of Diane, a grieving widow (Allison Janney) forced to plan her husband’s funeral with Jamie, her estranged son’s assistant (Andrew Rannells). It’s written by Rash, known for writing The Descendants and The Way Way Back, who also directs. We had the chance to see the film in advance and found that it was ‘easily one of the most quietly intimate films‘ seen this year. It’s a film that reminds you just what two exceptional performers can do with a single room, a sharp script, and a director who trusts them completely.
One of the film’s most distinctively creative choices is the decision to keep Tyler, Diane’s estranged son and Jamie’s employer, entirely off-screen. This is an interesting choice because it’s also the character whose absence sets the entire plot in motion. It’s a device with deep theatrical roots, and Rash is clear about why it was essential here. “If the son had been there as a character, they wouldn’t be able to go where they go,” he explains. “It really was two people putting up a mirror to each other. It was more about them moving forward rather than having him there, which I think would have changed the dynamic. I love the idea of just the vibrating, like a very tell-tale heart type thing, where the vibrating is this ever-present character that we don’t meet, but we can have our own opinion of whether we like him or not.” He pauses, and then adds, “Most people probably don’t like him.”
At its heart, the film is about the unlikely connections that change us, the people we meet briefly but carry with us long after. It’s a theme Rash obviously holds close. “I love the idea of the stories where we meet these people in our lives,” he says, “strangers, for the most part, who probably only fill up a small window of the timeline of our life, but affect us so much”. The film echoes this, leaving the nature of their future relationship unsolved. “It’s open-ended. I don’t know if they’ll ever see each other again,” Rash admits, “but they were pivotal to each other’s journey.”
You can watch the full interview below:
Miss You Love You is on HBO Max now.
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