Movie Natters: October 13, 2006 Archive

The Ned and Tim Show

Posted at 6:11 PM on October 13, 2006 by Euan Kerr (3 Comments)

Ned Beatty and Tim Guinee should take their show on the road. The dynamic duo were part of the hoard of people who dropped into the Twin Cities for last nights premier of "Sweet Land." Today they did the media rounds and ended up at MPR.

Tim Guinee, "Sweet Land" director Ali Selim, and Ned Beatty

The two ribbed each other mercilessly, but also swapped acting stories. Both are stage guys, and both talked at length about the delights of performing medieval passion plays. Guinee told an unsettling tale of being sent on a tour to perform at the quaintly named "Huston International Hospital for Criminally Insane Juveniles" in Texas. Apparently it didn't go terribly well.

Beatty points out that while the plays were bible stories, they were deliberately raunchy to draw in larger audiences. Also they were often performed in open spaces in town rather than in a theater. He remembers doing a Shakespeare in the Park show in his hometown of Louisville.

"I was playing Fallstaff one time in "The Merry Wives of Windsor." You would do these silly soliloquies, sitting on the edge of the stage, and kids would come over and sit with you. It would be just like sitting on the porch. And they'd laugh at you and they say 'Aw, come on!'

Both Beatty and Guinee clearly love "Sweet Land." Beatty describes the film as "the best love story you'll ever see." Guinee says he thinks its the best film in which he's ever been involved. From these two guys, that's pretty strong praise.

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