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STREEP DAZE
Magazine / Source: The Phoenix, April 2006 |
The actress gets toasted (and roasted) and the Coolidge. By BRETT MICHEL
Hollywood came to Boston last week. A star-studded cast of Meryl Streep’s admiring colleagues and fans converged on Brookline’s Coolidge Corner Theatre to fete the actress who, with an unsurpassed 13 Oscar nominations and two wins, is among the most celebrated of all time. As of last Wednesday night, she could add the Coolidge Award to her list of accolades.
Now in its third year, the Coolidge Award was established to showcase a “film artist whose work advances the spirit of original and challenging filmmaking,” and to draw “public attention to the contribution the Coolidge Corner Theatre has made to expanding film culture in New England.” Chinese film director Zhang Yimou (House of Flying Daggers) and three-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now) are its past winners.
On March 13, the Coolidge Corner Theatre began its month-long celebration with a series of seminars and a retrospective of some of Streep’s most acclaimed roles. The Monday-night screenings included The Deer Hunter, Silkwood, Kramer vs. Kramer, and Sophie’s Choice, while Out of Africa screens on April 17 at 7 pm. The centerpiece of these screenings was the local premiere of Robert Altman’s new A Prairie Home Companion.
Last Wednesday afternoon, following a media screening of his film, Altman appeared at a press conference accompanied by three members of his large ensemble cast — Kevin Kline, John C. Reilly, and, of course, Streep.
“I don’t think we’ve had this much excitement at the Coolidge since Michael Moore popped his head in during the Democratic Convention,” exclaimed publicist Marianne Lampke. Altman was in town for the convention as well. “You were here?” Lampke asked. “But you didn’t drop in . . . .”
Altman, exhibiting some of the spry wit he displayed when he accepted this year’s honorary Oscar, shot back with a devilish grin, “I wasn’t invited.”
Asked about her reaction to being chosen as the latest recipient of the Coolidge Award, Streep said, “This award is really celebrating not so much me, as it is an independent art theater. I think it’s a really important thing, and I’m proud to help out.”
The two-and-a-half-hour-long award ceremony was a sold-out, red-carpet affair. It kicked off with a string performance by students from the Brookline Music School. Local songwriter Patty Larkin played her hit “Angels Running” because “Cher covered it. You get the idea — Meryl Streep. Silkwood. Cher . . . Patty Larkin — 35 degrees of separation.”
Robert Brustein, founder of the Yale Repertory Theatre and Cambridge’s American Repertory Theatre, reminisced about Streep’s early years: “In a Hollywood community not particularly marked by selflessness, generosity, or commitment, Meryl remains one of the few American stars who bring great honor to her profession, passion to her social commitments, devotion to her family and” — in a sentiment that echoed strongly throughout the evening — “loyalty to her friends.”
Based on the celebrity testimonials that bookended countless film clips, those friends are legion — and not above getting a laugh or 10 at her expense. Sighed Kline, “It’s hard to find nice things to say about Meryl because they’ve all been said and frankly, I’m tired of hearing it. Every time the phone rings, I think, ‘Oh, God — it’s another tribute to Meryl.’ ”
Reilly introduced a clip of “the story of a family that took a river-rafting trip that went terribly, terribly wrong. I think the ‘genius’ of Meryl really came through to me during that scene when she had to swat me in the ass with an oar and knock me overboard. I’m making fun of The River Wild. But, what had the potential to be a thrill-ride kind of popcorn movie, in the presence of Meryl was transformed into this really terrifying family hostage drama! Meryl, you haven’t re-defined acting — you have defined it.”
Former film critic (and current book critic) for the New York Times Janet Maslin agreed but she still hoped to correct a misconception about Streep’s relationship with critics. “Critics have said so many nice things about her that you might get the idea that she’s a critic’s darling. But it couldn’t be less like that. She’s a critic’s nightmare. Think about it: we’ve only been [at this ceremony] for a very short time, and we’ve been told that she’s the ‘one and only’ Meryl Streep, her gene pool’s been admired, and it’s been suggested that she run for president.”
Suffering from an “absolute fear of public speaking,” Chris Cooper, Streep’s Oscar-winning co-star in Adaptation, began, “Meryl, you know I love you, but you owe me big time . . . . I’ve been asked to talk about the craft of acting and how Meryl meets those challenges. That’s a pretty good suggestion. But, with apologies, I am not about to tell you how Meryl meets these challenges. Those are the actor’s secrets, and I think they should remain so. Anyway, she didn’t let me in on ’em.”
Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation): “Oddly, I have never met Meryl Streep. Since I don’t really know Meryl Streep, and have no personal anecdotes to share, I went to Wikipedia and prepared a short report . . . .”
Altman received his second standing ovation of the night — the first was after he introduced the public screening of A Prairie Home Companion, which preceded the award ceremony. “This has really been depressing. And I’ve worked with Meryl, and that depressed me a lot.” The first day he shot with Streep was “the worst day I’ve ever had. I didn’t have anything to do!
“I was redundant! Meryl Streep doesn’t need a director. She’s kind to them; she’s really nice. She’ll compliment you, and say, ‘That was good — what you did.’ I was so happy the next day to get on the stage with a lot of other actors. I didn’t have to be just . . . whelmed by Miss Streep. Anyway, Meryl — I’ll get over this. In spite of the personal sadness I got from working with you, I’m glad I did.”
Presenting the award to Streep was Boston’s own Susan Orlean, a staff writer for the New Yorker and former Phoenix writer, whose nonfiction book The Orchid Thief was the basis for Adaptation. Streep, you may recall, portrayed Orlean. (Adaptation received its own screening on Thursday, followed by an hour-long panel discussion with Streep, Cooper, Kaufman, and Orlean, moderated by Maslin.) “I have a nice present for you, and it’s really heavy!” said the diminutive Orlean. “Am I going to be able to hoist it?”
Streep would have no such problem. In fact, as she walked on stage to accept her award, she picked Orlean up and spun her around, to excited cheers.
“Thank you very much! Oh my God! I know I’m not the only person who has to pee (sooo bad), so I’ll make these remarks brief. I’m just so grateful that there are places like the Coolidge that honor these weird little independent films like the ones Robert Altman continues to make against all odds. We have to keep these theaters going and thriving. And how about these seats, people?” Sitting in the painful reminders of another era all night (modern, comfortable chairs are part of the Coolidge’s restoration plan), Streep could only conclude, “I’m definitely kicking in!”
