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Cooper’s Camera has generated enough interest that I probably don’t need to describe the hilarity of it here. Except to say it easily lived up to the hype at last night’s premiere, and Jason Jones’ career trajectory may now resemble Steve Carell’s after he was so ideally showcased in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Cooper’s Camera is an equally perfect showcase for Jones’ talents both as over-the-top funnyman and wry everyman. Don’t forget he also co-wrote the script.
Jones and fellow Daily Show correspondent (and wife) Samantha Bee showed off their usual dry wit during the Q and A. Bee went into a diatribe about how much of an asshole Jones was, setting up Jones for a deadpan: “I love my wife.”
Then it was co-writer/co-star Mike Beaver’s turn to take a few shots, answering a question regarding the film’s fight scenes with tales of Jones’s real-life cowardice. In college, when the burly Beaver was preparing for some kind of group brawl he hoped for Jones’s backup only to see him running in the opposite direction. Bizarrely, Beaver says something similar happened after Jones jumped on a bubble-wrapped hobo. Allegedly he didn’t know the hobo was under the bubble wrap and screamed like a girl and ran away. These stories should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
The producers, at Jesse Wente’s gracious urging, were kind enough to get me into the after-party, a swanky affair at Lobby, across from the ROM. The interior décor of the place is ideal for a post-film after party, with trailers of the film showing on a variety of ultra-modern screens, the coolest of which was a star atop a Christmas Tree.
That wasn’t the only effort to take advantage of this being a Christmas film. A bearded Santa and photographer were hired. Initially I was envious of this position as a number of attractive girls sat on his lap two at a time. But after about an hour he looked worn out. By the time Mike Beaver sat on his lap with another fair-sized man I wondered how much the kid was getting paid.
Catch the next screenings either Wednesday at 2:45pm or Friday at 6pm, both at AMC.
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