10 Things to Know About 'All of Me'

10 Things to Know About All of Me

10 Carl Reiner Calls Out Critics for Praising Chemistry

Critics, ourselves included, do love talking about chemistry when it comes to co-stars or even filmmakers and their favorite stars. And while I think we all agree that chemistry is a wonderfully intangible quality, Carl Reiner made a reasonably candid point when speaking about his supposed ‘chemistry’ with his regular collaborator Steve Martin:

“What’s chemistry” It’s when you make a hundred million (at the box office). What else ya got?”

9 Carl Reiner’s Wonderfully Simple Definition of a director

Speaking to reporters on the opening weekend of All of Me, Carl Reiner explained what he felt the role of director was:

“The director is one who knows things should be a certain way. He may not be able to do it himself, but he knows who to get to get the job done. It’s being a busybody is what it is.”

8 Lily Tomlin Was on Set Every Day to Help Steve Martin

Despite her role being mostly a voice role for much of the film, Lily Tomlin was on the set of All of Me every day. In an effort to help her co-star portray both a male and female character, and to make sure the timing of their conversations worked, Tomlin delivered lines from offscreen for Martin to react to. The ‘chemistry’ of the two actors proved to be a key to the film's success.

7 Lily Tomlin Helped Make the Script Less Sexist

Phil Alden Robinson’s script has received a great deal of praise over the years but it was apparently Lily Tomlin who made the script what it ended up being. Carl Reiner admitted as much in an interview with Knight-Ridder News Service in October 0f 1984. In the interview, Reiner admitted that it took 6 weeks of rewrites and discussions before Lily Tomlin officially took her role after finding Robinson’s original script sexist.

6 The Film Was Delayed from a July 1984 Release

Originally, All of Me was set to open amid the summer blockbusters of 1984, movies like Gremlins and Ghostbusters. However, as test screenings began, Universal Studios realized they had a special movie, not one that could battle the blockbusters, but one that with some care, could be successful based on how genuinely good it was.

Moving the film to September proved incredibly savvy. The film was hailed by critics and earned more than $36 million dollars against an $8 million dollar budget.

5 A Much Needed Hit for Steve Martin

Steve Martin was struggling a little in the mid-80s. His previous two films, The Man with Two Brains and The Lonely Guy, flopped. And Steve Martin knew it, saying of The Lonely Guy that he felt a certain ‘gloom’ about that film's chances at the box office. It went on to make barely $5 million dollars at the box office.

All of Me brought Martin to a new part of his film career which continued with Three Amigos, Roxanne, and Trains, Planes and Automobiles, arguably the best run of his career.

4 No Mirrors

At first, when Steve Martin was talking to Lily Tomlin’s Edwina when he could see her as his reflection, the plan was to film Lily and Steve’s part separately so that an effect could be added to make the look more ‘mirror-like.’ Immediately Carl Reiner didn’t like the effect. Harkening back to his time on That Show of Shows, Reiner took a page from his friend Sid Caesar who advised to never have the camera do what an actor can do more effectively.

Thus, Reiner made the call to have Tomlin play her reflection on a mirrored set, allowing her and Martin to play off each other rather than reacting to a special effect. It worked incredibly well, allowing Tomlin and Martin to continue to build their… ‘chemistry.’

3 The Gods Must Be Crazy

While Carl Reiner was promoting his own movie, he could not help but praise another then recent comedy hitting theaters soon after his own. Speaking to reporter Pat Berman, Reiner was quick to praise The Gods Must Be Crazy, the unexpected South African blockbuster that was made in 1980 but not released in America until 1984.

Speaking of The Gods Must Be Crazy, Reiner said:

“If you have any interest in human comedy and behavior, you need to see it.”

2 Speaking of Other Movies…

In 1977, Rob Reiner directed the legendary George Burns in the comedy Oh God. However, when it came time for a sequel, Reiner wasn’t consulted. In 1984 he confessed to hating the sequel save for the fact that it gave George Burns a contract and

“As long as George has a contract, he’s alive.”

1 Martin and Tomlin Had Worked Together Before

Though it was the first time they made a movie together, and sadly the only time they made a movie together, Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin had worked together before, for exactly 30 seconds. It was one of Martin’s many times hosting Saturday Night Live during the 70s glory days. Tomlin was on Broadway at the time and dropped in to appear in a sketch where she sang “Broadway Baby.”