The Direct's Russ Milheim sat down with The Salamander King director Austin Nichols and star Adrianne Palicki to talk all about their new feel good movie that gives audiences a fun and timely story about community and golf.
The movie, which just premiered at DIFF (the Dallas International Film Festival in Texas), follows a municipal golf pro (Ryan Hansen) and his group of misfit friends who are forced to band together to save their beloved golf course from extinction thanks to the government.
How The Salamander King Tells a Timely Story About Golf and Community
"It's Really About Protecting Your Home and Your Identity..."
- The Direct: "I just wanted to start with a broad question. In your own words, can you help paint a picture about how this story kind of tells a timely and important tale for audiences?"
Austin Nichols: Absolutely. When I boil this movie down, It's really about protecting your home and your identity in a very quickly changing role, and it feels almost more poignant now than when Drew was writing. And I think sometimes you get lucky with what's going on in the world, and a movie can speak to what's going on in the culture at the time.
And sometimes you don't get that lucky, but I think we got really lucky. But ultimately, yeah, that's what I zeroed in on every day when I was in my car driving to work, was this is a family, and they're trying to protect what they love.
Adrianne Palicki: And community. It's about community banding together to protect...
Austin Nichols: And we can say all the things like, it's an underdog sports story. I call it a save the rec center movie, all these things, but, yeah, ultimately, I always want the audience—I talk about a piece of string, like a tether between the audience and these characters. And I never wanted to go slack or break. I just want you to be locked in and connected to these people.
- The Direct: "Another important part of this movie is golf. Can you both talk [about] how golf itself is at the heart of this film, and why golf and not any other type of sport?"
Austin Nichols: Where I grew up, in Austin, there is a public golf course that is leased to the city from the University of Texas, and they did it like a 99 year lease, and the lease is either expired or it's about to be, I don't know, but they started this huge campaign to save the course, because it's become the beloved place.
And we didn't tell that story, but we definitely were inspired by it, because I grew up playing there, and it was in my neighborhood. And, you know, golf is also just kind of funny. It's always had fun hats and funny-looking sticks. And you know, there's something just inherently funny about golf, and it's so weird because I never would have thought this would be my first feature.
And I love golf. I play golf, but I didn't expect this to happen. And the universe kind of tends to point you in the right direction. And I think sometimes, if you just listen to its whispers, you'll go the right way...
You're smart to bring [golf] cup. Because if you think about caddy shots, you think about Happy Gilmore, there is something about the game that people keep coming back to. And now you see 'Full Swing' on Netflix, and you know there's a bunch of stuff coming.
I don't know if you know that Owen Wilson has a golf show. Will Ferrell has a golf show coming. 'Happy Gilmore 2' is coming out. And this all kind of happened at the same time, which I think is interesting, because there is something out there in the ether that makes people want to watch the golf comedy.
Adrianne Palicki: I play a little bit of it in the movie, which was hilarious, trying to see me like—
Austin Nichols: You did great. She sank a very important putt on the second try, which could have been the second take, which, when the sun was going down, and it could have completely like, it could have gotten dark...
Austin Nichols and Adrianne Palicki on What They Want Audiences to Feel
- The Direct: "When audiences see this movie and walk out of the theater, what do you both hope that they take away from the film they just experienced?"
Austin Nichols: When people leave the theater, I want them to feel like, one, they didn't waste their time and money, but two, they had an emotional experience. And whether it's you laughed a lot, or you cried, or both, or whatever it is, or you saw something that was very scary or violent, whatever it is, I just want it to have landed on the audience in an impactful way, enough so that they remember it.
They want to talk about it with their friends and tell somebody about it. I mean, it sounds simple, but like, I want it to be impactful. I want it to be memorable. And there's something to be said about [it] too.
Adrianne Palicki: There aren't a lot of feel-good things out there right now, because it does feel like a warm hug. I feel like, when you watch it, it's a feel-good movie, and there aren't a lot of those being made.
And so for people to be able to be positive when they leave a theater, and just in general, you know what? I mean, they're just being. I think that's really important. That's how I felt on set every day. I didn't want to leave.
And I can't tell you the last time I've been in the situation, where I'm exhausted, I just want to go home, [but] I was like, [do you] guys need me for anything else? Or maybe I'll just chill on set to be honest. So, I really think that translates, you know, obviously, to the screen.
- The Direct: "The movie is all about trying to save an establishment that's close to these characters. What is one place in your lives that maybe has been lost over time that you would love to see continue on, but it's been lost to time or is on the verge of being shut down? "
Austin Nichols: It was called the Dry Creek Saloon, and it was just down the road from Mount Bunnell, where we shot that scene at the cliff with you take a picture of everybody. It was just down the road, this old bar that didn't even belong. It was in a neighborhood like you couldn't even—it wasn't even zoned for booze.
And you would go there, it's famous, and you would go there, you buy a beer, get a koozie, and go up on the deck, watch the sunset. But it was famous because the old lady ran the place would scream at you if you didn't bring your [empty bottles] back, and she wouldn't let you buy another beer unless you brought your empties back, because she couldn't go up there and clean it.
Oh my god, I love that. And it's gone, and so many places like that are gone, and it's really hard to watch your favorite places go away.
Adrianne Palicki: Austin has been my home for almost two decades, and it's the same thing. Like, I, to this day say, if they ever take away, Continental Cub or Broken Spoke, I'm out. I'm out. I'm leaving, because now, like, the heart of the city is gone, if you could not do that.
The full interview with the duo can be seen here:
The Salamander King does not currently have a release window, but it did just premiere at the DIFF film festival in Dallas, TX.
