A ‘Ticket’ to Ride

Enveloped in the crowds outside the Pantages Theatre scalping tickets, Andy Garcia hoped to immerse himself in the street scene around him.

Nobody had recognized the actor until one woman approached him in an alley. Staring at him with concern, she said: “You know, you don’t need to be doing this.”

What she didn’t know was that Garcia was not embarking on a new career as a scalper but instead was on the set of his latest movie, “Just the Ticket.”

The street scene is the backdrop for this romantic comedy, opening Friday, co-starring Andie MacDowell and featuring the music of Cuban salsero Israel “Cachao” Lopez.

The film, directed by Richard Wenk and co-produced by Garcia, tells the story of a ticket scalper who lives on the fringes of society until love forces him to adopt a more conventional lifestyle.

Garcia and Wenk set out to film the movie, set in New York, using live street scenes, hidden microphones and long lenses, a la John Cassavetes.

“I always wanted to do a movie in New York emulating movies like ‘Midnight Cowboy’ and some of the Cassavetes movies, where you shoot it in a neo-realistic and a naturalist style,” Garcia said. “We wanted to totally break apart from the encumberment of traditional movies.”

The role is a marked departure for Garcia, who is better known for his dramatic performances, one of which, his supporting role in “The Godfather III,” earned him an Oscar nomination. In “Just the Ticket,” Garcia returns to his improvisational and comedic roots, which he honed at the Improv theater in Los Angeles 20 years ago.

Garcia, who was born in Havana and moved to Miami at a young age, is one of the few Latino actors who has achieved crossover success in film. The 42-year-old has been cast in roles as diverse as an Italian American sharpshooter in 1987 in “The Untouchables” to an Irish Portuguese district attorney in Sidney Lumet’s 1997 film “Night Falls on Manhattan.”

“He is an extraordinary actor, and his range allows him to do many varied roles,” Wenk said. “He’s a leading man with a heart of a character actor. Because of that, he finds roles where nationality does not matter.”

Garcia was one of the reasons why MacDowell agreed to sign on to the project.

“I love his work. I don’t know a woman that doesn’t love his work,” said MacDowell, who helped secure financing for the picture. “He is irresistible.”

His character in “Just the Ticket,” Gary Starke, is a charmer, a quick-witted man-child who lives day to day hoping for a big score selling tickets to anyone for any show in town.

“He’s the kind of guy that you kick out and half an hour later he’s scratching at the door again, and you have to let him back in like a lost dog,” Garcia said. “He endears himself to you.”

The film was a labor of love for Wenk, who for eight years had unsuccessfully pitched the story to studios. The 41-year-old director had made only one film (1987’s “Vamp”) and was having no luck getting someone to sign on to the project.

“I was really frustrated. People just didn’t see what I was seeing,” said Wenk, who met Garcia while playing neighborhood basketball games in Los Angeles, where they both live. “We shot some footage [in Los Angeles] to show people what it would look like, and Andy said, ‘Let’s go.’ Andy’s involvement was really critical for the movie [to be made]. All of a sudden, people started seeing its possibilities.”

The $7-million film was produced by Garcia’s CineSon Productions and help from overseas investors. Still, even with Garcia’s involvement, studios were hesitant to support the film, which was originally called “The Scalper.”

“We couldn’t get anybody interested in the film,” Garcia said. “They would say, ‘Who cares about a ticket scalper?’ It was the underbelly of society.” Finally, MGM signed on to distribute the film.

Real Ticket Scalper Was Inspiration for Film

Wenk’s inspiration for the film was a real ticket scalper named Gary, whom he befriended in New York. Orphaned at 13, Gary hit the streets and began scalping tickets, surviving only by his wits. He lived his life from one day to the next, without any form of identification, not even a birth certificate or Social Security card.

“He was a cash and carry guy,” recalled Wenk, who shared an apartment with the real Gary. “He threw six months worth of rent on the table and for five months I didn’t see him. It was all a very Runyon-esque thing.”

Then Gary fell in love.

Tired of his unreliability, his girlfriend, Linda, was ready to call it quits unless he found a real job and adopted a more mainstream attitude.

“Linda was his girl. She was legit,” Wenk said. “He was such a good person with such a good heart, but he was sort of stuck on the other side of the line and was ill-equipped to handle adult life.”

Seeking a less stressful life, the real Gary is now scalping tickets for the “senior circuit” in Los Angeles--meaning golf tournaments, motor racing and baseball games for weekend money only. He married Linda, acquired a Social Security number and pays his taxes.

But in the film, Wenk gave the character one last shot at the big time: selling tickets to the pope’s visit to New York. Wenk used footage from the pope’s visit to the Big Apple several years ago but hired about 400 extras to play nuns and priests for some of the shots at Yankee Stadium.

Several aspects about the film appealed to Garcia, but he was particularly intrigued by the character.

“His struggle was such a romantic struggle,” he said. “It wasn’t about doing something for himself but doing it for her. I found that to be very noble.”

Please see Garcia, Page 10

There was some disagreement initially about which way to takethe story, which initially was not intended to be a lighthearted romantic comedy. Throughout the film, there are moments when Garcia’s character is destitute, seemingly ready to crumble. But the reasons behind Gary’s unorthodox and sad life are not explained in the film.

If Wenk has any regrets, it’s that the character’s motivations are never fully explored. At one point, they toyed with the idea of showing Gary struggling through his childhood, visiting his mother in a mental institution (which mirrors the real Gary’s story). But that gave the film a darker sentiment that did not test well among audiences, Wenk said.

“I cringed when I didn’t see it in the movie,” he said. “The movie was never intended to be a romantic comedy, but the chemistry [between Garcia and MacDowell] was so strong we kept it that way.”

That was a refreshing change for Garcia, who has mostly played brooding or serious roles. One of the highlights for him was playing opposite the highly regarded comic actor Bill Irwin (known for the stage show “Fool’s Moon,” a hit in New York and Los Angeles), who has a small role in the movie. The scene they do, a hilarious exchange of insurance information, was in part improvised.

‘I Always Wanted to Do Comedy’

“I always wanted to do comedy but [studios] never thought of me like that,” Garcia said. “I have such admiration for [Irwin]. His comedic skills are so exquisite. It was like playing tennis with the greatest player in the world. If you feel like you can volley with him you say, ‘Wow! I haven’t lost my chops!’ ”

MacDowell, who has worked with other improvisational veterans, including Bill Murray (“Groundhog’s Day”), said the connection she and Garcia made on the film helped to create an easy-going atmosphere.

“We were just great friends, and so we were just able to play and have a good time,” she said. “It took a lot of pressure off.”