Raja Gosnell: Family movies or movies in general?
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
From that point forward, I was interested in being a film editor. That was my way into the business. I came to work with Chris Columbus, editing the first two Home Alone movies and Mrs. Doubtfire, and moved into directing after that. But I still feel like it’s a bigger version of being alone in my room with that Super-8 camera.
Like I said, I was editing for Chris Columbus, and in the course of our time together, he made some hugely successful films for a family audience. So when I started to look around for a movie to direct, it was no big surprise that the studios wanted to talk to me about films in that genre. The first movie I directed was Home Alone 3 [1997]—which was a no-brainer, since I edited the first two. After that, I directed Never Been Kissed [1999], which isn’t exactly a family film but plays in the same sandbox, so to speak.
- Home Alone 3
What’s an example of an edgier joke that you liked but had to cut?
Do you feel more satisfied with this one than with the first Smurfs movie?
- Brendan Gleeson (right) in The Smurfs 2
Did you talk with the screenwriters while they were writing the movie? Or do you typically rework a script after it’s completed?
- The Smurfs 2
