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Life of the Party
Denis Leary finds the comedy in democracy's worst moment
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Denis Leary (Photo credit: Mychal Watts/Wireimage)
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After eight years, two wars and countless scandals, just the fact that a darkly funny film
could be made about one of the country's biggest political fiascos points to the
psychological distance separating 2008 America from the heyday of 'Survivor' and
Ricky Martin.
"The last seven years of this administration have been a mixed bag because you had to
deal with the patriotism and the reaction to the 9/11 attack," says 'Recount' star Denis
Leary. "But, from the moment Bush did the 'Mission Accomplished' appearance on the
boat in that jet-fighter suit, that was really the beginning of a free-for-all."
While Denis Leary's fellow comics spend the year yukking it up over the 2008
presidential election, he'll be busy putting out fires on the set of 'Rescue Me.' Then by
the time he arrives onstage for the New York Comedy Festival this fall, the next leader of
the free world will already be chosen. So what's a notoriously angry stand-up to do?
Head back to 2000 to rip the band-aid off a barely healed political system.
But portraying Democratic-strategy ninja Michael Whouley - a man so notoriously
secretive that he can count 10 years of media appearances on one hand - posed a few
challenges. Whouley never met with 'Recount' writer Danny Strong, but after getting his
hands on a copy of the script, agreed to talk with Leary.
"He knew they were gonna make a movie with or without him, and I don't think he cared
about cooperating," the comic says. "But when he finally agreed to talk to me, he did go through, 'This was true, this wasn't true ...' Whouley definitely wanted to tone the
language down," says Leary, who drops an f-bomb-laden monologue near the start of the
film. "But everyone I checked with, including a couple of girls who still work for him,
said that he swore even in places where he didn't remember."
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