'Fools Rush In' brings true-life romance to the big screenBy ~arol Cling ~ --).. --?? Yet their real-life tale has a far more bitter- Draizin says. "But there's not one ounce ofre-' <,'

Hevlew-Joumal sweet ending than the one featured in "Fools ality in it. Any time reality snuck into the ' ,Rush In," which is scheduled to wrap up more movie, we got rid of it. But this is 100 percent,than a month of location shooting in Southern U.S. real."Nevada this week.' And, as such, more than a little poignant toThat's because the movie hearkens back to watch, as scenes from Draizin and Davis' col-

happier times for Draizin and Davis, whose lective past find their way onto film.professional collaboration continues despite a "It's a little weird," agrees Davis in a sepa-recent divorce. rate interview on the set of the movie, as stars"We have a great relationshipand three Matthew Perry (TV's "Friends") and Salma

beautiful kids," notes Draizin, who also served Hayek ("Desperado") shoot a smoochy morning-as a producer on the spoofy "Spy Hard," cur- after-the-wedding-night scene in a Caesarsrently in release. Palace luxury suite overlooking the Strip.(The kids -ll-year-old Ryan, 9-year-old "Certain times I have to walk away," Davis

Amelia and Regina, who will be 6 in July - acknowledges. "It's very emotional in somehave been in Southern Nevada 'with their par- places."ents since pre-production began in March, at- Being back on her home turf in Southerntending local schools, spending time with Nevada heightens the emotional impact,Davis' family and appearing as extras in themovie.) ~"Making 'Spy Hard' was a lot of fun,"

Silver-screen romanceshave silver-lining

endings, no matter howmany clouds roll by."Fools Rush In," for example.A made-in-Vegas love story about a rich

Eastern WASP and a Latina casino workerwho fall in love, get married and get pregnant- but not necessarily in that order - "Fools"is inspired by the relationship of producerDoug Draizin and co-producer Anna-MariaDavis, a Las Vegas native who grew up inBoulder City. Please see MOVIE/5J

Producers' Anna-Maria Davis, left, and Doug Draizin watchthe filming of "Fools Rush In," at Valley of Fire State Park.The movie was inspired by their own love relationship.

Movie~om1J -especially when filming at places ,near and dear to her - includingHoover Dam, where her fatherworked on electrical crews for 30years.

"I have to keep pinching my-self," Davis says. "I've been in ev-ery part of that dam with myfather.". For-director Andy Tennant ("ItTakes Two"), the movie's link be-tween fact and fiction sometimesseems "bizarre." w

"What's bizarre is that I keepbeing reminded it's their lives," Dbe says. "I see it in their faces, brwhen they see dailies" - footageef 'the previous day's scenes - wthe power of which sometimes hiprompts Draizin and .Davis to isleave the screening room. di

Not that "Fools Rush In" repre- ylsents a literal account of their ccrel ationshi p.

"When we did the rewrites, it IT

became two characters. It had d:to," director Tennant says. "It's ccnice for them - and for me. I'mthe objective guy. I'm just trying tlto make a movie." ur

That's all Draizin and Davis fcset out to do, when "Fools Rush slIn" first began its lengthy jour- Aney to the screen back in 1991. b

Draizin was at Columbia Pic- etures, pitching a variety of out-landish story ideas, when studio 1\executives asked him, "'Do youhave anything real?' " a

Draizin's response: "Yeah, my filife."

More specifically, his marriage t1..:- prompted by Davis' pregnancy ]\,six weeks after the couple met cand complicated by their world- \iapart backgrounds. C

Draizin, a Jewish New Yorker E:who had moved to Southern Cali- "I

fornia to pursue a show-business t:career, "had no idea" where sDavis was from when they be-came involved. g

That is, until Davis - who had fgone to Southern California to 11complete her studies at the Fash-ion Institute of Design and Mer- s

• chandising after 1Y2 years at the pUniversity of Nevada, Reno - ttook Draizin home to BoulderCity to meet her German-Englishfather and her mother, whose Iroots reach back to a 400- Cyear-old hacienda in Mexico. :3

To Davis, "Fools Rush In" rep- sresents a chance to escape the (

• stereotypes that usually govern (Hispanic characters. "They're a (

.• middle-class family," she ex- Iplains. "They're like any otherfamily - the best part about us

• is our families, our culture."Various writers tried their

hand at scripting the movie, (which was initially set in South-, tern California - except for a twhirlwind, Las Vegas wedding. I

But "it just didn't ever really..

be-o.es

my

work," Davis admits.Part of the problem, in

Draizin's view: Everybody wasbeing too serious."It was originally told and

written more in dramatic form,"he recalls. "Inherently, the storyis real, so you don't have to over-dramatize it - you can giveyourself relief by doing thecomedy."Shifting to a comedic tone also

makes the characters' culturaldifferences easier to accept, ac-cording to Davis.In the movie, "We've really

tried to break barriers," she says."Through comedy, it's not as hardfor people to accept" the relation-ship between Perry's snobbishAlex Whitman and Hayek's Isa-bel Fuentes, despite the differ-ences in their backgrounds.Shifting the movie to Southern

Nevada also streamlined the plot- and gave the movie an unusu-al Las Vegas perspective, thefilmmakers say."The way we utilize the town,

the shots of Vegas" from SunriseMountain and other off-Strip lo-cations - "you know you're inVegas," and not in a SouthernCalifornia suburb doubling forSouthern Nevada, Draizin says."The way we incorporate littlethings about Vegas - you get asense of 'Wow, they're here.'''Besides, Davis points out, «Ve_

gas has never been representedfor its positive aspects" in mostmovies about the town."What we're really trying to

show is that life in Las Vegas ispretty normal," she says. "I thinkpeople are going to be shocked."Tennant, for one, was.He signed to direct "Fools Rush

In" the day after he saw thedownbeat "Leaving Las Vegas"-and vowed that he "would nevershoot a movie in Las Vegas."(Ironically, "Leaving Las Vegas' "Oscar-winning star, NicolasCage, wanted to do "Fools RushIn" after the success of "Honey-moon in Vegas," but the scriptwasn't right, Draizin recalls.)Now that Tennant's here, liv-

ing with his wife and children inGreen Valley while on location,the director expresses surprise atthe "real sense of community"he's found in Southern Nevada.What's more, "Las Vegas is not

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as depressing as I thought it rwould be in the daytime," Ten-nant says. "I really like the sky I- I love the mountains and thesunsets." And, with the movie'sfrequent nighttime shootingschedule, "I've seen quite a fewsunrises, too."

That perception reflects theviewpoint of Hayek's character,who's a photographer dedicatedto capturing the beauty of South-ern Nevada's desert landscape.

"This is her world - the maincharacter's argument is thatthere's a lot more to Nevada thanLas Vegas," Tennant explains.

Most recent Las Vegas movies"haven't gotten off the Strip,"Draizin argues. "It's all dark, all

cold, and very unromantic. Thiswill show the romantic side ofLas Vegas."

After all, Tennant points out,"Wherever you fall in love, thattown becomes Paris tc you. Inthis movie, we're turning Las Ve-gas into Paris, because to mostpeople the most romantic city inthe' world is where they found'their mate." o