Stars Come to the Square, Again

Prozac Nation was simply not enough.

Giant, fully equipped trailers spilling with stars, makeup and directors' chairs and officious assistants barking incessantly into their cell phones once again invaded Harvard Square this muggy, drizzly week for the filming of another Harvard-based movie.

The producers of Harvard Man, distributed by Lion's Gate Films, were squinting up through the gray mist at the faade of Au Bon Pain Wednesday, hoping to create some perfect exteriors for their self-proclaimed teen/crime/thriller.

But if the ABP shot reeked of GoodWill Hunting, the plot of Harvard Man is quite the opposite.

Written and directed by James L. Toback '66 and loosely based upon his own experiences at Harvard College, the film involves the undoing of a star Harvard basketball player, played by the luscious Brazilian Adrian Grenier. According to Toback, Grenier will be the "the new pin-up man for both the gay and straight population. He's incredibly talented and just stunning."

While dating his cheerleading love interest, the ubiquitous Sarah Michelle Gellar ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), Alan (Grenier) embraces a hedonistic Harvard lifestyle and starts a torrid affair with his philosophy professor.

The lascivious Joey Lauren Adams, recently of Chasing Amy fame, pranced along the Charles in many of the scenes filmed this week, presenting her professorial views on her student's life while clearly wanting to hop into bed with him.

Adams, though, has been less than pleased with the filming process in Cambridge due to the unceasing rain.

"It's taking a lot longer than expected," Adams squeaked to The Crimson yesterday in her baby doll voice. Robed in a diaphanous garment of fuchsia and pale green, Adams strolled along the river with her co-star, whispering sweet nothings steeped with philosophical meaning, while she implored the clouds to break.

Assistant Director David A. MacLeod said that Alan experiences a family emergency and "has to throw a basketball game for money. His girlfriend's father is a Mafia member and eventually he becomes tortured by guilt."

MacLeod hinted, however, that the film would have somewhat of a happy ending.

Toback, besides writing the screenplay for Harvard Man, also modeled some of the film after his own experiences at the College. As an editor of the Harvard Advocate and resident of Leverett House, Toback eventually started doing drugs every day before he "flipped out on acid at 19."

"This actual event triggered the idea for the movie," he said. "It was the worst and the best experience of my life."

According to Toback, "It's much better that I have been through that than not. The perspective can give me a big edge and is responsible for all of my success in life."

"Many of my artistically inclined friends at Harvard have not fulfilled themselves," he said. "I would never have gotten here if I wasn't set apart in a fundamental way."

Much of the film focuses on "complex philosophical themes," "identity, loss of self and madness"--issues that Toback said he is greatly attached to. "The film," he continued, "is visually quite shocking."

All Harvard women in Harvard Man are terribly attractive. The ravishing Rebecca Gayheart, previously of Noxema commercials and "Beverly Hills 90210" (as Dylan McKay's girlfriend), makes up the group of undergraduates with some other, blond, svelte and hip--though previously unknown--Hollywood sweethearts.

The big names, sure to attract teenagers everywhere, don't stop at Gayheart or Gellar. The loveable Eric Stoltz, last seen skulking through Jerry Maguire's bachelor party while holding up a large, dripping bottle of Jack Daniels, will also flash his ingratiating smile across screen.

The writer and director, Toback, previously created the provocative films Two Guys and a Girl and Black and White. The production of Harvard Man has been in the works since 1995, as Toback works independently on a small budget.

berhunk Leonardo DiCaprio was originally the pick as the basketball star, but after playing the tortured character in Basketball Diaries, DiCaprio's agents considered a second dose of drug-addicted basketball playing to be somewhat excessive.

The Harvard Man, besides falling for his young, attractive and tenured professor, goes the way of DiCaprio's character and becomes involved with drugs--and then spirals into crime and a connection with the Mafia. Though it's unlikely that many "real" Harvard men network with Mafia members, Toback attempts to recreate a modern day version of his days at Harvard--somewhat dramatized, of course.

The props man, while dragging immense Rubbermaid bins full of objects from the back of a van, said that filming proved successful, despite the "terrible rain." Much of the filming was meant to be wrapped up on Wednesday, but Stoltz became somewhat ill and couldn't act that day.

Though engrossed in Harvard Man, Toback is looking forward to his next creation, distributed by Sony Pictures. The story will follow the life of an 11-year old aspiring pianist as he changes his aspirations and becomes a filmmaker by age 30.

The final shots of Grenier smiling into the eyes of an adorable two-year old boy Tobak found in the area were shot yesterday along the Charles River.

Harvard Man will be released during the summer of 2001.