The Direct Approach

Filmmaker Matt Cooper visits Fresno to test out his movie about the scary world of life after college

By Joshua D Scroggin

The next time a Hollywood producer/writer/director walks into The Collegian office after hours would be—surprise—the second time.

Matt Cooper owns the distinction of being the first. Sorry, Spielberg.

Cooper has directed four films, but he walked into the office just like anybody else. He moved and talked as if he were no different than a student coming in to buy a classified ad—if that student had a PR guy with a trendy soul patch leading the way, handing out promotional posters.

If Cooper didn’t seem unlike the average student—aside from more than a few years—it may be due to his experience bringing his newest project to the big screen—one that would shock the cockiest, brash and brazen college senior.

Cooper was in Fresno last week promoting his largely autobiographical feature film “Perfect Opposites,” which he produced, co-wrote and directed, a process that spanned more than a decade.

The film is being released in two cities this week—Fresno and Richmond, Va.—which will serve as test markets.

“ We are actually releasing a film, simulating a wide release,” Cooper said. “The people in Fresno, they all think this is a wide studio release. They see the trailer. They see the posters all over town.”

The determining factor deciding whether “Perfect Opposites” will enjoy a wide release will hinge on how many Fresnans and Richmondites spring for duckets this weekend.

But Cooper seems confident he has all of his eggs in the right two baskets, especially with Fresno.

“ The conventional wisdom is if something can play in Fresno, it’ll play anywhere,” Cooper said. “I have never seen a place that gets so excited about going to the movies.”

Cooper spent his time in Fresno visiting high schools and doing media interviews, trying to get Fresno excited about seeing “Perfect Opposites.” But when Cooper walked into The Collegian office, that’s when he found the movie’s true audience—a room full of college seniors getting ready to graduate.

“ That year after graduation is hell,” Cooper said. “So, that’s kind of what I tried to get across.”

And “Perfect Opposites” fiercely accomplishes that goal.

The film’s male lead, Drew (The Ring’s Martin Henderson) falls in love with Julia (Coyote Ugly’s Piper Perabo) during their last year of college.

After graduation, Drew convinces Julia to give up the job she’s been preparing for her entire college career in order to move with him to Los Angeles to chase his dreams together in loving bliss—allegedly.
Who gives up their sure-thing dream job to follow a perfect opposite to big and scary place, a land of zero promises?

“ People do this,” Cooper said. “This girl did it for me.”

Remember, it’s based on a true story. Cooper said the original script for the film was 100 percent autobiographical, a reality that makes the character’s struggles hard to ignore.

“ Perfect Opposites” is billed as the best romantic comedy of the year in its television commercial, but it has a tough story to laugh at.

The audience is left to squirm, then fume as Drew takes everything he has going for him—youth, good looks, a promising career and a woman who truly loves him—and screws it up beyond repair.

It’s a collection of every graduating senior’s worst fears realized as Drew’s life spirals into the poop stool. And that’s the intent.

“ I think you see a glimpse of what you’re going to face,” Cooper said. “And also, I think you’re going to see what it’s like to be in a relationship—if you’re a woman with an ambitious guy, who really wants to make it in the real world—a guy who has his priorities a little out of whack.”

When “Perfect Opposites” had its initial run as a stage production, Cooper said he knew of a specific couple who broke up after seeing it. The girl broke up with the guy.

“ She said to her boyfriend, I saw you in that part and I didn’t like you, and I don’t want to be a part of this anymore,” Cooper said.

Cooper said he doesn’t want couples to watch the movie, watch Drew take Julia’s love for granted, then break up their own relationships.

But it’s a learning experience to watch other people’s struggles.

“ To me, this is how it happens and it happens to many, many people,” Cooper said.

It’s important for college students to go through this tough first-year out of school, Cooper said, because they need that experience to realize they can survive after failure.

If “Perfect Opposites” flops in Fresno, Cooper said he doesn’t really know what direction his life will take, although he thinks about it a lot.

But to Cooper, because of that first year after college—the real-life version of “Perfect Opposites”— failing miserably is not as scary as it used to be.

“ If [you] would have asked me that question when I was your age, I’d be panicking and might have thrown up my clam strips,” Cooper said. “But like my first heartbreak, I already survived the terror of being 23 and jobless, wondering if I would have to wait tables or work in a 7-eleven.”