Q: He attained a nice lifestyle with her, but the film notes that he went out of his way to lavish gifts on others, as if to try to buy their favor. I have that too - I’m guilty of not really expressing how I feel sometimes. Instead of leaving and taking care of himself, he just stayed. There’s almost always a history of abuse and the answer to why they don’t just leave is complicated. There’s thousands of murders that happen every year between loved ones, husbands and wives and family members. People say, “Why didn’t he just leave?” That’s always the question that’s asked when there’s an abusive relationship that ends in death. He got trapped in an abusive relationship, like a lot of people do.
It’ll eat away at me and I’ll lose sleep over it and try to make it right. It bothers me a lot if I feel like someone’s mad at me. I have that germ in me, too, where I need to be liked. Because it’s so important that he be liked. When he’s mistreated, he doesn’t tell people how he feels. I feel like Bernie’s fatal flaw in the story is that he doesn’t have the release valve. Did you identify with those feelings?Ī:I have that, too. Q: A lot of what happens to Bernie is about bottling up humiliation. It was just relaxing and letting it flow.
I’ve got a deep reservoir of emotion inside me. When I go to the cinema, I’m the first guy to start crying. But I’m actually a pretty emotional guy, even though I’m known for being a clown. Obviously there were deep, emotional scenes that were challenging, and there was some concern that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. So you’ve got to tread lightly when you’re going for a dark comedy based on real events.
Produced by David Permut, Stuart Cornfeld, Shivani Rawat, Monica Levinson, Wally Wolodarsky, Jack Black, Priyanka Mattoo.Question: When you were first approached about the project, were you befuddled about what the tone was going to be?Īnswer:Yeah, It comes from very serious subject matter. Directed by Maya Forbes and written by Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky. Swept up by Lewan’s charismatic charm are his devoted wife, Marla (Jenny Slate), and his neurotic sidekick, Mickey (Jason Schwartzman). Polka King stars Jack Black, Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman, Jacki Weaver, J.B. Lewan pursued the American Dream by any means necessary, fleecing investors and bribing officials to build a personal musical empire in what became the world’s only known Polka Ponzi scheme. Local Pennsylvania polka legend Jan Lewan develops a plan to get rich that shocks his fans and lands him in jail. This exuberant tragicomedy recounts the remarkable but true story of the rise and fall of Polish émigré Jan Lewan (Jack Black), from striving tchotchke shop owner in the ’70s to the undisputed “King of Pennsylvania Polka” in the early ’90s. Here’s the official synopsis for The Polka King: The film hits Netflix on January 12th and also stars Jenny Slate and Jason Schwartzman. The Polka King, obviously, didn’t mean to be a reflection of the current President (it was shown at Sundance before Trump was even sworn in), but that’s how it stands, although Black’s Lewan is unsurprisingly a more lovable figure.Ĭheck out The Polka King trailer below. The question is if people will want to unwind by watching a colorful conman rip people off when they could just get that on the news right now. Surprisingly, this trailer is pretty spot-on in that regard, showcasing Black’s energetic performance but not trying to sell the film as anything more than a colorful character who engaged in some criminal behavior.
In my review, I pointed out that despite a strong performance from Black, the film gets too wrapped up in Lewan’s personality so they fail to note what his scheme says about the American Dream and the lengths people will go to fulfill it. The film premiered at Sundance earlier this year and tells the true story of Jan Lewan ( Jack Black), a polka performer in Pennsylvania who set up a Ponzi scheme that defrauded local residents by promising them a 12% return on their investment. Netflix has released The Polka King trailer.