Des Plaines native had great time making 'Merry'

To hear Tom Bastounes tell it, making his new movie "The Merry Gentleman" sounds easier than cutting cake.

Ron Lazzeretti, a Chicagoan who wrote and directed Bastounes' last movie, "The Opera Lover," had written another script called "The Merry Gentleman."

"It was such a beautiful script that it made me want to make another movie," Bastounes said. "We asked Kelly Macdonald to be in it. She said yes. We asked Michael Keaton to be in it. He said yes. So we made this movie."

That's it?

Pretty much.

Bastounes grew up in Des Plaines, but graduated from Forest View High School in Arlington Heights. He moved to Park Ridge in 1985 where he continued to work in the produce business, and make movies more infrequently than Stanley Kubrick.

In "The Merry Gentleman," Bastounes plays a Chicago cop whose instincts lead him to suspect a local tailor (played by Michael Keaton) might be something more dangerous. Bastounes' performance is simplicity defined, a direct, honest character unburdened by tics or other attention-grabbing devices.

"I made an effort not to cop it up," Bastounes said. "I just thought, you put the badge and gun on, then forget about them. Just be that guy. Don't necessarily try to be a cop. That would have brought on an exaggerated performance."

Bastounes, who also produced "Merry Gentleman," almost had to fold the production after Lazzeretti came down with an acute appendicitis and couldn't direct it.

Keaton - star of the 1989 film "Batman" - came to the rescue.

"He came back and said 'Ron, let me direct. If you put this off for a year, it'll never happen'," Bastounes said. "We decided to let him have a whack at it. We knew he'd do a really great job because he was really enthusiastic about it."

So, how did Keaton work?

"He was very gracious from beginning to end. Very collaborative," Bastounes said. "The whole set felt like you were away at summer camp. He was gracious to everyone."

Everyone?

"There was this kid in the park. He had a makeshift Batman outfit on. Michael sees the kid, of course, he doesn't know who Michael is. But the mother did. So Michael goes over, signs the kid's Batman costume. Talks to the mom for a while. Let's her come back and watch the monitor as we're shooting a scene. The cast and crew watch how he behaves, and that sets the tone."

"The Merry Gentleman" opens today at area theaters. It's a low-budget indie project (made in Chicago by Chicagoans) that doesn't look like a regular low-budget indie project.

How much did the whole movie cost?

"I can't tell you that," Bastounes said in his best tough-cop voice. "I would have to come over there and shoot you."