The Debtors
Director: Evi Quaid
Screenwriter: Cash Bartlett
Starring: Randy Quaid, Michael Caine, Catherine McCormack, Alison Janney
Release details: USA 1999, 90mins
Full details: IMDb
Genre: Black comedy
Rating: none
The Debtors is a comedy about a group of people with various addictions who meet up at the tables in Las Vegas, allegedly featuring strong performances from Randy Quaid and Michael Caine, who plays Nick, a sex-addicted dentist.
The film was funded by Microsoft's chief software architect, Charles Simonyi (a billionaire several times over), and directed by Evi Quaid, wife of star Randy. The Quaids were also producers on the film. Due to artistic differences and legal wranglings between Simonyi and the Quaids, the film has never been released.
It was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival [TIFF] in 1999, having been selected in the World Cinema category. In selecting the film, TIFF director Piers Handling wrote in the festival programme:
Evi's directorial debut adopts the style and mannerisms of the screwball comedies of Hollywood's greatest era. Evi has fearlessly updated the formula.
Evi Quaid comments:
Michael Caine was so much fun to work with and we had a very good relationship. I do not like it when negative stuff is mentioned because the film was so wonderful and all the actors did such a great job.
Trivia
Michael and Catherine McCormack became fast friends on the film and stayed in touch after filming.
Evi cut Michael Caine's hair for the role with Joan Collins' kitchen scissors. (Michael and Shakira were renting Joan's LA apartment during the shoot).
Tagline
They lost it all... Then found each other. Now they're really going for broke.