Frances Fisher plays Sara Miller, a youth obsessed, 56 year old, jet-setting socialite in this summer’s romantic comedy, “Laws of Attraction.” But while the role was played for laughs, Fisher managed to inject a healthy dose of family values in the unlikely character.
“Sara is obviously someone who is health conscious, who takes good care of herself,” Fisher declared. “That, and a lot of plastic surgery, accounts for why she looks as good she does.”
Sara’s daughter Audrey (played by four-time Academy Award Nominee Julianne Moore), on the other hand spends much of the movie munching on comfort food, a habit she continually hides from her mother.
“At one point Sara is talking to Audrey on the telephone and she asks her, ‘What are you eating?’ Audrey says, ‘Vegetables.’ There was a scene that was cut from the movie, when Sara came to Audrey’s apartment to take her to a rock concert,” Fisher continued. “She looks at Audrey’s hand and says, ‘Aha! Cheetoe fingers!’ But I think the social comment is there without having to beat a dead horse.”
Noting that neither approach was particularly healthy, Fisher advocates moderation in diet and exercise while admitting to falling victim to an occasional splurge.
“I try to eat right,” she laughed. “But I go back and forth. Sometimes I’ll pig out. At Christmastime you have to pig out on all that stuff. Then I go on a diet, and then I try to balance it out. I think the answer is moderation over the long run.”
While Fisher’s character, Sara maintains a narcissistic quality throughout much of the film, she said she was pleased that the character was allowed to grow, and eventually accept her role as a mother.
“That wasn’t in the original script,” Fisher explains. “As an actor you like to start at one place, travel through experiences and come out different. The part of Sara didn’t have that kind of transition. So when (director, Peter Howitt) wrote the last scene, he put in the line “I’m her mother” to show that Sara was able to admit to the world that she is no longer just this woman’s friend, but she is ready to take her rightful place as a mother.
“The thing about being a working woman today, as opposed to the previous generation is that we have to be more of a “guy” in our attack of the workplace. Sometimes it is hard to take that armor off and be that vulnerable and receptive female that is more in the woman’s nature to begin with. It is a more complex world that we are living in than it was in our parents’ generations. The rules are less defined.
“That is evident in the film. Audrey is an attorney and she has her armor on and she is jousting with this man that she absolutely adores but she won’t allow herself to feel emotion. And that is a great analogy of what is going on with young women today. How can you have it all? How can you be vulnerable and respected when you’ve got to be out there fighting everyday?
“I hope this film will touch a nerve for women,” Fisher said. “It’s not too late. Don’t get caught in your forties forgetting to have children; forgetting to allow yourself to fall in love.”
“Laws of Attraction,” which stars Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore, is rated PG-13 for some crude language, excessive alcohol use and sexual content (though no nudity). It is remarkable for its scathing opposition to divorce and its strong statement that marriage is worth fighting for.
