ALARUM: Director Michael Polish Talks About His New Stallone Film!

Introduction

Academy Award nominee Sylvester Stallone, Scott Eastwood, Mike Colter, and Willa Fitzgerald star in this explosive action-thriller about two married spies caught in the crosshairs of an international intelligence network that will stop at nothing to obtain a critical asset. Joe (Eastwood) and Laura (Fitzgerald) are agents living off the grid whose quiet retreat at a winter resort is blown to shreds when members of the old guard suspect the two may have joined an elite team of rogue spies, known as Alarum.

Interview

Cinema Scholars’ own Glen Dower sat down with Michael Polish, director of the new action/thriller Alarum, starring Sylvester Stallone, Scott Eastwood and Willa Fitzgerald. They discussed how this high-wattage ensemble cast initially came together, what had originally attracted Michael to the project, and the advantages of working with a master filmmaker like Sylvester Stallone, among other topics.

Glen Dower:

Mr. Polish, how are you, Sir?

Michael Polish:

Hey, how are you doing, man?

Glen Dower:

I’m really good, thanks. So let’s ring the Alarum Bell! What first hit me, of course, was your cast. Totally unexpected treats in here. Can you just tell us how you brought together this amazing cast of Scott, son of Clint, Eastwood, my guy Sly, who we’ll talk about in a minute, Mike Holter, and of course, not forgetting Willa Fitzgerald, who has her own movie going on in this one?

Michael Polish:

I was talking to Scott for about a year while we were getting this project. And Sly, we’ve known each other for about 20 years, which was very helpful in getting us together on this. We wanted to work with each other for a while. And then Willa was after those two. And that trifecta was enough. And then obviously, when Mike Holter gets involved, he just brings a whole other element, which I really enjoyed having all those people to play with.

Glen Dower:

Yeah, definitely. And that really comes across. So like we say, maybe in the previous decades, action movies as a genre, this would have been just Joe’s story, and that would be all. But now we have Ella as Laura, most definitely holding her own. Is that one of the aspects that attracted you to Alexander Vesha’s script?  We almost have a Mr. and Mrs. Smith thing going on. What are the key aspects that attracted you to it?

Michael Polish:

I love that they were married spies. It’s a duplicitous relationship, there are secrets, and to have two stories split and interweave. I’ve always enjoyed movies like that.

Glen Dower:

And this gave you more to play with because the story is pretty straightforward if we can say. There’s a guy on the run, he needs help from an old mentor. But then we have, oh, his wife, and she’s on this mission, and he’s on that mission. Because of course, people know you from The Force of Nature, a big hit for you. So was this something new for you to play with?

Michael Polish:

Yes, definitely. You get to develop the people more, their characters more, you get to know, them because they’re not bouncing off another person. Individually, you get to know each character, probably slightly better. And that’s always fun. And then you can spend time one-on-one with that actor. Spending time with Willa was great because she was doing fight sequences. And it was just about her. And when I was with Scott, it was just about him. And so I was able to have a relationship with them both, together and apart.

Glen Dower:

And it plays off really well, because you get to go, like you say, into real depth, with each of those characters, and we actually do care about them. And you want to see them back together again. But you say, we’re actually having fun with them as individuals. So let’s talk about my guy, Sly.

You’re actually the third director I’ve got to speak to, who’s worked with Sly. So of course, I spoke to the director of John Rambo, Adrian Grunberg, and I got to speak with Mikael Haflstrom as well, who of course directed Sly with Arnie in their first big film together, Escape Plan. And he gave me a really great anecdote about Sly, where they were setting up one scene, and Sly turned up early. And Mikael said, Sly, thanks for coming, but we’re not ready yet. You can go back to your trailer, go back and chill, whatever.

And Sly said, ‘No, no, no, I’m a director. One thing that pisses me off is when actors turn up late. I’m here.’ And Mikael said that was one of his greatest memories of being on set with him and Arnie, who were just like excited school kids. Do you have any similar anecdotes you can share on Sly?

Michael Polish:

It’s the idea of what it is to work with a master. He allows you to direct, but what’s nice is that if anything’s not working…he can fix it quite fast, you know, quite quickly because of his decades of filmmaking. And to watch him, when he was coming in, in and out of the scenes, you know, grabbing guns and teaching Scott and doing the spy stuff, he really knew guns really well! And so coming in and out of scenes, he would say what would work with the gun or not work with the gun? And previously, having done the movies he’s done that are ‘gun heavy’, it was a delight to see how comfortable he was with ammunition and guns!

Glen Dower:

Of course, that plays into his character Chester, who’s been around, semi-retired, and has one last job, shall we say.  That leads us to the genre itself. I don’t know if you listen to the Hot Mic podcast, but Jeff Sneider and John Rocha were talking about the action genre this morning and were saying something I found really interesting; how the genre itself is redeveloping. We have guys like Frank Grillo, Jason Statham, and Gerard Butler on a good day, who are helping to redefine the action genre. They’re taking it back to the idea of the well-written lone gunslinger, the guy who comes into town and sorts things out. Do you think the action genre is getting back to where it should be, which is respectable, but also great cinematic entertainment?

Michael Polish:

Probably very, very 1980s, that decade had a lot of these types of movies. Coming out of the 70s, you had some action, but then you got to the 1980s, and steroids seemed to blow these things up, and the box office was a big deal. So you started to see movies get bigger and bigger and bigger. So I think this harkens back to a 1980s-type movie, maybe early ’90s, where the character was just as important as the explosion. And I believe these guys who are action heroes love to play characters too. So you’re probably seeing more development with their point of view, and how they’re going to play the part, as opposed to just having explosions.

Glen Dower:

Yeah, because Jason Statham himself is going to be in a new film this year, The Working Man, which of course is written by Sly, which is something I can’t wait for. It could be a hidden gem or a surprising hit like The Beekeeper. We’ll see. Finally, I just want to ask you, Mr. Polish, as a director of great experience; here at Cinema Scholars, we always try to encourage aspiring filmmakers. Can you give us any words of wisdom for any people who want to start directing?

Michael Polish:

If your movie’s not getting made, it’s because of you. You can’t put blame on anybody. That’s an easy way out. And I say that because you just have to make it. And making is your terms, how you’re going to do it is up to you. It’s so easy now with all the technology that we didn’t have, you know, we started on film, cutting on film. The technology is there to make really beautiful work. You can travel all over the world with very little equipment. You can get into spaces with smaller cameras. So there’s no really excuse for not making a movie. It might not be perfect, but nobody’s movie’s perfect. The minute you say action, you’re losing something every time, you know. So I always say just make it. Go make it.

Glen Dower:

“Go make it.” You heard it here first, from Michael Polish. 

Michael Polish:

That’s our new slogan! We’re going to put it on t-shirts!

Glen Dower:

There it is. Mr. Polish, thank you so much for your time.

Michael Polish:

Thanks, man.

ALARUM, from Lionsgate, will be released In Theaters, On Demand, and On Digital on January 17, 2025.  

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