Exhibit No. 758 of Adam Brody being the most charming: Noah’s “Nobody Wants This” meet-cute with Joanne (Kristen Bell) while struggling to open a bottle of wine wasn’t scripted; Brody really was struggling with the prop while filming, and he and Bell just kept going.
”He can’t get it in the cork, doesn’t come out, and they make little jokes back and forth. And she goes, ‘Tell me something embarrassing about you.’ And he goes, ‘I used to be a sommelier,’” editor Maura Corey told IndieWire. “And they just laughed. That was not scripted. That actually happened. And when we saw the footage, we’re like, ‘This wasn’t what was scripted, but this is really funny and feels very real. We’re using this. This is happening.’”
The moment is a testament both to the actors’ charisma and talent but also to Corey’s eye for the telling detail that can elevate a scene. She watches footage from slate to tail to ensure that she doesn’t miss gems like that one, even taking it upon herself to create more opportunities for comedy.
”The basketball episode where he plays the basketball — there’s this drinking montage, right? Where [the wives and girlfriends of the players] are taking shots when they miss. That wasn’t originally in the script,” Corey said. “When I put it together, I’m like, ‘Where’s the footage for the montage?’ and my assistant [Jen rosenthal] says, ‘There’s no montage.’ I’m like, ‘No. We’re doing a montage.’ So basically, from all of the unused takes and unused angles, [I edited one together] and then I’m like, ‘Alright Jen, you’re about the age range of these guys, which song would you use?’ And she goes, ‘”Chumbawamba.”‘ And it just worked out really funny.”
Corey’s knack for editing both comedy and drama served her well on the Netflix series, which is balanced between the two in a way that feels adult and mature and recognizable; for once, a couple deals with misunderstandings by being open and forthright about their feelings. (That’s how you know it’s fiction.) But as much as the show follows the love story between Joanne and Noah, it is equally a love letter to Los Angeles. And while the scenes often take place in hip locations beloved by those who live in L.A., the interstitials between scenes are also longer and more loving than is typical.
”We were talking early on in the process of what we were going to do because you do need interstitials for changing scenes, and they become very rote in a lot of what we do,” Corey said. “We actually specifically shot B roll for these interstitials, and we had them shot to be a little bit dreamy and in places you wouldn’t see, places in Eagle Rock or Silver Lake. We wanted to make this feel like something fresh, to feel like you were seeing inside their world.”
And throughout, Corey’s sly editing choices make that world feel bigger and more embracing. “ I often say if I’m not laughing or crying at work, I’m definitely doing something wrong,” she said. Part of that is knowing when to linger on a closeup (go back and rewatch the scene leading up to Joanne and Noah’s first kiss) and when to punch up the comedy by increasing the tempo — before interrupting the rhythm to land a joke.
Corey’s skill is especially evident during the dinner party where Joanne and Noah first meet. After she makes her spectacular, fur coat-clad entrance, “notice that we have him wide shot with her coming in and then the reverse shot is him,” Corey explained. “And you can see him clock her, and then she starts talking to his friends, and then we go to a close-up of him and clocking her again. And through just the power of cross-cutting like that, you get, ‘Oh, there’s some spark happening.’ And then you build it from there.”
“Nobody Wants This” is now streaming on Netflix.
