Stanley Tucci   

USA 
 

Both movies feature impressive ensemble performances (the combined cast lists read like the current guest register at the Hotel du Cap), both storylines revolve around actors, and both were shot in – or just outside – New York. 

"John Turturro and his crew were actually shooting in another part of Jersey City while we were there," recalls producer Beth Alexander, "but we were living in our own little bubble world and I'm sure they were too. We found a 1940 hospital building, built to art deco plans, that looks very much like the interior of a ship. Then we built the exterior – the decks – on a soundstage. From the beginning the idea was to make it look a bit like a set, so you have the sense that you're not being fully duped, but we did joke about using Cameron's (almost life-size) Titanic." 

Don't expect state-of-the-art visuals depicting a boat rent asunder – just hang on to your sides for fear that they might split. The Impostors promises something far more zany than the underplayed comedy of the tasty restaurant movie Big Night, Tucci's first crack at directing. Hamming it up was part of the deal on The Impostors, so Tucci decided to award a daily Jambon d'Or to the most honey-roasted performer. "The whole situation cried out for it," says Alexander. "Everyone got on so well with each other that, rather than become competitive about who was getting the attention, they all enjoyed each other. Even when people weren't working they'd come and hang out on the set when they had no reason to be there." 

Tucci and Oliver Platt (Funny Bones) take the lead roles of Arthur and Maurice, a pair of actors on the run from the law, forging a partnership that pays homage to just about every movie double-act under the sun – from Laurel and Hardy to Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. 
"It's a comedy that takes place under pressure in enclosed spaces with people who have lots of secrets that they are hiding from one another," explains Tucci. He could easily be describing a typical hotel scene during your average Conservative Party conference. 

Have Tucci and Platt formed a lasting pact or just a convenient alliance for the purposes of one movie? "It would be my idea of heaven if the partnership were to continue," says Alexander. "They've been incredibly close friends for years so it's very genuine. It's very much the way they are together." 

If The Impostors does for golden ham what Big Night did for risotto, Stanley Tucci will have the punters crying out for a second helping. 
Mike Hodgkinson