One Night at McCool's

If it’s spring movie preview season, then it must be time for Michael Douglas to get ugly. Last year, he was a dumpy prof in ”Wonder Boys”; this year, he’s a hideous bingo playing hitman in this kinky black comedy. ”I came into my trailer one day,” says Tyler, who plays the ensemble’s femme fatale, ”and he was there wearing this horrible toupee and these huge fake teeth. I was so scared! He enjoyed it a lot.” The $12 million indie — which the newly adventurous Douglas also produced — has Dillon, Goodman, and Paul Reiser (sporting — eek! — full S&M gear) all obsessed with Tyler.

Thing is, she fronts different personas — angel, matriarch, vixen — for each of them. To direct the quirky script by Seidel (who died at age 48 of Crohn’s disease shortly after filming), Douglas tapped rookie Zwart, a heralded Norwegian commercial director known for wicked visions (his never aired sexy Barbie and Ken spot for the soft drink Solo is an award winner). ”I was warned so much about Hollywood, how they steamroll your creativity, take your integrity — you know, that stuff,” Zwart says. ”But none of that happened to me. It was just wonderfully encouraging.” Alas, Harald, there’s always next time.