The Observer., December 18, 2019, Page 45, Image 45

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Wednesday, December 18, 2019
GO! magazine — A&E in Northeast Oregon
‘Jumanji’ stars Danny DeVito and Danny
Glover take friendship to ‘The Next Level’
of the movie’s emotional themes
before they inevitably get sucked
into Jumanji’s virtual world. There,
they must pass the baton to their
video game avatars: archaeologist
strongman Dr. Smolder Bravestone
(Dwayne Johnson) and zoologist
Franklin “Mouse” Finbar (Kevin
Hart), respectively.
Yes, that means part of “Jumanji:
The Next Level” involves Johnson
and Hart doing their best impres-
sions of DeVito and Glover — a
comedic exercise the two block-
buster stars took very seriously,
according to their muses.
“It was great to have him looking
at you all the time, constantly,”
DeVito said of Johnson’s “Method”
approach. “When you know that
that’s happening — that he’s
watching your every move — I
turned the burners up a little for
him. Let him have a little bit of
extra Jersey.”
“Kevin can capture a little bit
of me,” Glover said, smiling. “But I
think sometimes my mannerisms
are often so out there in the public
space, you know what I’m saying?
Even my grandson makes fun
of me.”
By Christi Carras
Los Angeles Times
“Danny, you look younger every
day!” Danny DeVito shouted — not
at himself but at Danny Glover,
who was busy posing for a photo
shoot to promote their new fi lm,
“Jumanji: The Next Level.”
DeVito had already taken his
solo shots, so he set to amusing
himself by backseat directing
Glover’s session from across the
room.
“Don’t do that, Dan,” he heckled
as Glover crossed his arms for the
camera. “Give them all the stuff
we’ve never seen before, Dan!”
The character actor was already
on a comedic streak after goof-
ing off with his hair and makeup
artist while waiting for his co-star
to show. Now that his friend and
fellow Hollywood veteran was here,
DeVito was in full-on ham mode.
The pair recently spent an
extensive amount of time together
while making and touring for the
“Jumanji” sequel, which is now
playing nationwide, yet greeted
each other like childhood buddies
who hadn’t talked since the last
high school reunion.
“DD and DG, baby!” Glover
exclaimed, pulling DeVito in for a
bear hug.
Their familiar dynamic was fi t-
ting, considering they play old pals
onscreen, though their characters
aren’t quite as comfortable with
each other in the movie.
“Jumanji: The Next Level” picks
up with its main bunch of misfi t
kids, who have now graduated from
high school and gone their separate
ways, only to be pulled back into
the game for another round featur-
ing new crafty characters and
deadly landscapes.
DeVito plays Eddie, the grandfa-
ther of Spencer (Alex Wolff), whom
audiences met as a high-schooler
Tribune News Service (Columbia Pictures)
Danny Glover and Danny DeVito are estranged business partners in “Jumanji: The Next Level.” Their
video game avatars are played by Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson, respectively.
in 2017’s “Jumanji: Welcome to the
Jungle.” Glover portrays Eddie’s
estranged business partner, Milo,
who shows up unannounced on his
frenemy’s doorstep just in time for
the holidays.
The two actors have only a
handful of minutes in the fi lm’s
brief exposition to convey decades
of history between their characters,
from the opening of their restau-
rant to Milo’s friendship-shattering
decision to retire from cooking.
“We were able to establish that
right off the bat, right off the top —
their relationship,” Glover said.
“And you can imagine ... the
course of actions within that
relationship — the bickering ... the
one-upmanship.”
As if on cue, DeVito then slipped
into restaurant roleplay, fi lling in
some of the gaps “Jumanji” leaves
out in their complex backstory.
“Never met a man who cracks an
egg so slow,” he fake-scolded Glover,
presumably hard at work in their
imaginary kitchen. “For crying
out loud, don’t examine the damn
thing. It’s an egg!”
These were the kind of scenarios
DeVito and Glover conjured to
explore their characters’ fraught
relationship, which sets up much
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