Lessons (2012) Online
It's a late night. A young couple at odds with each other give a hurt, mysterious man a ride. During the car ride the pair realize this man is not what he seems. Who will discover their true nature and survive the car ride to hell? Which LESSONS will be learned?
| Credited cast: | |||
 | Elizabeth Colunga | - | Courtney |
 | J.D. Driskill | - | Matt |
 | Santio East | - | The Thin Man |
The Thin Man recites a passage from "The Second Coming" and incorrectly attributes the poem to Emily Dickinson. Courtney correctly attributes the poem to William Butler Yeats.
Courtney quotes Thomas Kempis when she tells Matt, "Occasions do not make a man strong or weak but they show what he is."
One of the songs playing on the radio in the beginning is "You're Pretty" performed by J.D. Driskill who portrays Matt in the film.
As Courtney flips the dial, a news reporter can be heard saying, "The killer is still on the loose." This sets up the fact that the Thin Man has been doing these crimes for some time, and also explains how Courtney knew about him.
Buddy Chambers attributes that the character of Courtney is heavily influenced by Sarah Polley's portrayal of Ronna in the film, "GO".
Elizabeth Colunga was hired as Courtney a little less than two months before shooting after the original actress was unavailable due to a scheduling conflict. Elizabeth was cast immediately after her first audition.
Matt and Courtney's cell phones that are given to The Thin Man were old phones belonging to producer, Michael Ortiz and writer/director, Buddy Chambers.
Elizabeth Colunga improvised kicking The Thin Man's leg during the film's climax. Buddy Chambers liked it so much, he requested that she do it in every take.
In the original script, The Thin Man pistol whips Matt across the back of the head when he tries to offer up Courtney. In the film, Matt gets his head slammed into the steering wheel of the car.
The first draft of the script is dramatically different with The Thin Man being a thief he is forcing Matt and Courtney to drive him towards a motel to meet up with his lover/colleague. In the end, Courtney is left standing and heads to meet up with the colleague and most likely steal the money that is waiting at the motel. Buddy Chambers did a heavy rewrite after hating the first draft.
The character of Matt was originally supposed to urinate his pants and it was to be shown on camera. Buddy Chambers changed his mind and preferred to have the urination be implied only.
Buddy Chambers states that some of the inspiration of the film came from the episode, "Joker's Favor" of Batman: The Animated Series.
One of the songs on the radio is "Santa Barbara" by the band Glass Battles. The singer from Glass Battles, Tanya Dahl (aka Tanya Brown) was originally going to direct "Lessons".
The film was shot over three late nights in Palmdale, CA.
The line where Courtney tells the Thin Man that he doesn't have anything to teach was improvised by Elizabeth Colunga.
Buddy Chambers was inspired a good deal by the film, "The Hitcher" when writing the part of The Thin Man.
The title of the film came from the title of an episode of The Wire, which is Buddy Chambers's favorite television series.