Director Jason Reitman takes comedy, but not himself, seriously

Jason Reitman, the director who’s been tapped for Showtime’s pilot of The United States of Tara, has brought a film-school scruffy cool to major movies including Juno (teen comedy at its most self-aware) and Thank You For Smoking (the cutting satire of D.C. lobbyists).

He’s given a few interviews lately at various film fests and I can’t wait to see the performances he’ll coax out of Toni Collette, who plays Tara, a woman with multiple personalities.

The son of director Ivan Reitman, he says he wants to bring warmth to his films and cites as his comedic influences 1990s indie flicks like Bottle Rocket. I’m sold by that reference alone, but if you want to know more about him, /Film has a funny red carpet interview with Reitman conducted by middle school kids.