A novelist friend of Daniel Handler -- author of the macabre children's book series "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" -- told him once that every good story boils down to somebody losing something.
"I never know if I agree with that," said Handler, "but there's something intriguing to me about a character who has the rug yanked out from under him or her."
While that certainly applies to Handler's wildly successful stories about three orphaned siblings who must fend off their evil guardian -- the latest is called "The Grim Grotto" -- it also applies to his screenplay for "Rick," a merciless adult drama about the dark fate of a cruel businessman played by Bill Pullman. It opens Friday in Los Angeles.
Handler, 34, wrote "Rick" in the late '90s in a fit of anti-corporate pique. Then a struggling writer in New York, Handler once endured a pitch meeting with a gaggle of arrogant junior film executives who savagely criticized him and left him feeling personally humiliated. That night, he caught a production of the doom-laden opera "Rigoletto" -- about a womanizing duke and his corrupt jester -- and suddenly saw a modern tale of self-loathing suits.
Handler later toned down the snark, clarified the more tragic elements and beefed up ambiguities in the script. And speaking during a recent phone interview at the end of a book tour for "The Grim Grotto," Handler is quick to point out that the movie isn't a diatribe against capitalism.
"What I find interesting about large, faceless corporations is that so many people who work for them are constantly justifying what they do," said Handler.
These people have "latched on to a larger entity, the values of which are not necessarily their own, and that to me is where 'Rick' examines behavior," he said. "Is it possible to be a good person who behaves badly all the time?"
For Pullman, the trick was figuring out Handler's take on Rick, a lost man taking drastic measures to protect the daughter he loves from the soullessness of his work life.
"There's a war going on within Daniel about whether Rick is to be admired or despised," said Pullman, who responded to the raw anger and bleak noir of Handler's writing. "There's a part of Daniel that rails against the unconsciousness of the world, how everyone is hurting or betraying each other."
Handler's experience with the film version of his Lemony Snicket books, opening Dec. 17, has also been a lesson in mixing personal principle with business acumen.
