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Thursday, August 29, 2013

RIPD : To Protect and Serve the Living.



Look Sharp, Partner: Costume Design


The dynamic duo of R.I.P.D. Roy Pulsifer (JEFF BRIDGES) and and Nick Walker (RYAN REYNOLDS), brings together two era’s of men in uniform--a deputy of the Wild West, and a modern day police cop.

But dressing up these law enforcers proved to be an enjoyable one for Costume designer Susan Lyall.

Having previously  worked with Schwentke on two of his previous films, Red and Flightplan, Lyall had the task of not only creating the costumes of the film’s contemporary characters but also Royab’s Old West sheriff and a multitude of R.I.P.D. cops—officers from almost every period within the past few centuries.

Considering that whatever era an officer dies in marks the era of clothing he or she wears for eternity, the producers and writers took great pleasure in adding their suggestions to incorporate some iconic cop references into the mix.  

Lyall welcomed the process, which surprisingly invited considerable research.  She states: “Every member of the R.I.P.D. has a visual reference attached to him or her.  Some, audiences will pick out right away [i.e., Serpico, Popeye Doyle and Cagney & Lacey], but the rest of the looks came from real research.

“It was actually liberating because it didn’t have to be Boston-police specific,” she adds.  “We could choose a police uniform from any state or decade.  We had to create a universe and create rules of R.I.P.D., just in order to function for ourselves.  They’re not rules that are necessarily apparent to the audience, but the rules existed for us to limit our universe and find a way to kind of make sense of what was a very open concept.”

While Nick would remain dressed in 2013-appropriate Boston Police Department gear, Roy was a bit trickier.  For the grizzled cop, Lyall brought in hints of rock-and-roll imagery—from the wraparound sunglasses to the cut of his vest and long sheriff’s duster.  The rogue sensibility offers a visual link to the graphic novel’s aesthetic as well as indicates that Roy is the longest-serving officer there (to Proctor’s alternate annoyance/enjoyment).  Indeed, his multiple infractions during his tour of duty just keeps extending his time with the R.I.P.D.

The Rest In Peace Department is tasked to protect and serve the living from an increasingly destructive array of creatures who refuse to move peacefully into the afterlife.

Veteran sheriff (Bridges) has spent his career with the legendary police force known as R.I.P.D. tracking monstrous souls disguised among the living as ordinary people.  His mission?  To arrest and bring to justice a special brand of outlaws trying to escape final judgment by hiding among the unsuspecting on Earth.

Once the wise-cracking Roy is assigned former rising-star detective Nick Walker (Reynolds) as his junior officer, the new partners have to turn grudging respect into top-notch teamwork.  When they uncover a plot that could end life as we know it, two of the R.I.P.D.’s finest must restore the cosmic balance...or watch as the tunnel to the afterlife begins sending angry spirits the very wrong way.

Starring alongside Bridges and Reynolds in R.I.P.D. are KEVIN BACON (X-Men: First Class) as Bobby Hayes, Nick’s partner before he’s taken out in the line of duty; MARY-LOUISE PARKER (television’s Weeds) as Proctor, Nick and Roy’s tough-as-nails bureau chief in the R.I.P.D.; and STEPHANIE SZOSTAK (Iron Man 3) as Julia, Nick’s widow who must find out the reason behind his untimely departure before she is forced to play an unwelcome role in the world’s end.

“RIPD” opens August 21, 2013 in theaters nationwide is released and distributed by United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corporation


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