Psychological Drama ‘Like Sunday, Like Rain’ At Ridgefield

Most film fans know Frank Whaley as the cheeseburger-eating guy who gets blown away in the first few minutes of “Pulp Fiction,” or as the young version of the character played by Burt Lancaster in “Field of Dreams.” However, the veteran actor also is building a career as a director. He will bring his latest movie to the Ridgefield Playhouse on Sunday, Sept. 13, and will do a Q&A after the screening.

“Like Sunday, Like Rain” stars Leighton Meester as Eleanor, a young woman who dumps her boyfriend and loses her job on the same day. Desperate for employment, she pretends to be an experienced nanny, and winds up taking care of Reggie, a precocious 12-year-old musician whose wealthy mother doesn’t care about him. The drama features Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong in a small role.

Whaley lives in Redding with his wife, Heather, and his two children, He gave his kids small roles in the film.

In an interview, he said the randomness of Eleanor and Reggie’s relationship reflects the city of New York.

“There’s a way that people meet in New York that can be very random, how they come together,” Whaley said. “I lived there for 35 years and looking back on my life there, I had so many relationships that began and took me by storm and then like a ghost, we were out of each other’s lives.”

Whaley likes stories about “the loneliness that accompanies childhood.” “Reggie is all alone in the world. The adults around him have let him down and left him to fend for himself,” he said.

Whaley’s previous directoral efforts are “New York City Serenade,” “The Jimmy Show” and “Joe the King,” which won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 1999.

“Like Sunday, Like Rain” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. at the playhouse at 80 Ridge in Ridgefield, followed by Whaley’s Q&A. Admission is $10, $7.50 seniors,. $5 students. ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

—Susan Dunne, sdunne@courant.com