Calling this year’s opening night film of the Seattle International Film Festival (May 20-June 13) quirky is like saying the Academy Awards are too long. Um, yup. The Extra Man, an indie comedy based on a Jonathan Ames novel, stars Kevin Kline as Henry, an escort for aging socialites in New York City. He takes in transplant Louis (Paul Dano from There Will Be Blood), an aspiring (crossdressing) novelist who tends to act like he’s in an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Living downstairs is John C. Reilly as Gershon, a burly dreadlocked eccentric who speaks in a falsetto. You get the idea.

Behind these colorful characters are the king and queen of eccentric souls, husband-and-wife directing team Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, who were nominated for an Oscar for lovable oddball flick American Splendor. They’ll make an appearance at SIFF’s opening night (no word yet if the film’s stars, which also includes Katie Holmes, will be in attendance), but I had a chance to talk to them before they swing through Seattle.

What was it about Ames’s novel that drew you to it?

R: Jonathan’s manager had been trying to get us his material because she thought we’d respond to it. He sent us The Extra Man and I got it and I was laughing out loud. I thought it was so funny and so original and so different. And I said Shari, you have to read this. She read it and felt the same way. We called our manager and said, look, we really responded to this. And I got a call saying, “I think we sent you the wrong book.”

S: Don’t read it!

R: They said no, we were supposed to send you another book (Wake Up, Sir). And I said it’s too late, we loved this.

What fascinates you most about Kevin Kline’s character and the world he lives in?

S: I’m a New Yorker, and Bob is sort of a partial New Yorker—he’s been here a long, long time. And we had a real connection to that character. I feel like in New York there are all these people who are invisible. You don’t see them if you look for them. There are people who move to New York to make it in the arts or be a writer; they have some dream and it didn’t work it. But they stay in New York and they live in these walk-up apartments that are falling down and they pay, like, $150-a-month rent because they’ve been there forever. People hate them for it [laughs]. And they cling to the culture. You see them at the free concerts, you see them at the library. And Kevin’s character really reminded me of these people.

Why does Kline’s character become an escort?

R: I think he actually prides himself on being this man of great wit. He’s very entertaining, and I think it’s a win-win situation for both people. He feels that the old ladies who no longer have husbands get the benefit of his company, and he gets the benefit of a few hours of living the high life. They pay for the food, the drinks, the entertainment. And I think he sees it as a great occupation in a lot of ways. … In fact, Henry’s based on a real person. Jonathan lived a lot of the stuff in the novel.

Hear more from the directors in our May issue of Seattle Met. Seattle International Film Festival runs May 20-June 13, at various venues. Tickets for the opener are $45-$100 at siff.net.