With The In-Laws (opening Friday), Michael Douglas takes a break from serious fare like A Perfect Murder and Traffic to yuk it up with Albert Brooks. Doing this movie, as well as It Runs in the Family with dad Kirk Douglas, suggests he not only wants to show off his sense of humor, but also his more family-oriented side.
"[Brooks and I] both talked about it and said, 'Thank God we have families,'" admits Douglas, 58. "I don't know what anyone would do as an actor our age, who is out on his own or divorced. It would be depressing if you were to focus only on your career. So you work on things, but the big change in my life is having a wife [Catherine Zeta-Jones] and kids [Carys and Dylan], and having that as a priority."
How does Douglas balance his acting and producing gigs with raising two small children? "I'm blessed to have a nanny," he sighs. "The baby's got her own, but I've got a nanny, [too]."
While the Oscar-winning Wall Street star does work a few James Bondian moves in In-Laws — he plays a CIA agent — it's all for laughs. "You make a decision to try something different, and I wanted to do a little of the silly, hyperkinetic kind of funny which I haven't done," he says. "This was fun, and I'd like to do more."
