“You have to go for the Gordita Crunch Cheese,” says Dave Chernin as he browses the options on the digital kiosk at the Taco Bell Cantina in Chelsea. “I’ll get you a drink, too,” reassures John Chernin, his 15-month-old brother and co-writer and director.
The siblings are in New York City to promote “Incoming,” a comedy about four movie-obsessed friends that harkens back to the likes of “Superbad” and “American Pie” that topped the box office before superhero movies took over Hollywood. Yes, the Chernins know there’s more authentic Mexican food in the neighborhood, but we’re thinking outside the box as a tribute to a particularly risqué scene in their R-rated film. It’s a scene in which two freshmen (Ramon Reed and Rafael Alejandro) take a drunken older classmate (Loren Gray) on a chalupa. Given that their fast-food trip ends in severe diarrhea and a Tesla interior in desperate need of a deep clean, “Incoming” probably won’t be part of Taco Bell’s next ad campaign.
“It was written in the script as Taco Bell,” Dave says. “There was a lot of talk about how we couldn’t actually say Taco Bell. But made-up names like Taco Town weren’t funny at all. So we got creative and didn’t show the wrappers or an actual Taco Bell restaurant.”
The brothers say the scene is inspired by a very real story — even if the names and the restaurant have been changed. In fact, much of “The Next One,” which follows kids trying to get invited to a big party, is inspired by the house parties Dave and John attended growing up. But when they sat down to write the film, they worried that gravity-powered bongs and beer kegs would seem like a thing of the past.
Courtesy of Netflix
Spyglass Media Group, LLC and Artists Road, LLC/Courtesy of Netflix
“We spent a long time debating whether kids should go to parties anymore,” John says. “Then we thought about asking our friend’s teenage kids, but that’s kind of weird. You don’t really want to ask them in front of their parents.”
Since Taco Bell is busier than the high school restaurant that occupies most of the “next” section, we, lunch in hand, made our way to nearby Madison Square Park. The brothers were carrying Modelo Specials with their bags full of burritos, so there was a flicker of concern about walking down 23rd Street with open bottles of alcohol. “It would make the story more interesting if we got caught,” John said.
The Chernins, whose father is media mogul Peter Chernin, have collaborated with each other for much of their careers, including stints writing “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and creating “The Mick.” “We have a short-lived relationship that goes back decades,” John says.
Despite the brothers’ comedic pedigree, major studios weren’t interested in backing “Incoming.” Instead, the film was produced independently by Spyglass Media Group and sold to Netflix after it was completed. Part of the problem, the Chernins say, was that studios don’t make many R-rated comedies, and there’s a greater sensitivity to humor that crosses boundaries and can go viral for the wrong reasons.
“We got a lot of feedback like, ‘The script was funny, but it’s not really what we’re doing now,’” says Dave, and John adds, “There were some concerns about kids taking drugs.”
But working on “It’s Always Sunny,” a wildly popular show that focuses on both slapstick comedy and satirical humor, helped the brothers learn how to walk the fine line between rudeness and cruelty.
“We’re not afraid to navigate these difficult waters,” Dave says. “Always Sunny is not afraid to go anywhere as long as it’s funny. That’s because there’s an implicit agreement between the audience and the creators of the show — the people who make this show who are on the right side of things, despite the terrible things the characters do. We’re making fun of them, not glorifying them.”
