I wanted to do a political film that is as nonpartisan as can be, because I wanted to do a story that was American. I wanted to tell an American tragedy.

United States could be a great country. It needs to be a great country. It's our responsibility as citizens to make that happen, every single one of us.

I’m a deeply broken person, and broken institutions fascinate me.

We give you characters we'd feel very comfortable judging, and then go: 'Oh yeah? Watch this'.

I miss my mother very, very much.

We all have these tendencies in us that could go this way or that. I think that's the real key in writing. To look at a character without judgment.

This is our fault. My fault as much as the next man's, because even if I was against the war, I didn't do enough to stop it.