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.

You don't do pictures because the audience is ready for them. You do them because there's something gnawing at you, something inside.

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

I try not to think of actors as I'm writing because I think you do them a disservice by writing for things they've already done.

If you make a film and then two and a half, three years later, suddenly the country's changed and you look like you just happened to hit it. I actually like being contrarian. I would have preferred to come out three years ago when everyone was disagreeing with me. But hopefully it asks a lot of questions about our responsibility in sending young men and women to war, especially a war that's so complex, where there's no right answer, where they're forced with impossible decisions every day.

Walk through Santa Monica and try to find somebody who knows a young man or woman who's in this war. Here, war is an intellectual concept. If you lose your son or daughter, it's no longer an intellectual matter.

Every 10 years, I know less about love and relationships. The smarter I get, the less I know.