‘Any Day Now’ offers a fresh riff on Gardner Museum heist

“Any Day Now,” which celebrates its Boston premiere March 17 at the Somerville Theatre, reflects on the celebrated, still-unsolved Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist.Onscreen, as mobsters, drug dealers and art thieves dive into making their plans, writer-director-producer Eric Aronson explained how his fictionalized version wasn’t concerned, really, with speculation.“This is the 35th anniversary, and we have no answers.

The only thing we know for sure,” he said in a phone interview, “is that there are very interesting people associated with this robbery.“We know that there was a night guard that night that let them in. Another night guard was walking around the museum.



That’s fact.“I’m a fiction guy” – Aronson, 55, a Boston native has been script writing for Hollywood studios for 25 years. “This is an entirely fictional riff.

Like a jam session of different ideas that I’ve read over the years.“What was interesting to me was not necessarily trying to tell a straight story of what happened that night. I’m more interested in the characters, their relationships, in the funny things that I hear people say all my life growing up here in Boston.

“To me, that was the story. I put the robbery just enough in the background that we know it’s there, but I’m more interested in other things.“The real inspiration,” he continued, “is this French film, ‘Shoot the Piano Player’ ” – an obscure 1960 Francois Truffaut classic.

“In his version, he took the heist genre and put that in the background. What he put in the foreground were these characters and how they reacted to each other. He took what he knew as an inspiration and turned it into a soup that was totally different than anybody else’s.

”“Any Day Now” only looks like it filmed at the Gardner.“We shot every minute of this movie in Boston. Massachusetts has a great tax credit program, which I used.

We shot the museum scenes at the Hammond Castle on the North Shore.“It worked so well because when he built his castle, he was inspired by Isabella Stewart Gardner. Just like I was inspired by this heist.

He built a house that is similar, but not the same.”In the same way Aronson’s movie is about the fabled heist but not really.“I did my research; everybody thinks they know what happened.

That’s the other fact of the Gardner heist — people have very strong opinions apparently.“And I really don’t ascribe to any of them. All of it’s just fascinating to me.

“When you put it all together, that’s what art is in a way: Taking the facts and you turning them into your story.”“Any Day Now” actors Paul Guilfoyle and Taylor Gray join Aronson in a Q&A session after the March 17 7:30 p.m.

screening at the Somerville Theatre. David Pridemore, Shawn Fitzgibbon, Mike Bash, Paul Guilfoyle and Taylor Gray in “Any Day Now.” (Photo courtesy Blue Harbor Entertainment).