In Contention

Tag: Nick Cassavetes

  • Nothing good can come of this

    I tend to avoid reporting on projects at the pre-production stage, since they so often don’t pan out — if they were ever more than rumors to begin with. But it’s for that very reason that I bring this to your attention: if I mention it, that’ll hopefully put the hex on it ever happening. From the Guardian:

    Russell Crowe looks set to take a leading role in A Star Is Born, a remake of the classic Hollywood melodrama about a fading, drunken superstar who finds himself eclipsed by a younger model. The former Gladiator star is reportedly in talks to appear alongside Beyoncé in the Warner Bros production.

    Not horrific enough for you? Well, Nick Cassavetes (“My Sister’s Keeper,” “John Q,” “The Notebook”) is reportedly in the director’s chair. Uh, bring it on.

  • Fitzgerald biopic gets an upgrade

    I must admit my heart sank last year when it was announced that Nick Cassavetes was slated to direct “The Beautiful and the Damned.”

    The story of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unhappy, alcohol-fuelled marriage to the Zelda Sayre, the schizophrenic socialite who became the embodiment of Flapper glamour, it should, by rights, make for pretty powerful cinema. With “Benjamin Button” on everyone’s minds at the moment, and the intriguing possibility of Baz Luhrmann filming “The Great Gatsby,” the moment is ripe for a Fitzgerald study on film.

    Cassevetes, however, was hardly a safe pair of hands for the project: his first two features were patchily promising enough, but “John Q,” “The Notebook” and “Alpha Dog” inspired little confidence in his abilities. So I’m thrilled to hear that he is out, and that John Curran, a far more interesting (and suitable) filmmaker, is now on board.

    Curran’s last two films, 2004’s searing “We Don’t Live Here Anymore” and his exquisite 2006 follow-up, the Maugham adaptation “The Painted Veil,” were both among the most undervalued films of their respective years. The latter, in particular, demonstrated a fine grasp of the period, and literary sensibility, that is necessary to take on Fitzgerald as a subject.

    Keira Knightley is still attached to play Sayre; there may be grumbles about the young Brit beauty doing yet another period piece, but it strikes me as smart casting, and a formidable challenge for the actress. If she pulls it off, it could bear more fruit than her recent attempts at Oscar-chasing. No word yet on who’s playing Fitzgerald, but if anyone’s listening, might I suggest Ryan Gosling?