In Contention

Tag: The Silver Linings Playbook

  • When does he sleep?

    Only the other day, I mentioned how glad I was to see David O. Russell keeping himself busy after the lengthy, hobbled production of his upcoming comedy “Nailed.” But I didn’t realize he was keeping himself this busy.

    Mere days after the announcement of his attachment to the Weinstein Company’s “The Silver Linings Playbook,” comes news of yet another directorial commitment for the man: this time a romantic comedy, “Aaron and Sarah,” that apparently has John Hughes overtones. Variety reports:

    Story centers on a nerdy guy and a popular girl who meet as freshmen and, over four years of high school, four proms and one funeral, become friends and eventually fall in love. Husband-wife team Chad Gomez Creasey and Dana Resnik Creasey penned the screenplay.

    Producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen (“American Beauty,” “Milk”) lend extra cred. Meanwhile, if I don’t hear word of another new Russell project before the month is out, I’ll be deeply disappointed.

  • David O. Russell steps up

    David O. RussellAfter the respective five-year gaps following “Three Kings” and “I Heart Huckabees,” it’s nice to see David O. Russell with a couple of irons in the fire. (Well, nice if you’re a fan at least — which I am.)

    With his long-delayed comedy “Nailed” (which has endured various financial troubles) finally due later this year, now Variety reports that Russell has another project on the horizon, this time an adaptation:

    David O. Russell is attached to direct “The Silver Linings Playbook” for the Weinstein Co. The “Three Kings” helmer is also adapting the screenplay, which is based on Matthew Quick’s debut novel.

    Story centers on Pat Peoples, a down-on-his-luck former high school teacher who has just been released from a mental institution and placed in the care of his mother.

    I confess the novel skipped my radar, but the blurb describes it as “an enchanting first novel about love, madness and Kenny G,” so I’m guessing the whimsy quotient is suitably Russell-friendly, which fine by me.

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