'The Help' director may helm adaptation of 'Peace Like a River'

By Sarah Sluis

Director Tate Taylor delivered a polished adaptation with The Help, which has a surprisingly well-calibrated tone and has gotten off to good start at the box office. Now that he has one success under his belt, he's pursuing a number of other projects, with Peace Like a River among them. Ostensibly a young adult novel, I remember the book for its ethereal prose and its exploration of religious faith. I'm a little surprised that an adaptation is in the works, but this book, properly adapted, could be a hit.

Religion. From The Blind Side to Higher Ground, faith has become a more prominent force in movies recently, in part because the support of faith-based audiences can draw in lots of additional viewers.

What The Help does for the South, Peace Like a River does for the heartland. With most in the entertainment industry flitting between LA and NYC, a disproportionate amount of movies ignore the flyover zone. It's a novelty when the latest rom-com chooses a city other than NYC or LA as its locale. Peace Like a River is firmly Midwestern, from its characters to its scenes of hunting, cooking game, and religious life.

Potential to create high-quality mainstream fare. The Help was a summer movie, but it's also exceptionally well crafted, and might even snag an Oscar nomination (I think Viola Davis is a frontrunner). Peace Like a River is even more serious and poetic. The book is narrated by a "miracle" boy who is brought back from death at birth by his father's prayer. When his older brother kills someone (under ambiguous circumstances) and goes into hiding, the father packs up his family and goes in pursuit of his son. Both father and son are being hunted by the FBI. The family's time on the run is more Night of the Hunter or even Badlands and less The Fugitive. At least, that's the way it is in the book. I'd love to see Taylor recognize that the book is better suited for an emotional, arty adaptation than a fast-paced chase movie.

Brad Pitt's Plan B Productions has had rights to the book for years. David Brown and Kit Golden (who produced Angela's Ashes and Chocolat together) are also producing. IMDB lists Kathy McWorter (The War) as the writer of the screenplay. Most importantly, the movie already has a home: Warner Bros.