Reese Witherspoon will tame her image with 'Wild'

Reese Witherspoon has long been a favorite star of mine. As a teen, I followed her through her performances in Cruel Intentions, Election, and Legally Blonde. She's since won an Oscar for Walk the Line, while appearing in romantic comedies like Sweet Home Alabama. Then she got arrested for arguing with a cop while her husband was pulled over for a suspected DUI. Her star image took a bit of a hit, although compared with the Lindsay Lohans and Amanda Bynes of the world, she's barely done a thing. Back in the early days of Hollywood, studios carefully controlled a star's image, but Witherspoon's crew of handlers must be taking a cue from that era's meticulous management with her next role. It can't be a coincidence that Witherspoon will be playing a messed-up woman in search of redemption by starring in Fox Searchlight's Wild.

Wild, based on a book by Cheryl Strayed, recounts the author's trek up the Pacific Crest Trail when she was in her mid-twenties. Strayed's mother had recently passed away, she and her husband divorced after her numerous infidelities, and she had even been dallying with heroin, thanks to her drug-addicted new boyfriend. She's outdoorsy, but no hiker, which made her relatable, frank account of being sore, lost, and exhausted skyrocket to the top of the bestseller lists. For Witherspoon, it's perfect casting, mirroring (albeit in less extreme ways) the star's own need for redemption from the public.

There's one minor quibble. In the book, Strayed is just 26 when she hikes the trail. Witherspoon is 37. She does look young, and the level of drama (mother's death, divorce, drugs) in Strayed's life at 26 could easily be believable at 37, but it's worth pointing out.

Witherspoon is also producing the feature. Her team hired Nick Hornby, who wrote a number of books that have been adapted into movies, including About A Boy, and also penned the screenplay for Carey Mulligan's breakout movie, An Education, to do the adaptation. If all goes well, it looks like this movie will pick up a director sometime between now and fall, when the production will begin filming.

 

David Fincher may direct lit hit 'Gone Girl'

Wait, you haven't read Gone Girl yet? The thriller by Gillian Flynn, former TV critic for Entertainment Weekly, was this summer's huge hit, a popular choice both for beach reads and book clubs. It's a genre page-turner, but a good one. It's kind of like a Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which brought in many people who don't normally pick up thrillers or mysteries. Reese Witherspoon's production company picked up rights to the book shortly after its publication, when it was at the top of the New York Times' bestseller list. Perhaps it's no surprise that the director that brought Girl with the Dragon
Tattoo to the big screen, David Fincher, is also eyeing the book as his next directing project. He's long been entangled doing an adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for Disney, but it appears this complicated, big-budget project may be temporarily grinding to a halt, giving him an opportunity to jump off that ship and board a new one.

Gone Girl relies on literary sleight-of-hand in order to keep its readers guessing. It starts off being told by one narrator, the husband of a woman who has disappeared under suspicious circumstances, and then switches to her point-of-view. Movies don't have the luxury of showing a point-of-view that's completely filtered through one character's actions, which will be the biggest challenge of the adaptation. Flynn has signed on to adapt her own work. With three novels under her belt and a long history as a media critic, she certainly sounds qualified for the job.

Fincher is still attached to the sequel to Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, but that movie isn't being fast-tracked into theatres. The Swedish-language trilogy was such a success that those films appear to have cannibalized the market for the English-language version. I knew a number of fans of the book who raced to see the Swedish-language versions but were burned out on the story by the time Fincher's (great, let it be known) adaptation hit screens over Christmas last year.

There's some speculation that Witherspoon will play the lead. She hasn't taken on a role like the one in Gone Girl since the 1996 movie Fear, a teen flick about a scary relationship. I'm curious if she can manage to make her sweet persona darken when necessary. One thing's for sure--if this adaptation is shepherded by the same director who did Dragon Tattoo, Seven, and Zodiac, the movie will be just as deliciously terrifying as the book.

Reese Witherspoon lines up romantic comedy 'The Beard'

On a recent plane ride, I caught a few minutes of the in-flight movie, this year's Valentine's Day dud This Means War. The high-concept love triangle involving two spies (Chris Pine and Tom Hardy) and the woman they love (Reese Witherspoon) bombed at the box office. Although I closely followed Reese Witherspoon's early career, since she won an Oscar for Walk the Line she hasn't had a quality film by my measure (positive reviews + great box office) since. This Means War: case in point. Walk the Line was, in fact, a whole decade ago, and she made a number of so-so films in that wake, including the romances Just Like Heaven, Four Christmases, How Do You Know and Water for Elephants. The latter two could have been good, since they had James L. Brooks and literary

Reese Witherspoon at the Cannes' premiere of 'Mud'

success, respectively, behind them, but neither earned accolades from critics or audiences. Witherspoon needs another good project, stat, and it looks like she finally has a few more projects that might just do that.

 

On the "may actually break $100 million, but probably won't get great reviews" side is The Beard, the star's most recent announcement. Witherspoon will play a woman who is a beard for a gay man (as in makes him appear to be straight to the public/outsiders), a situation that gets complicated when she actually falls in love. I see this working best if she really has a genuine affection and sincere friendship with this guy, but ends up being torn between that and her love of someone new. If there are celebrities involved, I definitely envision a scene where she is branded a cheater when in fact she's really just pursuing love for the first time. The Chernin Entertainment production comes courtesy of a spec script by TV writer Becca Greene. I can't really imagine this project being set anywhere other than Hollywood, where there are constant whispers of stars serving as each other's beards. But couldn't this blow the whole lid off this allegedly common Hollywood practice? I'm sure this will end up leaving countless readers of Us and People more cynical after realizing the lies they may have been told.

The Beard may be Witherspoon's comedy comeback, but the projects I'm most excited about are her dramas. The Southern-born star has turned back to her roots for a couple of her upcoming projects, something that will serve her well.

I was extremely impressed with writer/director Jeff Nichols' debut Take Shelter. Witherspoon has a small role in Nichols' follow-up project Mud, which centers on two boys' attempts to reunite a convict (Matthew McConaughey, also a star redefining his image) with his long-lost love (Witherspoon). I like that she's in a small, independent film. She showed up at the Cannes Film Festival to support the movie, though she reportedly has just a small role in the project. I think she'll need to have a bigger part in such a film in order to help her break out of the same-old.

That role might be in Devil's Knot, an adaptation of the West Memphis Three case that has been explored in documentaries like Paradise Lost. In Arkansas, three teens were falsely accused of killing three boys in a satanic ritual and sent to prison. Witherspoon is listed as playing Pamela Hobbs, the mother of the victim Stevie Branch. Her husband, the boy's stepfather, was accused by some of committing the murder. Atom Egoyan, the respected indie director of projects like The Sweet Hereafter, is directing.

Witherspoon's IMDB list includes plenty more questionable projects, including a role in the adaptation of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus and a starring role in Wish List, in which a thirty-something career woman finds all her childhood wishes have come true. I worry that these projects seem trite and stereotypical. Witherspoon rose to fame because of one-two punches like Election and Legally Blonde, and I know she's capable of more than her recent films have shown.

 

Looking ahead to 2011: 'Water for Elephants,' 'Cedar Rapids'

By Sarah Sluis

The wave of end-of-the-year movies brings with it the release of a host of new trailers. I weigh in on the prospects of a couple of movies that actually look good (at least in their trailers).

Water for Elephants (April 22):

Starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz (in a love triangle!), this movie is based on a best-selling book (that I never managed to read past page twenty). But the trailer is another story, showing off a lush, period circus environment shot with shadowy and vibrant cinematography. Witherspoon wears her sparkly leotard with panache, and her graceful movements as a circus performer at the :51 mark made me a believer. Cons: The trailer music is a bit treacly--could this be a harbinger of the movie's tone as a whole?

Cedar Rapids (Feb. 11):

Could this be the rare comedy that's actually funny? The trailer's humor is part "The Office," part Office Space, and also could be called a more upbeat, blue collar version of Up in the Air (Though George Clooney's character would have sniffed disparagingly at Ed Helms' clueless navigation of business travel). I liked director's Miguel Arteta's overlooked teen comedy Youth in Revolt, and if Cedar Rapids avoids that brand of painfully over-the-top humor that makes the audience cringe (I'm looking at you, Due Date), I think it will be good for a quiet chuckle.

These two films are just a sampling of the many movies in the early part of 2011 that I'm excited about -- Hanna, Jane Eyre, and a smaterring of maybe-good comedies (Hall Pass, Paul, Just Go For It), and dramas (The Adjustment Bureau) should make the early part of 2011 an active one.

Trailer Roundup: 'Love and Other Drugs' and 'How Do You Know'

By Sarah Sluis

As the summer winds down, I take a look at the two recently released trailers for the fall/winter movie season.

'Love and Other Drugs'

Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal (who were briefly paired together in Brokeback Mountain) star in Love and Other Drugs, which I had pegged as a romance with some dark comedy thrown in. Based on a memoir by a Viagra pharmaceutical rep, it led me to expect something with a little bit of The Insider in it. After all, pharma salespeople are rather morally ambiguous characters, since their job is to persuade doctors to prescribe more of their drug, regardless of what is the best medical decision for the patient

Enter the trailer:

Do I like Love and Other Drugs more or less after seeing the trailer? Less. Why? The trailer makes the movie sound too much like a typical romantic comedy. Worse, it gives away moments that must take place towards the end of the movie, including crying (presumably after a break-up) and Gyllenhaal's character trying to catch up with the Hathaway character on a bus (which is usually the scene right before they kiss and go to closing credits). It's possible that the movie's premise has just been sanitized for a public that's presumably skittish about anything out of the ordinary, and the strongest sign that this is true is one striking omission. Hathaway's character has Parkinson's Disease, a plot point that never makes its way into the trailer. Maybe audiences would find that too depressing? This movie is still on my to-see list when it comes out November 24th, but now it needs to redeem itself to fall in line with my initial expectations. Another good sign? It's releasing over Thanksgiving, a prime slot that implies the studio thinks it's got a good movie on its hands.

'How Do You Know'

The latest from James L. Brooks (who last directed Spanglish and As Good As It Gets), How Do You Know places Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd in a love triangle, and also features Jack Nicholson--a cast full of great actors. It centers on a female softball player (Witherspoon) torn between her baseball pitcher boyfriend (Wilson) and a down-on-his luck corporate guy (Rudd).

Enter the trailer:

Do I like How Do You Know more of less after seeing the trailer? More. Most of all, this trailer seems thoughtful, not gimmicky. The trailer brings to mind a Cameron Crowe movie (perhaps Jerry Maguire?) but that's not a bad thing as far as I'm concerned. We learn less about plot points, which are for the most part elided, and more about the characters' states of mind. In As Good As It Gets, so much of the movie was about Jack Nicholson's character, which enriched the relationship he had with Helen Hunt. I really feel that Brooks will be able to pull off a similarly meaningful character transformation here. I also can't decide if this line of Witherspoon's dialogue is interesting or trite: "Most girls' plan is to meet a guy, fall in love, have a baby. But I don't know if I have what it takes for everybody's regular plan." It's pretty common in romantic comedies for women to say they don't want the standard package only to end up with all of the above in the end. However, if Brooks and Witherspoon can make us believe this about Witherspoon's character, I'll be right on board for this movie. It's also eyeing a high-traffic release date on December 17th, where I'm sure it will attract large audiences.

Reese Witherspoon is Peggy Lee

By Sarah Sluis

Maybe Reese Witherspoon has the Oscar itch again? In 2006, she won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of the singer and performer June Carter in the musical biopic Walk the Line. Now she's going back to the music and will star in a biopic of Peggy Lee. What's more, Nora Ephron will write and direct the movie.

Side by side, Lee and Witherspoon have a believable resemblance to each other, especially when they're matched for age. Perhaps that's why Witherspoon herself secured the rights to Lee's life from the family's estate after being approached by Lee's granddaughter.

Until recently, Ephron has never tackled the famous person genre, but the success of her adaptation of Julie & Julia last summer may have inspired her to take on this project. Ephron herself usually writes light romance and comedy, which makes me wonder if maybe this biopic will have a lighter take on Lee's life. Generally, musical biographies are filled with some pretty low lows. Lee's Wikipedia page mentions her four marriages, and some biographies mention that she drank heavily but may or may not have crossed the line of being an alcoholic. That's certainly enough to fill the dark chapter of most movies, but not so much that these need to be the defining lows of Lee's life. When Ephron wrote about Julia Child, what came across most was her ebullience and her zest for life. Yes, Ephron's film included some scenes of her difficulty putting together her cookbook, and her sadness at not having children like her sister, but the overall portrait was upbeat. Maybe that's what people need. I don't know if I want to see another dark movie about drug-abusing, alcoholic singers. I'd rather have one about a fun singer who maybe drinks a little too much and gets married a few too many times. Let's see what Ephron comes up with.

With Ephron and Witherspoon banded together, this project could get moving quickly. Witherspoon attaches herself to projects that don't always get off the ground (right away), but once Ephron announces a project, it seems to get made--she currently has zero projects in development on her IMDB page, while Witherspoon has fourteen projects. In the meantime, while Ephron writes the script, audiences can catch Witherspoon this December in the James L. Brooks comedy How Do You Know, and next April in the literary adaptation Water for Elephants--she's quite the busy actress.

Lopez takes on 'Plan B,' Witherspoon fills schedule gap with James L. Brooks comedy

By Sarah Sluis

In what a high-concept pitchster might term Knocked Up meets Baby Mama, Jennifer Lopez will star in Plan B, a rom com about a woman who finally gives up finding a man and pursues Plan B, her local artificial insemination clinic.  As "luck" would have it, the same day she jubilantly pees on a stick turns out to be the day she meets the man of her dreams.  Although "Plan B" refers to the
children-without-a-man idea, it's also the trademarked name of an emergency contraception (not an abortion pill) on the market---do I hear a cease-and-desist coming up?

For an actress like Reese Witherspoon, a five-month gap in projects just. cannot. be.  With production on her Cameron Crowe film pushed back to July, Witherspoon will team up with James L. Brooks, who is busily writing an ensemble comedy screenplay that he also plans to direct. 

In the early days of Crowe's career, it appears that he reached out to Brooks as a mentor, making the hand-off between the
two natural.  Since Columbia has not released any details about the project other than the "ensemble comedy" I previously mentioned, as well as a working title, How Do You Know?, let's review some of his previous work to guess what a Brooks-written Reese Witherspoon character would be like in the comedy:

• A Helen Hunt-type role, like in As Good as it Gets?: Signs point to no.  Nicholson was the main event there, and Witherspoon's film persona has too much "spunk" to be stymied in a waitress role.  She's a career girl--a lawyer (Legally Blonde), singer (Walk the Line), social/political climber (Vanity Fair, Sweet Home Alabama, Election)



• So if she's a career girl, does that mean she'll be like Mary Tyler Moore?  In some ways.  The one
  
  thing about "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," though, was that it was very "workplace as family."  Although I know the show more from TV Land than real time, she was still subordinate to her boss and he was very much a father figure to her, barring the occasional romantic overtones.



• Where does this leave us?  Broadcast News.  A hole in my film knowledge, the movie centers on a career woman who falls for a shallow, pretty-boy entertainment news producer (No, I'm not talking about the upcoming The Ugly Truth, though now that you mention it...), while, of course, the insecure correspondent, who's probably a better fit for her, languishes. 

Reese Witherspoon mentioned in a recent interview that the news drama is one of her favorite films, so my guess is that Brooks will draw on Broadcast News and a Mary Tyler Moore-type character and/or ensemble for the film.  Mark your calendars, this one sounds worthy.