After years busting his ass in costume dramas and losing (onscreen)
ladies to the Brothers Fiennes, Colin Firth is coming into his own. He
narrowly lost an Oscar last year for A Single Man, but is sweeping the critical awards for The King’s Speech.
And
if he doesn’t take the gold, he may get the next best (and award
lovin’) thing — a role in a Coen Bros movie. According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, Firth is in talks to star in the Coen Bros and Michael Hoffman’s remake of Gambit.
But
wait! Isn’t this old news? Kind of. Firth and the Coens have been
dancing around this film for years. The prolific siblings have been
hashing out a script and rumor had it they were so exhausted by the
process that they shelved the film. But now it’s on again. I guess
hanging with Jeff Bridges and Josh Brolin will wind you up just right.
The
original 1966 British action-comedy starred Michael Caine and Shirley
MacLaine. It’s centered on a cat burglar named Harry Dean, who dreams up
the perfect crime. (Literally dreams it.) He wants to steal a
priceless statue from a billionaire, and recruits a dancer who is an
eerie lookalike for the billionaire’s dead wife. Of course, it all goes
wrong from the start. It’s ripe for the Coen Bros’ love of dark
screwball comedy, and it would be perfect for Firth. He’s actually a
really funny man, and rarely gets to let his dry wit out to play
onscreen.
Of course, the last time they tackled a remake of a
British comedy didn’t go so well … but let’s not hold them to the
past, especially since they’re only producing, and especially since they’ve proven they can remake John Wayne. If
you ask me, 1-1 on remakes is a pretty good balance.
7 comments
Ah ok, I thought for a second Colin Firth was going to be in an X-men film…
This is a perfect Coen project. I'm not sure I like their tendency toward remakes and adaptations over the last decade (whatever happened to THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN'S UNION, by the way?), but the story of GAMBIT might as well have been tailored to fit their strengths. I wonder why they don't want to direct it, though? Especially if they can get a post-Oscar Firth. Seems worth their while.
Am I the only person in the world that thought The Ladykillers was hilarious? Yeah, it's not one of their best, but I still like it more than Burn After Reading and MUCH more than the atrocious Intolerable Cruelty.
Anyway, I hope their next directorial project is from an original script. A Serious Man is hands down their best film of the last ten years.
I agree with Chris entirely, except for that Serious Man part. No Country is better. Serious Man (while still great) didn't hold my interest as much during the second viewing. Most Coen movies only get better the more you watch them.
I liked The Ladykillers as well, although not as much as Burn After Reading. Haven't seen Intolerable Cruelty, though.
Nope to Chris and Yappy, There Will Be Blood is the best movie of the last 10, maybe 20 years. No room for debate. Sorry.
P.S. Coens, stop with the fucking remakes. True Grit looks epic good, but your best movies(Big Lebowski and Barton Fink) are originals. Though O Brother and No Country are perfect as well, so, actually, I'm talking out my ass. Just do what you do. It's gonna be great regardless.
I agree. Ladykillers is horribly underrated. The Coen's only real bomb is Intolerable Cruelty.
Comments are shown as archived from the original site; new comments are closed.