If you told me there was a movie starring Frank Langella and Elliot Gould hitting theaters, I would have to assume that it was a rerelease of a film that came out some time in the 70s, when both those guys were really big. Especially if you told me that the movie was about a whistleblower from an energy company (this weekend’s Tony winner Langella) who hires a private eye (Gould) to keep him safe from killers. I mean, after seeing Ocean’s 13 I can really believe in Gould as bed-ridden, but a private dick is a bit of a stretch.
But the movie, On the Hook, is being made now, with those two stars and – weirdly – Laura Harron as Langella’s jazz singing ex-girlfriend. His granddaughter I would have bought, but ex?
Writer/director Richard Ledes has one other film under his belt, the Michelle Williams and Meat Loaf starring A Hole in One, which no one saw last year. I’m not even sure I heard of it. That was a comedy, On the Hook is a thriller.
As weird as it is to see these two old-timers headlining a movie together, I have to give Ledes props for his casting – while aged, both of these guys still have the goods and Gould, in particular, rarely gets a chance to show them off. On the Hook starts filming next week here in the Big Apple.