Cameron Crowe is coming back. Years after the critical and box office drubbing he took with Elizabethtown*, he’s finally getting back into the director’s chair. This time it’s a romantic comedy… adventure. And it’s starring Ben Stiller and CHUD’s beloved Reese Witherspoon.
What’s the movie about? What’s the adventure aspect? Nobody knows – the logline of the film is being kept a secret for the time being. It’s set up at Sony, where Crowe made his immortal Almost Famous (and fuck the You Got It All Wrong hataz!), and good old omnipresent Scott Rudin is producing. Sony won the project, which is described as ‘fully developed’** after four other studios bid on it.
I’m happy to see Crowe getting back in the saddle, and I’m hoping that Tropic Thunder goes a long way towards erasing my lingering and hard-won doubts about Ben Stiller. I remember when Stiller was a comedy genius, a name that guaranteed my ass in a movie seat. Hell, if we could erase everything the guy has done except for The Ben Stiller Show and Zoolander, I might still feel that way. Reese Witherspoon, on the other hand… ugh.
Still, it’s a Crowe script, and he’s producing alongside Rudin. Let’s hold out hope for when this sucker starts filming next year.
* a movie I was very kind to upon release, but with hindsight one that sort of stinks.
** much like my 14 year old neighbor.