If the new Comedy Revolution has a Rasputin, I think the case could be made that it’s Mike White, and not just for his ginormous wang. He’s worked with all the current major comedy factions, except maybe The State, and he’s almost always hilarious. Except when he’s being incredibly creepy, like in Chuck & Buck, a movie that made my skin crawl. Hell, he’s even begun working with the titans of British comedy with Them, a movie he’s making with Edgar Wright that is not about giant ants, no matter how much you wish.
Now he’s making his directorial debut with Year of the Dog, a comedy/drama about the ways the life of an unassuming (which is good, since when you assume you make an ass out of you and me!) secretary’s life is changed when her dog dies. Jesus, that sounds grim.
He’s making the film for Paramount Classics, who is neck and neck with Focus Features for my favorite Logo For A Fake Indie Owned By A Major Studio. The Paramount Classics one is sort of their way of saying, “Oh, who are we fooling? Indie film died when you needed Greg Kinnear in your movie to get into Sundance!”
Jack Black, who is White’s producing partner and eternal thematic archnemesis, is expected to be involved, possibly as the ghost of the dog. Or would that role go to Forest Whitaker?