As you know, talk of an Arrested Development film has picked up of late. Just this morning I saw Jason Bateman say on the TODAY show that it was “possible” for 2009, even though Michael Cera is very expensive these days. As a fan of the show – great! Terrific! But –
What the hell does an Arrested Development movie look like?
The show’s humor is so rapid-fire that it would be exhausting over 90 minutes or so. And the SOAP-esque plotting is also uniquely TV. And where do you add the needed theatrical production value? We don’t need to see the Bluths in Hawaii, do we?
And then it occurred to me that someone has ALREADY made an Arrested Development feature film – David O. Russell. Russell’s follow-up to the demented and funny SPANKING THE MONKEY was the demented and funny FLIRTING WITH DISASTER which starred a then-fresh Ben Stiller as a neurotic man, adopted as a baby, who goes on a hunt for his birth parents. Things go very hilariously wrong.
In tone, style and execution there is no better model than FWD for what Arrested Development could/should be like in feature form. If you like Arrested and haven’t seen FWD, by all means, rent it forthwith and see for yourself what I’m talking about.
