Saved! writer-director Brian Dannelly has boarded Sobini Films' romantic comedy The Guided Man. Described as a modern Cyrano story, Guided Man is a romantic comedy about an introverted guy who comes to rely on a new service that allows someone to see, hear, feel and speak through him in order to give him confidence around women. The project is based on a 1952 story by L. Sprague De Camp and was adapted for the big screen by Steve Adams (Envy). Dannelly will further develop the script with his writing partner Michael Urban. The filmmakers are eyeing an early 2005 start. Sobini topper Mark Amin will produce along with Sobini president of production Robin Schorr and company president Cami Winikoff. Curtis Burch, who originally developed it and brought the script to Schorr, also will serve as a producer along with Kathleen Haase.
- 7/28/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For Paul Schrader, "Forever Mine" must have been sheer indulgence. One can sense his giddy joy behind every frame. The movie is a throwback to those full-blown Hollywood melodramas of the '40s and '50s where men fell in love with other men's wives and retribution came from the barrel of a gun.
Which is not to say this is a mannerist rehash of old flicks that turn up on cable late at night. It's definitely a Paul Schrader film, where the good guys are virtually indistinguishable from the bad, and moral choices are murky at best. What is new here for Schrader is his exposure of a wildly romantic side to his personality.
The film arrived dripping wet at the Toronto Film Festival with its end title song unrecorded and a few minor adjustments still to be made. "Forever Mine", which is light years removed from the grim through gripping drama of "Affliction", does require special handling. But the film, which is among Schrader's best, could enjoy a lively theatrical run and long afterlife in video and TV.
You can call this film noir, but it's more film blanc, as much of the adultery and corruption occur in the blazing light of the sun. Moving from Miami Beach to New York over a 14-year span from the 1970s to the 1980s, the film depicts a sultry triangle featuring Gretchen Mol as wife of New York businessman Ray Liotta, and Joseph Fiennes as a Miami Beach cabana boy who falls for her in a heartbeat.
Following a brief affair in Miami, Fiennes follows the couple to New York, where he continues his romantic pursuit of the wife. Confused, she seeks guidance from a priest, who admonishes her to atone for her sins. She then confesses to her well-connected husband.
Liotta first has Fiennes framed on a drug possession charge. When that fails to diminish the lover's ardor, he orders Fiennes killed. But unbeknownst to both Liotta and Mol, Fiennes survives the brutal attack.
Fourteen years later, Fiennes has assumed a new identity and has become as powerful and corrupt as Liotta. He returns to New York to seek revenge against Liotta, who now finds himself in serious legal trouble. But how will Mol react?
Schrader infuses his whole film -- from the sunny beaches and glowing sunsets of Miami to the dark and moody rooms and corridors of New York -- with a heady aura of impossible romance. The love story dominates the melodramatic flourishes; the thriller is a mere excuse for romance. And while the lovers may be doomed, their love is all the sweeter for the sacrifices they are willing to make in love's name.
Mol delivers a luminescent performance as the lovely housewife bitterly torn between what she sees as her duty to her husband and to God and her unstoppable passion for her lover. There are problems, though, in the film's other two key performances.
Fiennes, in what is almost a dual role, has a quiet though creepy determination in the identity of a ruthless Latino banker. But not only is he too old to play a cabana boy, but there is something awkward and unconvincing about his desperate passion. At times, he seems more like a stalker than a lovesick Romeo.
Similarly, Liotta, as always, takes to villainy with enthusiasm. But for the triangle to work and the climax to come off, you need to see Liotta's love for his wife. However, Liotta treats her more as possession than an object of desire.
Vincent Laresca is a lively presence in the role of a fellow cabana boy who winds up as a well-paid bodyguard to Fiennes. He is all too eager for good old American corruption.
Behind the camera, all hands do exceptional work to help Schrader achieve his homage to Hollywood melodrama, especially cinematographer John Bailey and production designer Francois Seguin.
FOREVER MINE
J&M Entertainment presents
a Moonstar Entertainment Production
Producers:Damita Nikapota, Kathleen Haase, Amy J. Kaufman
Writer-director:Paul Schrader
Executive producers:Julia Palau, Matthew Payne
Director of photography:John Bailey
Production designer:Francois Seguin
Music:Angelo Badalamenti
Costume designer:Marit Allen
Editor:Kristina Boden
Color/stereo
Cast:
Manuel Esquema/Alan Riply:Joseph Fiennes
Mark Brice:Ray Liotta
Ella Brice:Gretchen Mol
Javier:Vincent Laresca
Running time -- 115 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Which is not to say this is a mannerist rehash of old flicks that turn up on cable late at night. It's definitely a Paul Schrader film, where the good guys are virtually indistinguishable from the bad, and moral choices are murky at best. What is new here for Schrader is his exposure of a wildly romantic side to his personality.
The film arrived dripping wet at the Toronto Film Festival with its end title song unrecorded and a few minor adjustments still to be made. "Forever Mine", which is light years removed from the grim through gripping drama of "Affliction", does require special handling. But the film, which is among Schrader's best, could enjoy a lively theatrical run and long afterlife in video and TV.
You can call this film noir, but it's more film blanc, as much of the adultery and corruption occur in the blazing light of the sun. Moving from Miami Beach to New York over a 14-year span from the 1970s to the 1980s, the film depicts a sultry triangle featuring Gretchen Mol as wife of New York businessman Ray Liotta, and Joseph Fiennes as a Miami Beach cabana boy who falls for her in a heartbeat.
Following a brief affair in Miami, Fiennes follows the couple to New York, where he continues his romantic pursuit of the wife. Confused, she seeks guidance from a priest, who admonishes her to atone for her sins. She then confesses to her well-connected husband.
Liotta first has Fiennes framed on a drug possession charge. When that fails to diminish the lover's ardor, he orders Fiennes killed. But unbeknownst to both Liotta and Mol, Fiennes survives the brutal attack.
Fourteen years later, Fiennes has assumed a new identity and has become as powerful and corrupt as Liotta. He returns to New York to seek revenge against Liotta, who now finds himself in serious legal trouble. But how will Mol react?
Schrader infuses his whole film -- from the sunny beaches and glowing sunsets of Miami to the dark and moody rooms and corridors of New York -- with a heady aura of impossible romance. The love story dominates the melodramatic flourishes; the thriller is a mere excuse for romance. And while the lovers may be doomed, their love is all the sweeter for the sacrifices they are willing to make in love's name.
Mol delivers a luminescent performance as the lovely housewife bitterly torn between what she sees as her duty to her husband and to God and her unstoppable passion for her lover. There are problems, though, in the film's other two key performances.
Fiennes, in what is almost a dual role, has a quiet though creepy determination in the identity of a ruthless Latino banker. But not only is he too old to play a cabana boy, but there is something awkward and unconvincing about his desperate passion. At times, he seems more like a stalker than a lovesick Romeo.
Similarly, Liotta, as always, takes to villainy with enthusiasm. But for the triangle to work and the climax to come off, you need to see Liotta's love for his wife. However, Liotta treats her more as possession than an object of desire.
Vincent Laresca is a lively presence in the role of a fellow cabana boy who winds up as a well-paid bodyguard to Fiennes. He is all too eager for good old American corruption.
Behind the camera, all hands do exceptional work to help Schrader achieve his homage to Hollywood melodrama, especially cinematographer John Bailey and production designer Francois Seguin.
FOREVER MINE
J&M Entertainment presents
a Moonstar Entertainment Production
Producers:Damita Nikapota, Kathleen Haase, Amy J. Kaufman
Writer-director:Paul Schrader
Executive producers:Julia Palau, Matthew Payne
Director of photography:John Bailey
Production designer:Francois Seguin
Music:Angelo Badalamenti
Costume designer:Marit Allen
Editor:Kristina Boden
Color/stereo
Cast:
Manuel Esquema/Alan Riply:Joseph Fiennes
Mark Brice:Ray Liotta
Ella Brice:Gretchen Mol
Javier:Vincent Laresca
Running time -- 115 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 9/16/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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