ljc ([info]taraljc) wrote,
@ 2007-11-29 22:17:00
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Entry tags:state of play

I have finished watching State of Play.

I now want to have Paul Abbott's babies. Even more so than usual.

And good on Pitt for walking off the US production, because he wanted to support the WGA. I can actually see how he and Norton would have played Cal and Stephen inside my head. I only hope they don't try and make Della anyone's love interest in the remake. What makes her 47 million kinds of awesome is the part where she's a fantastic journalist who just happens to be a chick, and she has bigger balls than the rest of them combined. That said, I really hope Bell got up the courage to ask her out. Even tho I think she and Helen might be seekrit lovers.

Oh Bill Nighy, how are you so awesome?

Also, James McAvoy is rogueish and charming and I want to believe he's a top reporter now, and will grow up to become Edison Carter. Because when I was a wee baby journalist journalist wannabe, I wanted to grow up to be Edison Carter. Because everyone ought to.


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[info]slodwick
2007-11-30 04:28 am UTC (link)
Huh. I didn't realize Pitt left for WGA reasons. I'm sort of terrified at some of the replacement names being tossed around, because basically no one can be as good as Simm. (Or McAvoy, srsly.)

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[info]amadyce
2007-11-30 04:33 am UTC (link)
Oh I so wanted to see that series, but couldn't find it when I went looking several months? ago! Is it on dvd now? I'll make another effort to find it now. Paul Abott is awesome. And they're making an american version with (Brad?) Pitt? Or they were? Not sure how I feel about that. Do they have to make an american version of everything? Why can't we just have the original?

And as for Bill Nighy, he is the love. As is James McAvoy.

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[info]fan_eunice
2007-11-30 04:46 am UTC (link)
You will have to show this to me next time I come over! Also, did you get my email? And is it at all possible that I left my cellphone charger at your house?

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[info]ragdoll
2007-11-30 06:09 am UTC (link)
Pitt didn't walk off the production because of the WGA. He walked off because he wanted changes to the script and there was no way to accomodate his Very Special Needs because of the WGA strike. So he threw a hissy fit and left. I'm very happy because he is not fit to shine John Simm's shoes, let alone walk in them. I'm sure Ed Norton will be brilliant though.

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[info]sabra_n
2007-11-30 07:40 pm UTC (link)
Yes, that was what I read as well. (In The New York Times, not a total rumor site.) If it was for the WGA, hurray, but I find it very easy to believe he ditched at the last second for script reasons because he did the same thing with The Fountain. I'd have more sympathy for his artistic integrity if the movie he'd left for in that instance wasn't freaking Troy.

-blue

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[info]ragdoll
2007-11-30 07:46 pm UTC (link)
I read it from a number of legit sources too, including the usually up-Brangelina's-ass People magazine. If he had left for WGA reasons, I'd grudgingly give him props for it. (I freely admit I am no fan of his these days)

It sounds like he wanted rewrites that couldn't be done because of the strike and when the director told him 'no, he threw a hissy fit and left. I'm not sorry about it -- I just don't see him in the same league as John Simm. Oddly enough though, I think had he and Norton switched roles, it would've made more sense. In any event, turning a 6 hour brilliantly written/layered mini series into a 2 hour Hollywood thriller probably is not the best of all possible ideas, even if they had the original cast!

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[info]taraljc
2007-11-30 07:51 pm UTC (link)
No-one seemed to mind when Soderberg made Traffic absed on Simon Moore's telly series, tho... That's probably what they're thinking of. And I actually like the scripts in the US version of Touching Evil betetr than the original, and while it was a very different series, I think it stands on its own two feet.

I actually think that it will all come down to the script. John Simm has that little-boy-lost quality that works really well for a man in love with a woman who's just using him, and he's allowing hismelf to be used because he loves her... But I can think of a dozen actors who could turn in the same calibre performance, given the right script and director. It all depends on teh writing, tho.

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[info]ragdoll
2007-11-30 08:00 pm UTC (link)
I liked Traffic but the original series really blew me away so it really depends on how it comes off. There's nothing morally wrong about it -- just that you can't ever fit in as much into a 2 hour film that you can into a 6 hr mini series. Just like you can't fit an 800 page book into a 2 hour film either.

I couldn't get into the UK version of Touching Evil so I never bothered with the US series. I probably should check them both out again.

I'm just a big Simm fan (duh), especially after seeing him in Elling in London. He's so versatile that it makes me wanna cry. Brad Pitt is good in some things some of the time, but I just don't think he had the right quality for that role. I think someone else could possibly pull it off and pull it off well. Just not *him* Like I said, if he were in the politico role and Ed Norton in the journo one, it would've made more sense!

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[info]sabra_n
2007-11-30 08:57 pm UTC (link)
I agree that Norton would be a brilliant choice for playing Cal (he was the second guy I thought of, after Peter Sarsgaard), but Pitt playing magnificent bastard Stephen Collins? He's not up to it, IMO. You need someone who can do "pitiable bully" with depth.

I think this has the potential to be a great movie in the All the President's Men vein. We'll inevitably lose some plot threads and detail, but the content of the series is really ripe for cinematic treatment. Luckily the mainstreamness (new word! yay!) of the material means that even if Pitt has ruined things for now, this project won't necessarily go the way of The Fountain and spend 3-4 years in Development Hell before finally being produced on a lower budget.

-blue

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[info]ragdoll
2007-11-30 10:08 pm UTC (link)
You're right. Pitt couldn't have pulled of Stephen either. Unfortunately, he's a very limited actor and the limitations are growing even more now that he's losing his looks.

I hadn't thought about the All The President's Men aspect. It's a good point. I think I'm so jaded by bad American adaptions of good British properties that I just automatically think bad thoughts. I am praying they can keep this project going though -- depends on whether they can get a new Cal quickly enough. I think the story is relevant and mainstream enough that they won't have to go art house on it like with The Fountain (which I liked but I can see why it wasn't a huge box office draw).

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[info]thepouncer
2007-11-30 02:08 pm UTC (link)
Such a fabulous series. I have my doubts that a movie can do it justice.

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[info]sabra_n
2007-11-30 07:43 pm UTC (link)
Oh, and State of Play is filled with awesome. And McAvoy looked about 15 there, but that's okay because he was a charming little bastard.

Pitt is in no way an adequate American substitute for Simm, but Helen Mirren was an incredibly ballsy and fantastic choice to "replace" Nighy. The thing is, if they don't start filming by mid-December they'll probably lose her because she has another project lined up in January.

In which case they can hire Hugh Laurie, but that's neither here nor there.

-blue

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