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Toronto Deals: Nicole Kidman, Ewan MacGregor

Roger Friedman
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Toronto Deals: Nicole Kidman, Ewan MacGregor

Deal news from the Toronto Film Festival: LionsGate is said to want “Rabbit Hole,” the very fine comedy-drama from John Cameron Mitchell. Nicole Kidman is sublime in the film, which could make the Oscar deadline if everything is worked out. I am told that New York entertainment financier Norton Herrick may put in the necessary funds to make this happen. Dianne Wiest would be up for her third Best Supporting nomination if this all goes to plan…

Sony Pictures Classics is circling Mike Mills’s “Beginners,” a quirky romantic comedy starring Ewan MacGregor as a man whose 75 year old father–played by Christopher Plummer–comes out of the closet right after his wife dies. Melanie Laurent plays MacGregor’s actress girlfriend. There’s also a remarkable dog named Cosmo, who plays Arthur the dog, who steals the movie. Mills directed the lovable indie “Thumbsucker” a couple of years ago. There aren’t enough nice things to say about “Beginners.” It’s wonderful. SPC also distributed “Thumbsucker,” so a deal is likely. Plummer would be a shoo in for a Supporting Actor nomination. The poor man is 80 and should have an Oscar already! Luckily the Screen Actors Guild is honoring him this year. But still. This is ridiculous…

“The Whistleblower” remains the outstanding thriller of Toronto. In the old days, a movie like this would have come from a studio and been a big, big hit. Certainly, Laryssa Kondacki’s film deserves a wide audience. I am told that everyone who’s seen it wants to wait for a 2011 release because there are so many lead actresses in films for the Oscars this year. But “The Whistleblower” is too timely to wait. Audiences must see and hear this story. And Rachel Weisz is strong enough to compete with Annette Bening, Helena Bonham Carter, Nicole Kidman, Michelle Williams, and whoever else is out there…

Rachel Weisz Thriller So Intense One Woman At Premiere Faints

Roger Friedman
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Rachel Weisz Thriller So Intense One Woman At Premiere Faints

By the time I finished watching Rachel Weisz in her new thriller, “The Whistleblower,” I wanted all my money back from those UNICEF cartons.

This exciting film debuted at Toronto on Monday afternoon and I mean, it really got wild cheers and people going crazy at the end to meet Weisz, the filmmaker, and the woman upon whose experiences the film was based.

Larysa Kondracki has made a film certainly inspired by and as good as “Silkwood,” “Erin Brockovich,” “Norma Rae” or “Klute.”

Weisz–in a non-stop, gripping performance– plays Kathy Bolkovac, a Nebraska cop who went to Bosnia as part of a peacekeeping team and wound up the head of the UN’s Gender Relations division there.

Bolkovac uncovered a massive human trafficking scandal involving the UN and a frightening real life company called DynCorp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DynCorp in Bosnia. When she went public she was threatened, fired, harrassed.

She lives in the Netherlands now, and has been essentially blacklisted from working in international positions.

The depiction of what DynCorp employees in Bosnia allegedly did to young women who’d been (again, allegedly) kidnapped or bought by them for sex was so intense that a woman at yesterday afternoon’s screening left the theater and immediately fainted out front.

The movie is that intense.

For Weisz, the screening seemed overwhelming, too. It was the first time she’d seen the movie, and experienced the incredible audience reaction.

Somehow, Rachel told me, she managed to put playing Kathy away at the end of the day and go home without nightmares. She and husband, director Darren Aronofsky, who has “Black Swan” here, have a child. They can’t bring Hollywood home.

Still, the whole Bolkovac saga is quite shocking. She told me at yesterday’s screening that the UN–yes, the United Nations–whom she worked for and represented–has never commented on what happened to her. So she’s written a book, also called “The Whistleblower,” that will be published in January.

If Bolkovac’s book is just a fraction of exciting as the movie, her story should be a big deal this winter.

Meantime, do read that Wikipedia entry on DynCorp. It will blow your mind.

 

Nicole Kidman: “Rabbit Hole” Is a Gem

Roger Friedman
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Nicole Kidman: “Rabbit Hole” Is a Gem

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban shut down a whole city block last night in Toronto in front of the Elgin Theater. The reason was the premiere of Kidman’s “Rabbit Hole,” a gem of an indie movie that should resonate with audiences and win Nicole even more fans.

Kidman is accessible, funny and human in “Rabbit Hole”–moreso than in ages. You can tell she enjoyed producing and starring in it, too. After the film, she, Keith and I talked for quite a while and caught up–our first chat since last February’s Grammy Awards.

They told me that two year old daughter Sunday Rose is walking and talking up a storm–‘Dancing, laughing. having a ball.” I don’t think we’re going to see Sunday Rose trotted out for constant p.r. either, the way Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have exploited their kid in the papers. (I’ve rarely seen a child invented for celebrity the Suri has been.)

Kidman is loving living in Nashville. It’s a good thing she’s a meat eater and not a vegetarian, I said to Keith, since there’s so much good BBQ. “I think she’d love it there anyway,” he said.

Urban is working on a new album of all new material. He’s licensed it to Capitol Records, but his deal his over. And he’s happy to be a free man in such a crazy record business.

Over at Parade.com this morning, my headline for this story was “Nicole Kidman To Die For Again.”

It’s true. Kidman is a delight in “Rabbit Hole.” It’s based on the Broadway play by David Lindsay Abaire. Cynthia Nixon won the Tony Award for playing Becca, the main character. It’s a rock solid play full of laughter and sadness that the playwright has opened up beautifully for a film.

But mostly it’s Nicole, who hasn’t played a “regular person” in a contemporary drama on screen in — I don’t know, did she ever? Maybe in “Margot at the Wedding,” a little seen indie. But here she is the Kidman from “To Die For,” and even with the atttiude from “Australia”–sardonic, sarcastic, wise, and sexy.

Director John Cameron Mitchell, who you might have thought would go campy, has played “Rabbit Hole” straight. He’s set up a terrific family dynamic with Nicole, Aaron Eckhart as her husband, Dianne Wiest as her mom, Tammy Blanchard as her sister, and Giancarlo Esposito as the sister’s boyfriend.

“I read the review of the play in the New York Times.” Nicole told me. “As soon as I saw the script, I knew I could do it.’ She was wide to get the playwright to write the screenplay. “I loved her sardonic sense of humor.”

So do I! A hit for Nicole. If the film can be released in time, we may be seeing her at the Oscars next winter.

Four Days Left for “World Turns”

Roger Friedman
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Four Days Left for “World Turns”

“As the World Turns,” a 54 year old institution on CBS, ends its run on Friday. So far CBS has inflamed fans of the show by interrupting its last week with the US Open tennis matches. Last night in some markets they rebroadcast Monday’s show at 1:37am instead of its 2pm slot. There’s no end to the disrespect.

With the end of “ATWT,” Procter and Gamble completes a long term plan of getting out of soaps. It started at least back in 1999 when they cancelled the 35 year old “Another World.” P&G did everything they could to ruin their shows by draining their budgets, mistreating the actors and ignoring the fans. It worked! Brush with Colgate, kids, not Crest.

Here in Toronto, two actresses who got their start on P&G soaps are doing great. Tammy Blanchard, from “Guiding Light,” is terrific as Nicole Kidman’s sister in “Rabbit Hole.” And Mary Page Keller, who was Sally Frame on “Another World” in the 1980s, makes a disarming appearance in Mike Mills’s wonderful “Beginners.”

These gals would never have had such good career launches without soaps particularly the New York ones where theater actors were always cherished. Now thanks to P&G (and ABC for moving “All My Children” west) there is just one show in New York–“One Life to Live.” The great New York training ground for actors is gone. PS No one did a thing, either, including the theatrical unions.

“ATWT” features a lot of great actors who didn’t leave for other pastures, but stayed and resonated becausde they were good–not because they had no place to go. I just wish over the years they’d gotten publcists and sought out some attention. It might have helped. Really, in soaps, only Susan Lucci ever got that idea. At “World,” for years, at least in New York, only Eileen Fulton (who’s played Lisa since 1960) carried the ball.

Hopefully CBS will carry the show properly for the next and last four episodes. More to come…

James Franco’s Stunning Oscar Bid

Roger Friedman
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James Franco’s Stunning Oscar Bid

As you may know, James Franco is all around us. He’s circled us. Not content to let being the bad guy in “Spider Man” be his legacy, the 30 year old actor dug with a much praised role in “Milk” last year. Then he went to “General Hospital,” did art shows, finished a master’s in creative writing, and possibly learned to make paella (just kidding on the last one).

While you were sleeping, he made Danny Boyle’s extraordinary “127 Hours” which opened last at Toronto. Franco plays Aron Ralston, the Colorado climber and guide who went on an extreme hike in Utah’s canyons, was trapped under a rock, and had cut his own arm off to survive.

I think TIFF director Piers Handling was kidding last night when he said “127 Hours” is a one hander. (That means, a one actor movie.) There are other actors in the movie, but Franco as Ralston is pretty much the whole story. Boyle and cowriter Simon Beaufoy have cleverly created a cool and modern exhilarating video around him, but in the end they have to center on Franco/Ralston.

It helps a little that you know Ralston survived, got married, wrote a book. In person he’s a good looking, nice chap. At the Q&A after the screening he broke down in tears. His hand is now a hook, but otherwise he’s in good shape.

Still, Franco turns Ralston’s plight, and his plucky determination to survive, into its own adventure. The movie is good, good, good but Franco is great. “127 Hours” is really a fantastic Man vs. the Elements saga. Franco is up to the challenges. He has just the right mix of self deprecating humor and emotional heft to pull it off.

Franco’s a shoo in for all the different nominations this fall, not the least of which will be an Oscar nod. The question is, will he have time to do a little campaigning in between publishing a book of short stories, starring in a Planet of the Apes prequel, going to school, and oh yes–promoting “Howl.” I’m also told he’s about to sign for a new film with Catherine Keener.

Clint Eastwood Film: Death Has a French Connection

Roger Friedman
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Clint Eastwood Film: Death Has a French Connection

Hereafter, Clint Eastwood’s new film, called “Hereafter” will be discussed for the director’s ability to make the most from the least.

Even though “Hereafter” is written by Peter Morgan, it feels like Eastwood didn’t get the best material from this master tailor.

Morgan wrote “Frost/Nixon,” “The Queen,” and “The Last King of Scotland.” He’s a Hollywood darling at the moment. But those screenplays moved. They had energy and focus. “Hereafter” is like an episode of the “The Ghost Whisperer.” It meanders and plotzes. It settles down in odd places and takes up residence when it should be sallying forth.

Eastwood, a master craftsman, makes the most of what he’s been delivered. He intertwines three main stories: one concerns Matt Damon, who has psychic abilities; another centers on a beautiful French TV broadcaster who survives the Indonesian tsunami and becomes psychic; the third is about a pair of 12 year British twins whose mum is a heroin addict.

Preposterously you know all or some of these people who live nowhere near each other will meet. Magical things will happen in the overlap. It’s “Babel” with a crystal ball. Matt Damon’s character tells everyone he meets that he doesn’t do meetings with the dead anymore. But each time he caves in after a whiny plea. It gets comical. You expect him to say, “Every time I try to leave, they pull me back in!”

You have to give Clint credit. First he made a whole movie in Japanese and in black and white. “Letters from Iwo Jima” was a tour de force. Now “Hereafter” is at least one third in French, with subtitles. That section features two actors unknown to Americans. The woman, Cecile de France, is channeling Julie Christie circa 1981. It’s amazing. She’s so attractive that Clint has trouble cutting away from her. We get it.

There are also a couple of memorable off beat moments. Richard Kind is spot on as a man who’s lost his wife and comes to Matt for a reading. You get his sadness and guilt succinctly. And then these two boys–brothers in real life Frankie and George McLaren–are so deeply searing that their section could easily have been made into a film on its own with Damon’s character supporting. But that would have taken a rewrite.

And what about Matt Damon? He’s good in everything he does. This is his second film in a row with Eastwood. He was nominated for an Oscar with “Invictus.” It’s not likely to happen here but that’s ok. My guess is he has plenty of charm to sell “Hereafter” to audiences abdundantly.

Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem: No Parties for Old Men

Roger Friedman
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Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem: No Parties for Old Men

The Toronto Film Festival is all about parties. And the best parties are at the temporary Soho House that’s been set up over night in an empty location right in the middle of town.

Every night, as the invdividual movies’ dinners and studio cocktail parties dwindle to a close, the stars head for this venue set with an unmarked entrance down a long alley. It’s very clever.

Friday night found Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem, buddies from “No Country for Old Men” holding forth on a sofa on the side of the room while the place buzzed with industry types and starlets.

“How is True Grit?” I asked Josh about his upcoming Coen Brothers movie.

“I hear the star is no good,” said Javier facetiously in his deep Spanish accent.

“Oh, I’m not the star,” Josh said, getting the joke. “I’m only in toward the end. Matt Damon is the star. He’s amazing.”

Javier lit up when he heard Brolin only comes in during the movie’s last third. “At the premiere of “Eat Pray Love,” guess who walks out just as I’m coming on the screen?” he said. “He sat through the first two parts, but when I come on, he gets up, waves to me and leaves!”

Josh: “I had to go give an award.”

Javier: “Now, I wait until the third part of True Grit, and guess what?”

Brolin is still laughing.

Saturday night at Soho House, more stars, in fact, every British actor in town was there from Gemma Arterton to James McAvoy, Lucy Punch, and the new Spider Man, Andrew Garfield. And no: he tells me he hasn’t even tried on Spidey’s suit yet. But Garfield is in the new Fox Searchlight film. “Never Let Me Go” with Carey Mulligan that’s getting raves everywhere. It may be the sleeper hit of the festival.

Kevin Kline Reuniting with “Big Chill” Filmmaker

Roger Friedman
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Kevin Kline Reuniting with “Big Chill” Filmmaker

Kevin Kline’s made five films already with writer-director Lawrence Kasdan, including true modern classics like “The Big Chill” and “Silverado.” But Kasdan’s been MIA the last few years.

Now Kline tells me that he and Kasdan are heading off to the desert soon to to make their sixth film together. It starts shooting in a few weeks, and wow, if this isn’t good news. The film is a contemporary drama co-written by Kasdan and his wife of 30 years, Meg Kasdan.

Kline is featured in Robert Redford’s expertly crafted “The Conspirator,” which opened in Toronto last night to enthusiastic reviews from the audience.  I thought “The Conspirator” was great, an old fashioned historical thriller beautifully shot and elegantly directed. Kline’s is one of several outstanding supporting performances.

But the real acting sensations of “The Conspirator” are Robin Wright as Mary Suratt, mother of John Suratt, who was the real life conspirator of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Evan Rachel Wood is positively glowing as her daughter, and James McAvoy makes another star appearance–he’s terrific and carries the film–as Suratt’s appointed court defender.

It’s so interesting, of course, that Redford  brought “The Conspirator” to Toronto rather than to his own Sundance Film Festival. The film doesn’t have a distributor; it’s truly independent. But it shouldn’t have any trouble finding a home. The look and feel of it are quite unusual, shot in natural light, and in drenched muted colors. If the producers can cut a deal this week, it’s possible that “The Conspirator” can get out before the end of the year. McAvoy and Wright would certainly find themselves on a lot of awards short lists.

PS I think it’s interesting that Americans love to watch British historical dramas like the very fine “King’s Speech.” But for American history, they sort of regard as homework. The story of how the Suratts were tied in the John Wilkes Booth is a great and lost historical gem. It’s a riveting side note to Lincoln’s killing that doesn’t get told in schools.

Colin Firth Gets Best 50th Birthday Gift

Roger Friedman
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Colin Firth Gets Best 50th Birthday Gift

British actor Colin Firth celebrated his 50th birthday here at the Toronto Film Festival last night and got the best gift ever: a standing ovation, thunderous applause, and cheers at the end of his momentous speech as King George VI in “The King’s Speech.”

Firth shared the wild reception with c-star Geoffrey Rush, director Tom Hooper, and of course, a much relieved and relaxed Harvey Weinstein. This team knows they’ve hit a home run. Now the work begins: to keep up the momentum but not overdue it. “The King’s Speech,” like many good films here, has a long road ahead of it through the holidays and then to awards season.

Over at an elegant dinner at the Windsor Arms Hotel. guests like famed director Fred Schepisi lined up to congratulate the King’s court– and Firth on his birthday. Looking at him, it doesn’t seem possible that he’s 50. And yes, we did check for scars or any evidence of a scalpel. Nothing!

And here’s a good story from the filming of “The King’s Speech:” it turns out that the real London building that was used for some key interior scenes — the setting for Rush’s home office, etc–was a building that King George VI had visited back in the day.

 These days, however, the basement level has a different use altogether: it’s a pole dance studio. “There are a bunch of stipper’s poles,” Colin told me. “As the day went on while we were shooting upstairs, there was a much differet clientele passing us in the hallways.”

A very different experience than speech therapy. But perhaps that might have helped old King George even more!

PS See those medals Colin’s wearing in the picture? They’re all he got to keep from the shoot. None of them were for pole dancing, however…

Joaquin Phoenix Is Not in Toronto, Thanks

Roger Friedman
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Joaquin Phoenix Is Not in Toronto, Thanks

Joaquin Phoenix is returning to films. I told you that last March. http://tinyurl.com/24cxujb

But he’s not at the Toronto Film Festival, even though the documentary he made with brother in law Casey Affleck, called “I’m Still Here.” is debuting tonight.

Everyone who’s seen the doc seems to dislike it, anyway. Joaquin did publicity at the Venice Film Festival, and that’s enough.

What about the fake Joaquin who’s doing publicity in Toronto? Phoenix’s publicist, Sue Patricola, tells me “I know as much as you do.” She has nothing to do with it, neither does her client. Patricola’s not even going to the screening. She’s in town with Jeremy Renner, for Ben Affleck’s “The Town.”

I think Joaquin and Casey had some fun putting everyone on. It’s harmless. And still it generates headlines. That’s the funniest part.


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