WEIRDLAND: David O' Russell quits "Nailed", Catherine Keener keeps her indie cred

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

David O' Russell quits "Nailed", Catherine Keener keeps her indie cred

Jake Gyllenhaal in Details Magazine photoshoot [HQ]
Jessica Biel in Glamour UK August 2010

"Add another nail in the coffin of the long-delayed political satire/romantic comedy "Nailed", starring Jessica Biel and Jake Gyllenhaal, which THR has learned exclusively will be finished without the involvement of writer-director David O. Russell.
Russell has withdrawn from the $26 million production after one-on-one negotiations with financier Ronald Tutor, who controls rights to the movie with Pangea Media Group CEO David Bergstein, broke down.
David O. Russell The movie is about a small-town waitress who is shot in the head by a nail gun and later goes to Washington to fight for better health care; there, she meets a clueless congressman, and a romance develops.

"This has been a painful process for me," Russell told THR on Tuesday. "The multiple production delays and stoppages, which were caused by David Bergstein and preceded Ron Tutor's direct involvement with me, have now spanned two years, and the circumstances under which the film would now be completed are much different on several fundamental levels than when we embarked several years ago. I, unfortunately, am no longer involved in the project and cannot call it 'my' film. I wish Ron Tutor well."
Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com

Jake Gyllenhaal and Catherine Keener in Lovely & Amazing (2001)

"Keener has played this type of part perhaps too often.
Still of Ben Stiller and Catherine Keener in Your Friends & Neighbors (1998)

In the 4 films (“Walking And Talking”, “Lovely And Amazing”, “Friends With Money” and “Please Give”) she’s made with Nicole Holofcener, she’s perfected the role of a New York intellectual suffering with liberal guilt and seething hostility. .
Steve Carrell and Catherine Keener in The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)

Initially her role as Steve Carrell’s love interest in the uber commercial hit “The 40 Year Old Virgin” appeared to be severe miscasting. Her style seemed better suited to the edgier indie worlds of Holofcenter, Steven Soderbergh, or, of course, Charlie Kaufman, than the raunchy boys club milieu of Judd Apatow, yet it was refreshing to see her having fun in a less stressed comic identity.
Keener’s Oscar nominated role as Harper Lee in “Capote” (2005) was also a bit of a change from her patented snarky persona. Another out of character part came in a little seen TV movie produced by Showtime based on a true story - “An American Crime”.Ellen Page and Catherine Keener in "An American Crime" (2007)

Although she played yet another divorcĂ©e, Keener’s acclaimed performance as Gertrude Baniszewski, a Indiana woman who tortured and murdered a teenage girl, was definitely a different stroke for the active actress.
So Keener keeps her indie cred although she often pops up in mainstream movies usually playing a hip single mother like she did in “Percy Jackson” and “Wild Things”. She’s got a healthy crop of films coming up including David O. Russell’s political romantic comedy “Nailed” in which she plays the fictitious Rep. Pam Hendrickson. It looks to be another welcome change of pace. Keener may not be an A-list star, but she’s a familiar face and name to movie lovers no matter the genre or budget of her films.
For nearly a decade she’s replaced Parker Posey as the queen of independent film, one who can survive the crossover and come back again to her home turf. As her reign continues here’s hoping she’ll aspire to do more with her crown". Source: www.examiner.com

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