Above: Gia Coppola and James Franco
Actor. Writer.
Soap star. Ape wrangler. Any (or all) or those labels could apply to
James Franco, the dark-haired, mischievous-eyed movie star who’s reinvented
himself so many times that he’s become the opposite of a job description. He’s been on TV; he’s gone back to college;
he’s hosted the Oscars; and he’s even starred in two of the stupidest (and
highest-grossing) blockbusters of the past three years.
Which begs the question—what kind of
man is the multifaceted Mr. Franco? I’m
not sure, though it is tempting to construe him as a gonzo performance artist,
walloping senselessly across the high wires of pop culture. Yet the James Franco I always remember is the
young man of Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” trilogy—the man who quietly broke your
heart the moment he said, “None of that matters now, Peter. You’re my friend.”
Personally, I’m hoping that some of
that sincerity resurfaces in Gia Coppola’s new movie “Palo Alto.” It’s certainly an unusually Franco-fueled
project—not only is it based on a collection of stories by the man himself, but
he also stars in the film as Mr. B., a soccer coach who romances one of his
young students. On paper, it sounds like
an interesting role and I’m curious to see how Mr. Franco will play it. Will he be sleazy? Soulful?
Both?
We’ll know on May 9TH.
No comments:
Post a Comment