They say wine and cheese get better with age; I’m not so sure the same can be said about actor-directors from the 1990s.
Take Kevin Costner, for example. According to Variety, his next project will be to direct and star in a film called A Little War of Our Own about a sheriff who has to prevent an outbreak of violence in his town against the backdrop of World War II.
Fully financed by Beacon Pictures, Armyan Bernstein is re-teaming up with Costner as producer (last picture they worked together on was The Guardian) and the pair are looking for a second male lead to play opposite Costner as a German U-boat commander from Dan Gordon’s screenplay.
Don’t get me wrong; I love some of the movies he’s done or been in, but for some reason, almost all the films Kevin Costner has made in the 2000s haven’t lived up to the same promise of the work that propelled him into stardom in the first place.
If I had to peg Costner down as an actor, he does folksy and charming well (Tin Cup), he does tired and cynical well (Bull Durham). He’s good in Westerns (Dances With Wolves) and he’s a great romantic hero (The Bodyguard). But Denzel Washington who is the same age as he is can do the same things and has earned more recent acting Academy Award nominations and statues than Costner.
Maybe it was a mistake for Costner to continue being a director/producer and bog himself down in those details because they take away from the acting process. Maybe he’s just not the kind of guy who can multitask like that.
In any case, Little War will start filming in the fall.
molnek says:
Field of dreams was good though right? Made us all believe again.
TrishaLynn77 says:
Oh, aye… Field of Dreams was a good movie, too, but I do kinda love Bull Durham more because it explains baseball's mythic qualities in a way that I can understand it.