Bier linking with Curtis & Curtis

I haven't read Jamie Curtis' screenplay of Lost for Words, which has been described as a story about a libidinous movie star who finds himself falling in love with a beautiful Chinese actress and her female translator, but it certainly sounds like a sell-out project for the great Susanne Bier (Things We Lost in the Fire, Brothers, Open Hearts) to direct.

The synopsis alone sounds coy and randy-cute, like something Hugh Grant would have made in the late '90s. Jamie Curtis' biggest credits are having produced The Good Sex Guide, a British TV series, in the early '90s, and then writing "additional dialogue" on '97's Spice World -- what does that tell you about her vistas? But the dagger-in-the-chest element is the producing presence of Richard Curtis, the Love Actually director-writer, along with Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner.

One of the most shallow and sickly-treacly British films ever made, Love Actually is Curtis' testament and emblem. All you need to know about Curtis' filmmaking philosophy can be found in the following statement, which is on his IMDB page: "If you write a story about a soldier going AWOL and kidnapping a pregnant woman and finally shooting her in the head, it's called searingly realistic, even though it's never happened in the history of mankind. Whereas if you write about two people falling in love, which happens about a million times a day all over the world, for some reason or another, you're accused of writing something unrealistic and sentimental."

Bier is talented enough to recover from her association with Curtis (who doesn't appear to have any family ties with Jamie, although they seem similar in attitude), but why is she even going there in the first place?

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on September 15, 2007 at 5:21 AM

comment #1

Mike Binder Author Profile Page says ...

Gruver come on, what are you talking about? Richard Curtis is amazing. He's great at what he does, probably the best. Come back to the light now and then buddy... don't be slamming Richard Curtis and all of America on the same day buddy... that's just way to dark.

Live clean

Posted by Mike Binder Author Profile Page at September 15, 2007 7:51 AM

comment #2

le corbeau Author Profile Page says ...

He just wants to sing the world some silly love songs. What's wrong with that?

Of course, then he went and wrote an HBO movie about the G-8 conferences or something. I could never work up the nerve to watch Four Weddings and a Globalization Protest, or whatever it was called.

Posted by le corbeau Author Profile Page at September 15, 2007 8:27 AM

comment #3

Dixon Steele Author Profile Page says ...

At least wait until Bier sends you some racy snaps of the lead actress before rushing to judgment.

Posted by Dixon Steele Author Profile Page at September 15, 2007 8:53 AM

comment #4

gruver1 Author Profile Page says ...

Wells to Dixon Steele: Hey, that's pretty funny! You're referring to the Mangold/Vinessa Shaw/Nikki Finke episode, right? Really clever!

Posted by gruver1 Author Profile Page at September 15, 2007 9:15 AM

comment #5

gruver1 Author Profile Page says ...

Wells to Binder: You have a bigger heart than I do, but as I walked out of seeing "Love Actually" in Toronto I knew that Richard Curtis was the devil. And I didn't dump on all of America...just the ones who voted for Bush in '04 and then turned around in '07 and said, "Oh, please...no more Iraq War movies! Too upsetting!"

Posted by gruver1 Author Profile Page at September 15, 2007 9:20 AM

comment #6

le corbeau Author Profile Page says ...

James Wolcott writing about him could make me more sympathetic to Pol Pot.

Posted by le corbeau Author Profile Page at September 15, 2007 10:48 AM

comment #7

onemike Author Profile Page says ...

Jamie is Richard's brother. That's his biggest credit. Trust.

Posted by onemike Author Profile Page at September 15, 2007 11:14 AM

comment #8

BurmaShave Author Profile Page says ...

THE GIRL IN THE CAFE is excellent. The best performance of Bill Nighy's career. If Jamie Curtis wrote that, there's definetly hope for her.

Posted by BurmaShave Author Profile Page at September 15, 2007 12:29 PM

comment #9

George Prager Author Profile Page says ...

I'm still vomiting from the 30 minutes of LOVE, ACTUALLY I saw on TV.

Posted by George Prager Author Profile Page at September 15, 2007 12:37 PM

comment #10

Breedlove Author Profile Page says ...

I don't think I've ever seen a movie that could have benefited from some severe editing more than 'Love Actually.' I'm a sucker for a good rom-com, and I think Curtis is a talented guy. 'Love Actually' had about 2 hours of great stuff - funny jokes, good cheesy romance, good acting, just a good movie, basically - but then there were about 40 minutes of just awfulness. Some incredibly stupid, boring, unfunny storylines that were begging to be cut out. Like that bug-eyed, painfully unfunny moron driving across America trying to get laid or whatever he was doing. That movie would have been a big hit if they had cut about 40 minutes out of it. Very schizo movie.

Posted by Breedlove Author Profile Page at September 15, 2007 12:54 PM

comment #11

Hillbillly Author Profile Page says ...

I would be surprised if Gong Li was not offered this role im LFW or it might be based on her. She is the epitome of a "beautiful Chinese actress".

Posted by Hillbillly Author Profile Page at September 22, 2007 7:40 AM

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