The trailer for Jon Kasdan‘s In The Land of Women (Warner Independent, 4.20) — an intelligent-sounding, well acted, seemingly sophisticated romantic drama about an introspective young guy (Adam Brody) nursing a broken heart who visits his grandmother (Olympia Dukakis ) in the midwest and falls into a semi-initimate relationship with a mother (Meg Ryan) and her daughter (Kristen Stewart) — looks like it might be pretty good.
In The Land of Women director-writer Jon Kasdan
And Brody is appealing in his MySpace site video introduction. The only thing that scares me is that the IMDB says ITLOW was shown at some 2006 Cannes market screenings, which was almost a year ago. And there’ve been no festival or word-of-mouth showings of any kind since? Plus I got this weird mail a while back urging me to RSVP to an all-media screening that’s happening at a secret location. (Will journalists need to know a password to gain admittance?)
I called Mike Binder, a big fan of Brody’s who wants to cast him in an upcoming film, to see if he’s seen the Kasdan film but he didn’t get back. The first screening I know about is the all-media on 4.20. Does anyone have any kind of lowdown or info?
I’m not trying to be a smart-ass, but there are one or two mentions in this N.Y. Times Sharon Waxman q & a with Kasdan (son of Lawrence, younger brother of Jake) that smack of elite lineage.
One is that after completing one year at New York University film school young Jon was asked to join the staff of Judd Apatow‘s Freaks and Geeks, which Jake Kasdan had directed several episodes of, because it was “decided there was a value to having someone fresh out of high school on the staff.” (This in itself puts a scowl on my face.)
Adam Brody, Meg Ryan
The other is Kasdan explaining that he wrote the script of In The Land of Women in record time — four weeks — during a getaway retreat in “my parents’ cabin in Telluride.” That’s it — I’m sold on this guy. Something tells me that cabin has really good wi-fi and a high-def 60″ flat-screen with 80 or 90 Blu-Ray DVDs stacked in alphabetical order and a juicer and lots of fresh vegetables in the fridge and a kind of tasteful-homey vibe. Which helps, you know, when you’re writing because it’s relaxing and all.
I’m presuming everyone knows that Jake Kasdan ‘s The TV Set, about the making of a TV show, opened Friday, just as I’m assuming everyone knows that Lawrence Kasdan is the director-writer of Mumford, Silverado, The Big Chill, Wyatt Earp, Grand Canyon and Body Heat. He also executive produced In the Land of Women (i.e., grandfathered, paved the way, arranged for the financing and distribution).
