George Clooney’s been a Coen Bros. staple since O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?, appearing in INTOLERABLE CRUELTY, BURN AFTER READING, and most recently, HAIL, CAESAR! for the Oscar-winning duo. Over that time, he became a full-fledged writer/director in his own right, and now, he’s set to direct a film based on their screenplay, SUBURBICON.
The project, which also reunites the Coens with Joel Silver for the first time since the poorly-received, yet enduring HUDSUCKER PROXY, is not a comedy, but a “noir drama in the vein of the Coens’ breakout film, BLOOD SIMPLE,” which takes place in 1950s suburbia (which was brushed against in THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE’s post-war setting).
BLOOD SIMPLE was their debut film, and still feels like no other project they’ve helmed since, including the somewhat similar FARGO and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. I love the heavily noir-influenced MAN WHO WASN’T THERE, as well as Clooney’s first two films as a director (CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND and the black-and-white GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK), so I can’t help but get excited for Clooney directing one of his buddies’ scripts for the first time.
The big caveat is that the films that the Coens have written, and not directed have not had the greatest track record; though CRIMEWAVE and GAMBIT have their charms, they lack the duo’s very specific visual/tonal stylings, and I haven’t exactly heard anything to suggest that their scripts for UNBROKEN or BRIDGE OF SPIES injected those films with the originality of the pair’s best work together (those of you who have seen THE NAKED MAN with Michael Rappaport, co-written by Ethan, should chime in below). They did rewrites on DARKMAN and BAD SANTA, but were uncredited, so that doesn't really count. Still, they’re close with Cloon-dog, whose CONFESSIONS showed a willingness to get weird and zany without sacrificing the drama, so I have hope that this one might actually have that Coen Brothers’ Feeling shine through.
Clooney’s MONUMENTS MEN quickly became a punchline, despite being a thoroughly watchable, star-studded film, so hopefully working with the Coens will remind folks that Clooney can be just as good behind the camera as in front.
