Hey folks, Harry here. Donald Westlake is hands down one of the absolute best crime fiction writers there are. They bristle with details about the seedier side, relish in the amoral natures of their lead "heroes" ahem... and snap at a damn fine pace. When PAYBACK was adapted by Brian Helgeland before being raped by the studio and turned into dung... In Helgeland's original cut... He captured that ahem STARK ahem feel that it called for. Nothing will replace that Lee Marvin portrayal in John Boorman's POINT BLANK, but then those are few and far between... But Milos Forman... The man that brought us ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, AMADEUS, THE PEOPLE VS LARRY FLYNT and MAN ON THE MOON? Damn damn damn, Yes, Exactly the sort of director who needs to step up to a Westlake novel and make it pop on screen. The sort of director who gets final cut. Now, if he'll only cast Russell Crowe as Dortmunder... Pleasssssseeeee....
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Hey Harry-
Never done this before, but I love your site so I thought I'd give you some scoop I heard the other day:
I attended the National Book Festival a few weekends ago. Saw author Donald Westlake (who's been kicking Elmore Leonard's ass for years) speak and he told the crowd of fans some exciting news:
Milos Forman is set to direct the film version of "Bad News," one of Westlake's Dortmunder crime-comedy capers. I saw this news on another website, so maybe you already knew this, but it jogged my memory for more of what Westlake said. No Westlake fan could be thrilled by two recent adaptations of his books (Mel Gibson's "Payback" and Martin Lawrence's "What's the Worst That Could Happen?") but Westlake is truly pumped about this latest collaboration with Forman, so so am I.
Forman and Westlake talked about Forman's vision of the film and Westlake was psyched to hear Forman tell him he saw the story having much the same feel of Forman's 1967 "The Firemen's Ball." This got Westlake very excited.
That "other" website has already been bagging on the whole idea, but it makes me wonder what they've been sniffing. Hello????? This is Milos friggin' Forman here. And do they forget that Westlake, in addition to being one of the most kick-ass authors of our time, also wrote the screen-play for "The Grifters"????
Harry, this is one project to keep your eye on. Now, if they can only have the sense to cast Dortmunder right...
Thanks, Harry. You rock.
For now, just call me...
El Guapo
