As Erik reported earlier this month, Morgan Freeman recently signed on to star in Feast of Love, an adaptation of Charles Baxter's well-reviewed novel of the same name. According to this morning's Hollywood Reporter, Freeman has been joined in the cast by Greg Kinnear. Alongside Freeman's philosophy professor, Kinnear will play Bradley Thomas, "an all-around nice guy who owns a coffee shop and paints on the side." Unfortunately for Thomas, like many other cinematic nice guys, he's had some issues with love. Issues like losing one wife to another man, and a second to lesbianism. Doh! Not to worry, though, he's getting back on the horse. Or I assume he is, what with the movie being about "an exploration of the magical, mysterious and sometimes painful incarnations of love" and all.And about that summary -- it sounds horrible and cloying, doesn't it? The novel, however, sounds complex and witty and actually quite good, so there's a chance that, if the screenplay is somewhat faithful, the movie will be about more than schmaltz. Granted, it's small chance, but still. At least it's there.
Feast of Love starts shooting in August in the capable hands of Robert Benton (who, among other things, directed Kramer vs. Kramer and Nobody's Fool); he'll be working from a screenplay by Allison Burnett, whose stellar writing for Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight surely made
1. First of all, I am not a woman. Second, Bloodfist III was a serious script about race relations in prison, which I co-wrote with an ex-con turned screenwriter. It was then chopped up and turned into a C-kickboxing movie by shit-merchant Roger Corman. If we had not been poor, we would not have sold it to him. Anyway, that was fifteen years ago. How this early movie is relevant to Feast of Love is beyond me. But I guess when you're trying to be funny, fairness doesn't really matter. And as for the adaptation of Feast of Love, it's really faithful. The movie is not hokey, or schmaltzy, I promise.
--Allison Burnett, LA
Posted at 7:16PM on May 22nd 2006 by Allison Burnett