I watched the trailer for this and thought, "There's no way Matthew Modine is in this just to get exploded in the trailer; he's totally going to be playing the villain," and this review makes me feel vindicated.
"It is VERY difficult to create an engaging character with just a voice."
...And even when you do, it doesn't matter. "Phone Booth" was filmed with Ron Eldard as the voice on the other end of the line. Colin Farrell said that he and Eldard were genuinely talking to each other during the takes, and Eldard really gave him something compelling to perform against. And then during post-production, the studio decided to replace Eldard's entire performance with the more bankable Kiefer Sutherland. I would love to know what Joel Schumacher had to deal with behind the scenes on that one.
Something similar happened with HER. They filmed the movie with Samantha Morton as the doo-hickey Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with, to the point where she was on set doing the character and then was replaced in post-production by Scarlett Johannson.
So, Neeson's going to play Sgt. Frank Drebbin, Lieutenant Police Squad? That I'm willing to bet will play well, largely because Neeson thinks all these geriatric action heroes he's playing are utterly ridiculous, and in interviews laughs at the idea of himself as a deadly badass at his age!
OTOH, I'm not sure Seth MacFarlane has the comedic discipline to do POLICE SQUAD....
I watched the trailer for this and thought, "There's no way Matthew Modine is in this just to get exploded in the trailer; he's totally going to be playing the villain," and this review makes me feel vindicated.
"It is VERY difficult to create an engaging character with just a voice."
...And even when you do, it doesn't matter. "Phone Booth" was filmed with Ron Eldard as the voice on the other end of the line. Colin Farrell said that he and Eldard were genuinely talking to each other during the takes, and Eldard really gave him something compelling to perform against. And then during post-production, the studio decided to replace Eldard's entire performance with the more bankable Kiefer Sutherland. I would love to know what Joel Schumacher had to deal with behind the scenes on that one.
Something similar happened with HER. They filmed the movie with Samantha Morton as the doo-hickey Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with, to the point where she was on set doing the character and then was replaced in post-production by Scarlett Johannson.
Wow, somehow I had no idea about that!
Yeah, I think it turned out well but I understand how Morton could be pissed.
So, Neeson's going to play Sgt. Frank Drebbin, Lieutenant Police Squad? That I'm willing to bet will play well, largely because Neeson thinks all these geriatric action heroes he's playing are utterly ridiculous, and in interviews laughs at the idea of himself as a deadly badass at his age!
OTOH, I'm not sure Seth MacFarlane has the comedic discipline to do POLICE SQUAD....