Tag: Kevin Costner

Costner and Reynolds Re-teaming to LEARN ITALIAN

ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES: $390 million worldwide against a $48-million budget.  WATERWORLD: $264 million worldwide against a $175-million budget.  Both of these seem like hits to me.  Okay, maybe ROBIN HOOD was much, MUCH large, and the law of diminishing returns kept the two from working again.  There were also those reports of the two getting into massive fights on the set of WATERWORLD.  That could have been a big cause for the two to sever ties.

But, now, Variety is reporting Kevin Costner and Kevin Reynolds are re-teaming for LEARNING ITALIAN.  The film is set to shoot in Germany and is mostly riding on the wings of tax rebates and film subsidies.  Variety reports the film has already pulled in E1.1 ($1.5 million to us ignorant Americans who don’t understand the principals of currency conversion).

There is no word, yet, on what the film is about, just that it is a spy comedy, and Costner will star.  LEARNING ITALIAN will serve as the fourth collaboration between the two who began their friendship with 1985’s FANDANGO.  Neither have been Hollywood powerhouses for some time, and a re-teaming under a good script could be just the thing to bring them back into the fold.

Review: ‘Swing Vote’

‘Swing Vote’ is the story of Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner), an alcoholic, out-of-work father living in Texico, New Mexico with his precocious daughter, Molly, adeptly played by Madeline Carroll. Sadly, she takes on the part of adult in their daily lives and even more so by casting Bud’s vote in the upcoming Presidential Election after he passes out in a drunken stupor. Nice. Unbelievably, after an equipment malfunction, the election all comes down to Bud’s vote and he and Molly garner the unwelcomed attention of the world. Then we have to watch the supposed comedic spectacle of both candidates, over and over and over again, bearing gifts and favors. Director Joshua Michael Stern belabors the point to no end. The incumbent Republican president (Kelsey Grammer) and the Democratic nominee (Dennis Hopper), followed by their respective, sly aides Fox (Stanley Tucci) and Crumb (Nathan Lane), are on the warpath for Bud’s precious vote.

The trailer campaigned with the promise of a smart, political fun-fest. Alas, Swing Vote drags throughout and is sorely missing the right mix of emotional drama and political comedy. Just because its an election year, the writers felt compelled to stand on their soap-boxes and make the movie a message of “one man’s vote can change the world.” Uh-huh. I threw my arms up with this kind of condescension. As to Kevin Costner’s performance, I had trouble buyin it and definitely wasn’t lovin’ it. If you want a lesson in civics, watch Frank Capra’s ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.’

[rating: 1/5]