Joe Pesci Really Returns with 'Love Ranch'
Filed under: Drama, Casting, Newsstand, Cinematical Indie
More than two years ago, Erik wrote a post titled "Joe Pesci Returns!" and we were all excited. Of course, that return -- Pesci's first film role since 1998's Lethal Weapon 4 -- was just a tease. Fortunately, for those of us who couldn't get enough of him with that bit part in The Good Shepherd, the Oscar-winning actor is finally back for a starring role. And it isn't even a bad comedy a la Gone Fishin' or 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag. It's a new film from Taylor Hackford, whose last film, the biopic Ray, earned the director two Academy Award nominations. This one, titled Love Ranch, will also star Hackford's wife, Helen Mirren, who he last worked with on 1985's White Nights. The drama is about Joe and Sally Conforte, a couple who opened Nevada's first (and eventually largest) legal brothel, Mustang Ranch. Scripted by Mark Jacobson (The Believer), the movie will deal with the couple's problems with infidelity. Maybe we'll get to hear Pesci yell the line "You f***** my wife!" at whoever plays boxer Oscar Bonavena, who was shot dead by Mustang Ranch bodyguard Ross Brymer in 1976, allegedly because he was sleeping with Sally.Hackford begins shooting Love Ranch in Albuquerque in late January and hopes to have the film ready for the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. He told Variety that he is mostly excited to direct his wife again, and that he had to beg her to make time for this. I bet she finally saw him fit to direct her after getting those Oscar noms (even though he has a statue for a 1979 short film he directed). Hackford also mentioned that Pesci was his first choice for Joe and seems fortunate to have convinced the actor, who apparently isn't too interested in doing movies much anymore. Certainly Pesci is a perfect choice to play this seedy "godfather of legalized prostitution," as Hackford calls him. Now, can Hackford please try to get DeNiro in for a cameo?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-29-2008 @ 5:37PM
Blogengeezer said...
We have been filming the Love Ranch fight scene in Albuquerque New Mexico for several days now. It can be found on http://daflikkers.blogspot.com/ as a night by night post from the viewpoint of a professional 'Background Actor'. Professional courtesy demands that no pictures be taken. Punches thrown are described, even some unique special effects and links to a bit of history, please enjoy this prelude to what should be a great film story.
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3-20-2008 @ 5:11PM
donna said...
Joe needs to be commended for this film. He got pneumonia because a really bad strain of the flu ran through Albuquerque, and he got it. He truly is a trooper, and really did not like that he could not do more laughing and comedy lines in this serious and gritty documentary about such a sleazy part of history. I really would like to know why Hackford was interested in doing this particular film, and the only thing I can think is that he is caught up in the demographic that likes the Sopranos, etc...
I would love to have seen Pesci in a comedy, and he would have rather done one. But they do not hand out oscars for light comedy...so, there you are.
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12-18-2007 @ 1:16AM
Joe B. said...
Why are they saying that Pesci doesn't want to do films anymore? He and Deniro are supose to be "thick as Thieves", and Deniro doesn't seem to be in any hurry to retire. So it doesn't make any sense that his "Buddy"(Pesci) would want to stop doing "the craft" and not have any "war stories" to share with his buddy(Deniro) whenever they hang out together. Maybe they meant that Pesci didn't want to do the "break your legs, shoot em up. tough guy in a suit", roles anymore. Just my opinion.
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