Bring on the Women! Leslie Mann & Elizabeth Banks Snag Their Own Film
It looks like the blonde funnywomen are breaking out of the mold and leaving the men behind. No more married life with Paul Rudd or amateur porn with Seth Rogen -- Variety reports that Leslie Mann and Elizabeth Banks have signed on to star in New Line's What Was I Thinking?Unfortunately, it'll still be man-obsessed. The project is adapting Barbara Davilman and Liz Dubelman's What Was I Thinking?: 58 Bad Boyfriend Stories. The book is a collection of essays coming from a whole slew of people, including our favorite Leia Carrie Fisher and writer Francesca Lia Block, that covers the moments when women realize that their relationship is not going to work, like overhearing the wrong thing, wine snobbery, and men thinking of other women during sex. It's almost as reductive as He's Just Not That Into You! In film form, the project will follow four friends who go on a hedonistic ski trip after one gets dumped, and I assume they then reminisce, or run into, more men that fit these bad boyfriend scenarios.
On the bright side, it's a female-centric crew -- Lynda Obst is producing, and Susanna Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz sold the pitch. (I'm even forgiving them for being the ladies behind JJ Abrams' upcoming remake of Little Darlings.) It'll also probably get a few more awesome funny ladies attached, maybe even Tina Fey. But do we really need more romance-centric man bashing? I can't decide if it's simply good to see the ladies get more work behind the scenes and starring comedy on the screen, or just another excuse for women to be relegated to fluff.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-17-2009 @ 4:47PM
Nick said...
I'm excited for this. I'm looking forward to seeing Banks and Mann outside of Apatow films (particularly Mann), as they are both inherently funny ladies, and I think a movie or two in a lead role outside of the Apatow group would spotlight that a little more.
It does sound kind of like the objectifying, all-white, all-heterosexual world of heternormity that "He's Just Not That Into You" occupied, which is slightly worrying. I think having women in the key creative roles will help to assuage those problems, but it still seems like studios are unwilling to release female-centric comedies that aren't ridiculously pedestrian and boring (ahem, The Women), but I think with Banks and Mann as the leads, it'll be a little more subversive than the typical ladies-have-trouble-with-men-but-ultimately-find-mr.-right-and-marry-him-after-a-brief-conflict-comedies.
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4-17-2009 @ 10:00PM
BabsinLA said...
If you actually read the book you'll see that it's NOT 58 male-bashing stories but rather women looking back, poignantly, wistfully, humorously as to why they got involved with these men in the first place.
The focus is on the women and their willingness to take responsibility for being with the 'bad boyfriend' to begin with.
Very refreshing.
Very empowering.
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4-18-2009 @ 11:22AM
jenni said...
I love Leslie Mann and Elizabeth Banks, and I'm interested to see what happens with this project. I haven't read the book, but now I will pick it up -- especially since it has a story in it by my most fave FLB!
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