Margaret Keane Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Oh, Lowell, when will you find true love? To me, Thomas Haden Church will always be Lowell, the lovable mechanic from the 90s sitcom Wings, but most movie fans are probably more familiar with his Academy Award-nominated role as Jack, the unfaithful, somewhat sleazy buddy of wine lover Paul Giamatti in Alexander Payne's Sideways. More recently, he became a giant, somewhat bewildered pile of sand in Spider-Man 3. (Sorry, I never quite understood his character in the movie.) Now he's about to star with the adorable, bubbly Kate Hudson -- but it's not the kind of light romantic pairing you might expect.

According to Variety, Church will play Hudson's husband in Big Eyes, a biopic that will be directed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, based on their script. The film will dramatize events in the lives of Walter and Margaret Keane. For many years, Walter reportedly took credit for artwork that his wife had painted. The artwork became quite popular; eventually, though, Margaret sued Walter in order to regain credit, and evidently the lawsuit and trial will be key components in the film.

Whether you find the artwork to be creepy, as Christopher Campbell did, or worthy of museums and one-artist shows (check out the list at Margaret Keane's official site), I think the film stands a good chance of being quite dramatic, especially with the addition of Church. He can be simultaneously charming and sleazy, as he proved in Sideways, so I expect fireworks and sparks to fly when the film is released.

Oh, if only all biopics were as aptly titled as Big Eyes, a movie about the artist Margaret Keane. If you're not familiar with her work, simply do a Google image search and you'll see why the title makes sense. Of course, I would have gone a little further and named it Creepy Big Eyes. According to Variety, the production has cast Kate Hudson as Keane, who is still alive to possibly assist the actress with the role. The independently financed film was scripted by biopic masters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood; The People vs. Larry Flynt; Man on the Moon) and it will also be the duo's directorial debut, who will also direct (they last helmed the 2000 comedy Screwed). Scheduled to begin shooting in June, depending on how the SAG contract negotiation goes, Big Eyes will be produced by Dan Halsted (Garden State), Albert Berger (Little Miss Sunshine), Ron Yerxa (Little Miss Sunshine) and financier Andrew Meieran.

Variety reports that Big Eyes will deal with Keane's personal life, specifically her lawsuit against her second husband, Walter Keane, who had taken credit for her mass-produced artwork until the 1960s. Not to give away spoilers, but according to Keane's Wikipedia page, she finally won the rights to her work in divorce proceedings that went all the way to Federal court. How did she prove she was the real talent? She painted in court in front of the judge (Walter meanwhile declined to do the same). I apologize for ruining the ending of the film, but I figured I'd share that info so that when the scene pops up in Big Eyes, you'll know it isn't just some cinematic tool used to make the story more visually interesting.

Regardless of how the movie is received now, though, it's sure to be one of the most popular movies come 2173 (see Woody Allen's Sleeper, which claims that in the future Keane is considered one of the greatest artists of all time)

If you've ever seen a painting by Margaret Keane, you'll probably agree that Big Eyes is the only logical choice for the title of a biopic about the artist. Variety reports that Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski have signed to direct their own script about the relationship between Margaret and her husband Walter. The story will focus on Keane struggling to succeed as an artist while her husband is taking credit for her work.

Walter was a strong businessman with a serious lack of artistic talent. Instead, he took advantage of his wife's abilities and made millions off her paintings of 'large-eyed waif's'. In 1965 the couple divorced and during a dramatic court case, both parties were put in front of an easel to prove who the real artist was -- Walter balked at the challenge and claimed he was suffering from a shoulder injury. After the divorce was granted, Margaret Keane moved to Hawaii where she continues to paint. Alexander told Variety, "Her rebellion coincided with the feminist movement, and when he began calling her his crazy ex-wife, she sued him."

Alexander and Karaszewski brokered the deal for Keane's life story with the artist herself. The filmmakers have been making some inroads into horror flicks lately, but they are probably best known as the writers for Ed Wood, Man on the Moon and The People vs. Larry Flynt. Nightclub mogul-turned producer, Andrew Meieran, told Variety, "We've looked through hundreds of scripts, but this felt like just the right project to launch a brand". Alexander and Karaszewski are already working on another fact based film, Ripley's Believe it or Not with Jim Carrey. They are also still attached to write the screenplay for Eli Roth's big screen version of Stephen King's Cell -- that's if Roth can bring himself to start working again.