“Great warriors pray for a life of violence,” Richard Dreyfuss ominously says. “How much abuse can you really take? “Bayou Caviar” grapples with this question, following the journey of a former boxing champion who is rattled into a life of money, sex, power, and corruption.
Not only is Cuba Gooding Jr. making his directorial debut with this thriller, but he’s also starring front and center in it as the former boxer. Having won an Academy Award for his performance in “Jerry Maguire,” Gooding Jr. now delves into some gritty thriller drama involving a washed-up boxer looking for redemption, a sex tape scandal, a corrupt real estate mogul, and…an alligator (will someone really be fed alive to it?). There’s uhh… a lot going on in this movie it seems.
The film seems to follow the typical formula of a fallen warrior who carries lots of personal baggage and ascends by establishing justice amongst the dodgy world of money and power. Alongside Gooding Jr. stars another Oscar winner, Dreyfuss, playing a Russian gangster with a questionable accent who engages Rodney in a corrupt and violent mission. Katharine McPhee (“Scorpion”), Lia Marie Johnson (“American Wrestler: The Wizard”), and Famke Janssen (“X-Men Days of Future Past”) also star in this film.
Here is the official synopsis courtesy of Gravitas Ventures:
Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr.’s directorial debut is a thrilling story of sex, murder, and revenge set in Louisiana. A Russian gangster engages Rodney, a former boxer, to take down his associate’s son-in-law via a salacious tape made by photographer, Nic.
As a project said to be a thriller, it looks… umm, interesting to say the very least. But hey as the saying goes, can’t judge a book, or in this case a film, by its cover right? Guess we’ll just have to wait till October 5th to see how this Oscar winner led project fleshes out. “Bayou Caviar” opens in theaters and on demand October 5th.
