Emile Hirsch certainly isn't predictable. The actor has vacillated from indie movies to blockbusters to everything in between, and you only have to look at his recent batch of films — "Killer Joe," "The Darkest Hour," "Savages" — to realize that he moves very much to the beat of his own drum. So a movie based on a book by "High Fidelity" and "About A Boy" writer Nick Hornby? Why the hell not?
THR reveals that Hirsch has joined "A Long Way Down," a project that is quickly pulling together its cast, having landed Toni Collette and Pierce Brosnan earlier this month. The story centers on a quartet of people who meet by chance on New Year's Day in the same location, where they had each planned to commit suicide, with Collette to play a mother of a disabled son, while Brosnan will portray a talkshow host whose life has been ruined by a scandalous affair. We presume Hirsch will be playing J.J., a pizza delivery man and former rocker who gave up his dreams of being a rock star to be with a girl only for the band to break up and his girlfriend to dump him.
Sounds like some potentially strong fare, and movies from Hornby's films generally tend to be a cut above the competition. Pascal Chaumeil (of the arthouse rom-com hit "Heartbreaker") will be directing, with production slated to kick off this fall.
Interesting project. At least watch this author's adaptations instead of someone who is like Nicholas Sparks' chick flicks though they are all quite popular. Looks like Emile Hirsch this dude whom I'm into, cares about the course of making films instead of just box office.