Yes, Harvey Keitel is starring in a Lifetime movie — that's what we've come to. Although, in this case, we don't blame him for taking a trip to enjoy the warm weather of the Gold Coast, Australia.
Keitel will star opposite local up-and-comers Zoe Ventoura and Amber Clayton in the tragic true story of a honeymoon that ended in the death of Alabama woman Tina Watson with husband Gabe later standing trial on a first-degree murder charge, accused of tampering with his new wife's scuba equipment to pocket in excess of $200,000 insurance money. An emergency room physician, husband Gabe was allegedly spotted clutching and releasing his wife before ascending to the surface alone. Another diver then recovered the body and attempted to resuscitate her as the husband watched on from another boat. He was eventually acquitted for a lack of evidence.
No word on what roles Ventoura and Clayton will take on but Keitel is slated to play the father of victim Tina Watson. A Lifetime movie is certainly a far cry from height of his career but he does have some better fare on the horizon. He's got "Waltz With Bashir" director Ari Folman's long-developing "The Congress" in the works and may be part of Marty Scorsese's return to gangsters with "The Irishman" if/when that happens. However, with "The Wolf Of Wall Street" at the forefront of Scorsese's mind and "Silence" still on the horizon, who knows if the Frank Sheeran biopic is still on Scorsese's cards (last we heard, Robert De Niro said they're still "working towards making it happen"). [HeraldSun/GoldCoast/Reuters]
So this is what his career has come to, making a movie about someones life, someone that was, and is greatly loved, without their consultation or consent. Some people would stoop to anything for a buck, and how does he propose to play someone he has never met? Or as the tone of this article suggests, isn't their life story important enough for that to matter. Sickening, Vultures.
Just correcting an inaccuracy in your blog above regarding the statement that Tina Watson's husband Gabe Watson was "an emergency room physician''. Gabe Watson is NOT an emergency room physician – he is a bubble-wrap salesman with his father's packaging company. Any reference to an "emergency room physician'' in this case pertains to American Dr Stanley Stutz, who was the eye witness who allegedly saw a male diver "clutching and releasing his wife before ascending to the surface alone''.
Hopefully they use http://www.michaelmcfadyenscuba.info/viewpage.php?page_id=791 and http://www.dontdivequeensland.com for their research. The Queensland site shows the dangers of diving the gbr from Queensland and michaelmcfadyenscuba actually proves Gabe did not kill Tina.
I so love Keitel… He still looks great. Joe Pesci and he are fantastic actors who deserved a smashing career. Scorsese has been myopic and MUST make amends.