We certainly never saw it coming back when he was turning in small but hilarious performances in Edgar Wright's "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz," but in 2012 Rafe Spall is set to become a leading man in a Working Title rom-com. Neither did we imagine that any offspring of Timothy Spall (as much as we love him) would ever be a romantic lead. But after significant roles in "Anonymous" and "One Day" Spall the younger looks set to be a star, and now we know who his other half will be in his first big rom-com. And lucky, lucky him, because it's only the stunning and ridiculously talented Rose Byrne.
"I Give It A Year" will be written and directed by Dan Mazer ("Borat") and follows a mismatched couple (that's Spall and Byrne) as they struggle to survive their first year of marriage. It sounds a little like the all kinds of awful "Swinging with the Finkels" which starred Martin Freeman and Mandy Moore last year, but that was a bawdy British sex comedy so that's par for the course. We can only expect this will be much better, with the supporting cast including Simon Baker ("The Mentalist") and another new addition, Anna Faris.
Both Byrne and Faris would be fantastic additions to any comedy cast, so our interest in this one has certainly piqued. Byrne's coming off of a fantastic (and versatile) 2011 in which she impressed in "Insidious," "X-Men: First Class," and, in particular, "Bridesmaids." Between the latter and a frankly astonishingly good cameo in "Get Him To The Greek" we're fully convinced of her comedy chops. Similarly, Anna Faris has nothing to prove on the funny front, but it would be nice to see her in a film that's worthy of her talents for a change. Whoever the casting director is for "I Give It A Year," they deserve a raise. [Variety]
