In another bid to be America’s most well-liked star, as well as an attempt for a third Oscar nomination, Will Smith has attached himself to star in an adaptation of the popular tearjerker novel “Flowers For Algernon.” The original story, a sci-fi-ish (though not at all in the transitional sense) concoction about a mentally disabled man who undergoes scientific tests to increase his IQ levels only to eventually watch them sadly regress away as the tests are fleeting, was originally adapted for the 1968 film “Charly,” which won star Cliff Robertson an Academy Award. Hmm…
We’re still smarting from Smith’s self-righteous “Seven Pounds,” an aggressively stupid movie that only furthers Will Smith’s martyr complex, which is why we think “Flowers For Algernon” fits entirely within Smith’s pity-me wheelhouse. Smith gets to play remedial in this, which is a surefire way to get awards attention, but he also gets to be a supergenius. Expect many montages of Smith solving improbably long math problems. This could be his “A Beautiful Mind,” which is to say, a completely immodest, mediocre vanity project. Which, of course, would make a perfect fit in Will Smith’s disastrous/lucrative filmography.
Smith was long attached to an “Oldboy” remake, but that appears dead, meaning the awards-friendly “Algernon” could be his next project. Sequels to “Bad Boys,” “Hancock” and “Men In Black” are planned, though he’s given no concrete indication he’s participating, while he continues to develop “An American Can,” a dubious-sounding Hurricane Katrina project that will probably die on the vine when writer-director John Lee Hancock’s next film, “The Blind Side,” flops loudly in theaters. It will flop loudly, right, America? Do not let us down.
Here’s a clip of “Charly”
As long as that horrible I Am Legend prequel dies and never goes to theater I'll be fine. I'm not sure what the Smith+Lawrence film is, but I Am Legend was nothing like the book. He could use another Ali, not another sappy remake.
What did Will Smith ever do to you Gabe? You seem to have a deep-seeded hatred of the man. You're petty attacks sum up everything wrong with this site and the internet, where it's not about discussing film news or films in general, but finding funny,snarky ways to make fun of people.
It would be nice if he discussed the actual film or details for once, yes.
It's so petty to attack this entertainer for using his clout to make terrible bottom-feeder movies with questionable politics. Gosh, I really am what's wrong with the internet.
Ooh, Oscar the Fish Goes for An Oscar: Volume Three…
Shame on you for using the full retard quote. What are you saying? That people with special needs can't be portrayed in film with losers like you chiming in? Ugh.
I'm saying that Will Smith probably memorized that entire passage of "Tropic Thunder."