Brie Larson has been in the acting game for around 15 years creating memorable supporting characters. The last two years were a banner period, with her widely acclaimed lead performance and subsequent awards for Destin Cretton’s Short Term 12 as the pinnacle. She may soon strike critical gold again as she’s in negotiations to star in DreamWorks’ The Good Luck of Right Now, the upcoming novel from Matthew Quick, whose 2008 book The Silver Linings Playbook was turned into one of 2012's most successful films. At the helm are Little Miss Sunshine directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who deepen the must-see appeal.
Quick’s novel, which will stores on February 11, is being adapted by the multi-talented Mike White, writer and star of HBO’s Enlightened and his well-received breakout, 2000’s Chuck & Buck. The novel’s description tells of Bartholomew Neil, a 38-year-old who had never lived away from his mother. When she dies of an illness, he has to adapt to a different life, which involves a series of highly intimate letters to Richard Gere, whom Bartholomew believes is meant to help him in some way, and the writing seems to do just that. Larson will play Bartholomew’s love interest, a librarian who works in a place he takes comfort in, along with a church. It’s this paragraph that is the most catching.
A struggling priest, a "Girlbrarian," her feline-loving, foul-mouthed brother, and the spirit of Richard Gere join the quest to help Bartholomew. In a rented Ford Focus, they travel to Canada to see the cat Parliament and find his biological father . . . and discover so much more.
TheWrap’s sources say DreamWorks is making it a priority project, so more top-tier actors may soon start joining Larson in the cast. One of White’s talents is balancing drama and comedy, and David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook tipped both ways equally to me, as did Little Miss Sunshine. One sign of the project’s quirkiness? Larson’s character firmly believes that she was abducted by aliens with her brother, and Larson is adept enough at onscreen realism that I might just believe her. As well, I secretly hope a CGI alien awkwardly appears somewhere in this film.
Beyond Short Term 12 she filled out 2013 with winning turns in The Spectacular Now and Don Jon, with two interesting (for lack of a better word) upcoming projects, Don Baron’s Bollywood musical Basmati Blues and Rupert Wyatt’s remake of The Gambler with Mark Wahlberg. And you can find her reprising her role as Abed’s scheme-buddy/soulmate Rachel in Thursday’s episode of Community. Watch her wield a water gun in the Short Term 12 trailer below.
