Despite the fact that our country has been drooping all over in the education department, cinema rarely offers a scathing, true-to-life look at how twisted schooling systems can be. Perhaps it’s still a taboo area to throw criticism, since it reveals something about everyone from the student to the government funding it. One of Hollywood’s next novel adaptations will be a good step in the scandalous direction.
According to Variety, international sales are going on for Richard Levine’s Blue Angel adapted from Francine Prose’s wicked novel of the same name, which stars Clive Owen in the leading role. Owen’s career has been steady, with the action Killer Elite and the creepy Spanish horror Intruders as two of his more recent efforts. He’ll soon be seen in the brotherly Brooklyn crime drama Blood Ties. None of that sounds anything like what his Blue Angel character is in for.
Owen will play Swenson, a New England college’s creative writing professor brought down by jadedness and dead-end students. Then someone with writing skill joins his class, and she happens to be attractive, tattooed, and everything Swenson needs in his life. And then they develop a completely platonic relationship and go about their separate lives. Or maybe something a little more controversial actually happens.
This will be the second directorial effort from Levine, after 2010’s romantic comedy-drama Every Day, though he’s well-known on the television side, having spent years writing and directing episodes of Nip/Tuck, as well as writing for Boss and Scoundrels.
