Anyone who has watched The Fist Foot Way, Observe and Report or any episode of Eastbound & Down immediately recognizes one thing: Jody Hill does not look at the world the same way most of us do. Call in nihilistic, call it Hobbesian, call it whatever you like: his films reflect a dark part of the human condition that few directors are brave enough to touch upon. Up to this point, though, his work has examined what would otherwise be humdrum or even happy subjects. The same can't be said for his next project.
Variety says frequent collaborator Danny McBride will star in Hill's next film, L.A.P.I., as a detective straight out of the minds of Dashiell Hammet or Raymond Chandler. The concept for the film is based on a pitch by writers Michael Diliberti and Matthew Sullivan, who are currently writing a remake of Brewster's Millions.
The McBride casting is far from unexpected, he's had a hand in everything Hill has done up to this point, but the concept is simply fantastic. Film noir got its name when a French film critic was commenting how American films during the 1930s had become much darker due to the mental state during the Great Depression. While this film very well might not end up being The Maltese Falcon or Double Indemnity, putting this material into the hands of a director like Hill is a recipe for movie magic.
