Woody Allen is casting for his new movie, which from early rumors looks like it might be a big screen treatment of the TV show "C.O.P.S." From the IMDB:
Troubled screen stars Robert Downey Jr. and Winona Ryder are wanted once again - this time by legendary film-maker Woody Allen. Former drug-taker Downey Jr. and convicted shoplifter Ryder are in talks to join the cast of Allen's next movie, which is scheduled to being filming this autumn.
Allen, no stranger to questionable behavior himself, shouldn't stop there. Tim Allen hasn't had much to do lately, and I'm sure Christian Slater and Yasmine Bleeth could use the work (no one wants him to give Jeffrey Jones an audition, however).
But I can't be the only one of you thinking how nice it is to see Robert Downey Jr. getting a fourth or fifth chance to straighten up and fly right. Doubtless some of his biggest fans are guys in the state pen who probably love the fact that Downey keeps getting probation and early release for his felony coke, heroin, and meth convictions while they're doing the mandatory minimum for holding a couple ounces of weed.
With parts in recent, smaller films like "The Singing Detective" and a role in the upcoming "Gothika" with Halle Berry, Downey's career looks to be getting back on track, which is the worst thing possible for him. For the last ten years, every time Downey has gotten a high profile gig or some critical praise, he's inexplicably decided to self-immolate.
Is he a good actor? Sure. Is he "the most extravagantly gifted actor of his generation," as noted blowhard Michael Sragow put it? Well, no. And I think Sragow might need medical attention to boot (in the same article, he calls "The Pick-Up Artist" a "burgeoning cult film"). Downey's made some compelling films, but many of his performances have been depressingly erratic, if not plain bad. The annoying thing is that Downey himself has admitted that his past drug use has affected his performance negatively. Will Hollywood finally shun him if he continues to screw up? Or will they continue to publicly offer support just to squeeze the last box office from his train wreck of a life? And what about the audience? Will Downey ever realize that we don't want the erratic, supercilious Robert Downey Jr. of "Home for the Holidays," but rather the focused, driven Robert Downey II of "Tuff Turf?
For a man at the crossroads of his life, I can offer this advice: there's absolutely no better way to cement your reputation in the entertainment firmament than to Belushi at a relatively young age. With that in mind, Robert Downey Jr. should ask himself a serious question. What would be better, going out in a booze and coke-fueled maelstrom of carnality, surrounded by hangers-on, circus animals, and strippers, leaving everyone to speculate on the stratospheric heights you would've reached had your star not burned too bright, too fast? Or conquering your demons, meekly apologizing to friends and family in true 12-step fashion, and going on to make lackluster, hackneyed crap like every other formerly brilliant-while-shitfaced entertainer?
I'll be waiting at the bar.