Earlier this month the 30th Toronto International Film Festival announced three more gala presentations for this year’s event, including two world premieres and one North American premiere.
The world premieres are Joe Wright‘s Pride & Prejudice, the first direct screen adaptation of Jane Austin‘s classic novel in 65 years (2004 saw Gurinder Chadha‘s loose adaptation Bride & Prejudice) and Curtis Hanson‘s In Her Shoes, while the North American bow is for John Madden‘s Proof.
While I admit I wrote Austin’s novel off as boring social commentary when I read it as a 15 year-old high-school student, I might be up for tackling the subject again. Especially since: a) I am older and, I hope, more rounded in my artistic tastes, b) I daresay I am significantly more of a hopeless romantic, c) the cast is fantastic and includes Matthew Macfadyen, the star of the first 2+ seasons of the best espionage show in the history of TV, MI-5 and d) film stars Keira Knightly who is my pretend girlfriend.
In Her Shoes stars Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette as sisters whose only thing in common is their size 8 1/2 feet. Billed as both a comedy and a drama (I refuse to use THAT word), the film also stars Shirley MacLaine. Given Hanson’s knack at getting fantastic performances out of his actors (Michael Douglas in Wonder Boys, Kevin Bacon in The River Wild and Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential, among them) I’m looking for Diaz to redeem herself for the abomination that was The Sweetest Thing.
Madden’s Proof and based on David Auburn‘s 2001 Pulitzer Prize (that’s pronounced PULL-itzer, not PEW-litzer, BTW) and Tony Award-winning play will receive it’s North American bow. While Mary-Louise Parker won the Best Actress Tony for her performance, the film stars Gwynneth Paltrow in the lead, as well as Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hope Davis.
Expect several releases from TIFF weekly from here on out, as the world’s film community gears up for one of its shining jewels, the Toronto International Film Festival.