Greg Mottola’s previous work on Adventureland and Superbad has been rightly praised as one of the new wave of writer/directors with a great contemporary voice and while we’re all waiting to see how he handles Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the upcoming film Paul, there’s news on what Mottola is working on next.
‘Important Artifacts and Personal Property From the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry’ is the full title of the recently published book by Leanne Shapton and Paramount snapped up the rights and have now placed Greg Mottola behind the adaptation of this work, to whirl its curious device – that of a fake auction catalogue representing a couple’s relationship, into a romantic comedy.
Producing and starring in the film, Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman are enough to ensure a large box office, but I’m more interested to see what Mottola does with the source material. There’s nothing wrong with a slight gimmick, and using photographs of artifacts from a couple’s failed relationship to set off scenes could be very contrived, but Mottola is more than capable of giving us very funny characters weaving the thinnest of plots around to create something pretty great.
Risky Business told us all about this one.
