By Travis Johnson
Well, this is insane in the best possible way. John Turturro is currently directing and starring in Going Places, a remake of a 1974 French sex comedy that originally starred Gerard Depardieau. Apparently, one major change has been made to the original conceit, language, cast and time aside: according to Birth.Movies.Death., Turturro’s character in the film is now none other than Jesus Quintana, the purple-clad pederast nemesis of The Dude and pals in the timeless Coen Brothers comedy, The Big Lebowski! Isn’t that something?
Now, you may wonder if a man convicted of exposing himself to eight-year-olds, dude, is someone audiences will willingly follow on an adventure of his own (as an aside, you can take it as read that making Freddie a paedo is what sank the Nightmare on Elm Street reboot franchise), but it makes more sense when you take a look at the imdb synopsis for the original:
Two whimsical, aimless thugs harass and assault women, steal, murder, and alternately charm, fight, or sprint their way out of trouble. They take whatever the bourgeois characters value: whether it’s cars, peace of mind, or daughters. Marie-Ange, a jaded, passive hairdresser, joins them as lover, cook, and mother confessor. She’s on her own search for seemingly unattainable sexual pleasure.
So, yes, a pretty brazen and unapologetic comedy crime caper, by the sounds of it. As currently understood, The Coen Brothers have no creative input into the film at all, which could be another red light (see also the Terry Zwigoff-less Bad Santa 2, which currently looks like it completely misunderstands everything that made the original great). But still, this is some interesting stuff.
Turturro’s Lebowskiverse redux co-stars Bobby Cannavale, Audrey Tatou and Susan Sarandon, and is currently filming in New York State.
