There was a time when Christian Slater was THE man. He was the hot young star… and personally I really liked him. There was a time when Cuba Gooding Jr. was considered by many to be the “next” one. A prodigy, a bottomless well of acting talent with an Oscar to his name and surely many more to come. Yeah… well there was also a time when gas was $2 a gallon… those days are gone too.
Science has yet to discover what happened to these two guys. They had talent… so did they just lose their edge? Did they lose their passion for the art? Did they just become rich and realized they could just coast through the rest of their careers and still collect paychecks bigger than most of us will ever see? Did they just realize that time spent with sweet underaged hookers in Thailand was more fun than practicing or developing their craft? Who knows.
10 years ago, news of Christian Slater and Cuba Gooding Jr. doing a movie together would have been BIG news. It’s kinda sad that it’s now just a footnote on a slow news day. But here’s the word from Variety:
Christian Slater and Cuba Gooding Jr. are toplining Nu Image/Millennium Films’ action/comedy “Lies & Illusions.” Richard Salvatore, Johnny Martin and David Ornston are producing while Nu Image/Millennium’s Danny Dimbort, Avi Lerner, Trevor Short and Boaz Davidson exec produce. Shooting begins this week in Spokane, Wash.
“Lies” is directed by Tibor Takacs (“Mega Snake”) from a script by Eric James. Story centers on a novelist being hunted by a spy who believes the writer holds millions of dollars in diamonds stolen by his dead fiancee.
WHAT?!?!?! It’s being directed by the man who did “Mega Snake”?!?!?! Well that changes everything! This movie will rule!!!! (Please note sarcasm).
Deep down I secretly yearn for a return to greatness for both of these guys. I’ve enjoyed them so much in the past. It brings a tear to my eye that I can’t muster even the slightest bit of enthusiasm for this.
