I Reckon Miss Witherspoon's Gettin Serious

Hey guys, it's Donnie...Most famous Hollywood actors are often faced with important choices as to what movies they will and will not take part in. For example, Reese Witherspoon has made a bajillion dollars doing fluffy romantic comedies like Sweet Home Alabama and Legally Blonde and she'll likely continue to do so for as long as she can. Why? Because a bajillion is a lot of dollars. However, the really great actors, the ones who are both talented and smart, know to balance out these artisitcally bankrupt paycheck films with quality flicks that might not rake in quite so much cash, but which give them more interesting opportunities as an actor.

Ms. Witherspoon seems to have joined those ranks of late and I must applaud her for the effort, even if I chastise her for Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde. I'm told she did strong work in Vanity Fair, which was hardly a mainstream success. (I missed out on that film because, well, I'm not a woman.) The presence of Mark Rufalo and John Heder was not compelling enough to get me to see Just Like Heaven, but I'll probably make the trip to see her as June Carter in the Walk The Line. This is gonna another "serious film". You can tell because she has dark hair. In fact, a quick glance at IMDB will show an distinct pattern: fluffy romcom, serious film, fluffy romcom, serious film, etc. etc.

Well, the latest film to follow this righteous path will most likely be Reckoning. Witherspoon will produce and possibly star in the film about a photojournalist in Cambodia following the US military's search for the body of a pilot shot down during the Vietnam conflict. Nice. The story is based on a book by author Jeff Long and is being adapted by the great Ted Tally, the screenwriter of the brilliant Silence Of The Lambs and the underrated Red Dragon. I kinda enjoy Reese Witherspoon in "serious mode", so let's hope this lives up to its potential.