The TV Addict 

Reading a piece of news on Variety reporting that Jason Isaacs has joined Paul Greengrass’ untitled “Green Zone” project along with Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, and Amy Ryan, two things popped out at me as worth discussing here. First, I want to bemoan how horribly underappreciated Isaacs is (check out the Showtime show “Brotherhood,” especially). Second, I couldn’t help but notice that one of my favorite screenwriters Brian Helgeland wrote the screenplay. A quick glance at his IMDB rap sheet quickly reveals why I’ve always enjoyed the guy. It’s hard not to like a guy who wrote L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, MYSTIC RIVER, PAYBACK and MAN ON FIRE, and even the silly (but ultimately fun) A KNIGHT’S TALE and CONSPIRACY THEORY. It also looks like he has a healthy menu of interesting and diverse projects coming out with his name attached, ranging from a vampire adventure tale (CIRQUE DU FREAK), the political “Green Zone” project, a drama about the Spanish conqueror Cortez (THE SERPENT AND THE EAGLE), and Ridley Scott’s much anticipated alternate take on the Robin Hood story (NOTTINGHAM).

The only thing I’m wondering is why Helgeland hasn’t stepped behind the camera in a directorial role in a while. His last directed film was THE ORDER (2003), though he also directed A KNIGHT’S TALE (2001) and PAYBACK (1999). Is it possible the infamous production woes of THE ORDER scared him somewhat, and has made him nervous about directing again? If so, that’d be too bad, because PAYBACK certainly showed that he was a writer who was able to deftly direct a fun little action film, and not be over-indulgent and too loyal in how he directed his own writing (such as David Goyer).

Source: Variety