A quick search of the site archives tells me that we haven’t done much reporting on the upcoming movie Switch yet, and that’s kind of a shame because it’s an interesting project for a number of reasons. The biggest and most obvious of these reasons is that it’s an adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel, and a sort-of prequel to Jackie Brown. What does that mean exactly? It means that this story features some of the earlier shenanigans of the Louis and Ordell characters that Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson played in the Quentin Tarantino adaptation of Leonard’s “Rum Punch,” which became Jackie Brown.
I said this was a sort-of prequel to Jackie Brown though, so don’t expect to see Tarantino or either of those actors back. This is a completely new take on Leonard’s material involving completely new people. But, the good news is that all of these new people kind of rule, too.
Okay, so most of them rule. The screenplay was adapted by and will be directed by Daniel Schechter, and admittedly that’s not very exciting because he hasn’t done much that most people have seen; but things get more promising when you look at the cast he’s assembling. For the Louis and Ordell characters he has John Hawkes and Yasiin Bey (rapper Mos Def) on board, and while they’re not exactly De Niro and Jackson, I think that they’re just as exciting a duo in their own way.
And that’s not the end of the casting news either. The story here has Louis and Ordell trying to make a quick buck by kidnapping a rich guy’s wife and holding her for ransom. Complications occur when it becomes clear that the rich guy has no interest in getting his wife back, so our beloved criminal duo then hatch a scheme with the help of said wife (who is now very angry) to rid said rich guy of a whole lot of money.
According to a report from Deadline Sherman Oaks, Schechter and his people are currently in negotiations for Dennis Quaid and Jennifer Aniston to come on as the husband and wife duo. If their signing becomes official, then that’s got to be seen as good news for this project. Aniston has the star power that this movie is, as of yet, lacking, and Quaid…well, he’s been doing nothing but solid work for a few decades now. He’s always a welcome addition to any cast.
While Switch might not sound quite as exciting as Tarantino working in the Jackie Brown universe again, it’s looking like it’s going to be a solid enough trip to the movies when you view it standing on its own. And really, that’s all I ask from anything.