When indie filmmaker Lynn Shelton moved forward with her latest effort “Touchy Feely” which stars Rosemarie DeWitt, Scoot McNairy and Ellen Page among others, we had presumed the worst for “Laggies,” the Andrea Seigel-scripted relationship tale Shelton was set to tackle next. Thankfully, it looks like that project has merely been shifted rather than removed from Shelton’s calendar and it now has a Hollywood comedy stalwart on board.
An insightful NY Times profile on the helmer notes that Shelton was forced push up plans for “Touchy Feely” after “Laggies” was postponed but, most importantly, that the latter has Paul Rudd on board to star. The project will follow the story of a woman — described as a 28-year-old living in permanent adolescence, eschewing adulthood and its rules — who responds to her boyfriend’s marriage proposal by pretending to go on a retreat, but spends a week hanging out with some new high-school age friends instead. We’re presuming Rudd would star as the boyfriend/groom-to-be with Shelton’s ability to attract leading ladies sure to bring on board a worthy adversary for the actor.
It’s yet another step up for the helmer who initially hit it big on the festival scene with 2009’s “Humpday,” which starred Mark Duplass, Josh Leonard and Alycia Delmore, and has since gone from strength to strength with directorial stints on hit shows “Mad Men” and “New Girl.” Her next feature is the intimate relationship drama “Your Sister’s Sister” that features Duplass, Dewitt and Emily Blunt, which is due to hit theaters June 15th. Like her counterpart Duplass, Shelton seems to be honing in on that sweet spot between drama and comedy with a humanistic eye, all of which is perfectly fine by us.
