“…I’ve been running for a team of people for a long time and I don’t take any of it back…I’ve learned a great deal about a certain type of filmmaking. But I have ambitions toward another type of filmmaking that I haven’t been allowed to engage in yet,” Shia LaBeouf recently said in the press run up to “Tranformers: Dark Of The Moon” and it looks like he’s firmly leaving tentpole movies behind for now. Earlier this spring, he was one of the boys hanging in John Hillcoat‘s prohibition-era drama “The Wettest County” and now LaBeouf is ready to star and be directed by one of Hollywood’s great legends.
Robert Redford will helm and take a role in the political action thriller “The Company You Keep,” with LaBeouf coming along for the ride. Written by Lem Dobbs (“Dark City,” Steven Soderbergh‘s “The Limey,” “Kafka” and “Haywire“) and based on the novel by Neil Gordon, the story centers on a former Weather Underground militant wanted by the FBI for 30 years, who must go on the run when his true identity is exposed by a young, ambitious reporter hell-bent on making a name for himself. Redford will play the former activist with LaBeouf playing the journalist tracking him down. So yeah, this sounds pretty damn great.
It’s a solid move by both director and actor alike. Redford’s last few efforts behind the camera — “The Conspirator,” “Lions for Lambs” and “The Legend of Bagger Vance” — have been treacly and/or stuffy, politically overwrought snoozers. Here’s hoping he doesn’t futz too much with Dobbs screenplay or get bogged down in a message and delivers a crisp thriller, first and foremost. And yeah, we’ve been hard on LaBeouf around these parts recently (though his big mouth certainly doesn’t do him any favors) but it’s a smart choice for the actor who has yet to really prove himself outside of summer movies and this seems to be a good blend of genre fare and drama which should be a solid sweet spot for the actor.
The film is already in pre-production and will start shooting in September in Vancouver. So yeah, add this to our list of movies we’re anticipating in already ridiculously insane movie year in 2012. [via Deadline]
