Whether one appreciated David Gordon Green's smallish buddy comedy Prince Avalanche (our own Rocky Hadadi sure didn't), it at least represents a stylistic return to form for the director. Once an indie darling thanks to films like George Washington and my personal favorite of his All the Real Girls, Green pulled a fast one on his fans by directing stoner flicks Pineapple Express, The Sitter, and the abysmal Your Highness. At the very least it marked him as a cinematic chameleon, and lately he's been going back to his roots a little bit.
Green has managed to snag Al Pacino for his upcoming film, the oddly-titled Manglehorn, and now he's added a Spring Breakers director Harmony Korine, Holly Hunter, and Chris Messina to the cast. Written by Green and Paul Logan, the story centers on the title character, "an ex-con living a hermetic existence who 40 years earlier had given up the woman he loves for one big job. As he begins the process of making up for his mistakes, a dramatic event exposes his dark past to the public."
While it may seem strange to cast Korine, Green has been pretty upfront about the influence he's drawn from his films, in particular 1997's Gummo, which has mostly been crushed by critics but has amassed a number strong supporters. Korine also appeared briefly in Park Chan-Wook's Stoker earlier this year. Messina has been splashing around in the HBO pool as part of The Newsroom, and Hunter was terrific in Jane Campion's Top of the Lake.
Filming on Manglehorn begins this fall.[TheWrap/Deadline]
