It's amazing to think how far Russell Brand has come since he first popped up on radars in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Once deemed as just another hard-partying Brit comic, Brand has gotten active in the political discussion both in the U.K. and stateside, focusing his energies on voting rights and economic disparity. Even the movies he's taking on have a political slant now, like his latest role in Larry Charles' (Borat) upcoming film, Army of One, and in Michael Winterbottom's documentary, The Emperor's New Clothes.
Brand has joined Nicolas Cage and Wendi McLendon-Covey in Army of One, which is based on the true story of Gary Faulkner, who believed God told him to go to Iraq and capture Osama Bin Laden. He was a simple construction worker at the time, but he became famous after being arrested in Pakistan while hunting the terrorist leader. Rajiv Joseph and Scott Rothman wrote the screeplay which has been described as satirical, not surprising given Charles' association. Also part of the cast is Ken Marino, Denis O'Hare, Paul Scheer, and Rainn Wilson.
And then there's the trailer for The Emperor's New Clothes, which sees Brand teaming up with director Michael Winterbottom. The film is debuting at Tribeca next week and has Brand using his comic sensibilities to explore the economic crisis in London, one that sees the rich getting richer an the poor struggling more than ever. Here's the synopsis:
Brand spotlights not only how the crisis affected the working class around the world, but also how the uber-wealthy benefited from the downturn. With Winterbottom providing his signature ingenuity and pinpoint directorial control, they generate a riveting, boisterous, and, at times, cathartic riff on the extreme disparities between the haves and have nots in contemporary society.
So it's kind of like Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story, only meant to be funnier? It could work.
