Most people probably recognize the name Dustin Lance Black for being the writer of Milk, the biopic which led him to win the Best Screenplay Academy Award and took Sean Penn to Best Actor. But Black's actually been around longer than most people think, directing his first film back in 2000 before focusing primarily on writing, most recently penning the script for Clint Eastwood's uneven J. Edgar. Back in 2010, Black debuted his most recent writing/directing effort, then titled What's Wrong with Virginia? The results were mixed, to say the least, with the leading performance by Jennifer Connelly praised but the film's off balance tone the biggest knock against it.
Black has basically gone back to the drawing board, having totally re-edited the film, and shortened the name simply to Virginia. As for the tone, well it's hard to say but to me it doesn't appear much has changed. We'll just have to wait and check out the new finished product. One thing for sure is that it's good to see Connelly doing something which is different for her, playing an unstable mom in a small southern town, trying her best to raise her over-protective son(Harrison Gilbertson), while carrying on an affair with the Mormon sheriff(Ed Harris) turned senatorial candidate. Emma Roberts, Amy Madigan, Toby Jones, and Carrie Preston round out an impressive cast.
Virginia opens in theaters on May 18th. Check out the trailer below....
