It doesn’t inspire much confidence to learn that Jennifer Aniston is about to direct a feature film — nothing in her past work in front of the camera makes me believe she has anything interesting to bring to the role of director. But I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that her talents have not been well used onscreen so far, however popular her work nevertheless is.
So: What kind of movie should Jennifer Aniston take on for her directorial debut? I hope it’s not yet another of the insipid romantic comedies she seems to gravitate toward as an actor. But I’m guessing that she isn’t going to stray too far from what the comfort zone of her audience.
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I think she should go waaaay outside her comfort zone and tackle A House Not Meant To Stand. It is a comedy…at least as Tennessee Williams wrote it.
… I hit enter before the rest got in: If she was able to do that well, she could do anything. The only problem is that it is a great play and not been filmed. It was his last play, too, and if it was ruined in the first attempt at filming that would be a tragedy.
On the other hand, if she succeeded, that would erase everyone’s prior opinions of her.
As for her work in front of the camera, her performance in “The Good Girl” was one that made me curious as to what she could do (given the fact that I never could stand Friends). But I’ve neither seen nor heard of anything else since.
So I might suggest something like that – a small, character driven drama. But if it’s going to have any quirky humor in it, please make sure there are real actors and not “quirky stars”.
Then again, I’d probably recommend that for most first time directors.
As long as it’s not a vanity project, I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.
Let’s face it, it will be “Friends: The Movie.”
A hardcore action flick. Starring Jane Lynch and Jason Statham.