Screen Junkies » Gabriel Byrne

‘At Swim-Two-Birds’ Director Shocks Everyone By Casting Michael Fassbender

Joseph Gibson — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 17:21:15 +0000

Character actor Brendan Gleeson, set to make his directorial debut with his long-in-the-works adaptation of the Irish classic novel At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O’Brien, has done what every director eventually must: Cast Michael Fassbender. Fellow Irishmen Gabriel Byrne, Colin Farrell and Cillian Murphy have been attached to the project for some time as well. A plot synopsis would be … difficult, considering that the novel is some kind of meta-fictional morass involving a writer whose novel begins to intertwine with the people in his life, but suffice it to say it’s Irish.

No word yet on which characters will be played by which actors, but hopefully they’ll all be able to get their Irish accents right. At Swim-Two-Birds is set to begin shooting in spring 2012. (ScreenDaily)

HBO Cancels ‘In Treatment’, Giving The Show’s Fans Something To Talk About In Therapy

Geoffrey Golden — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 02:22:10 +0000

Fans of HBO’s “In Treatment” will be sad to know that the therapist is no longer “in.” After three seasons, HBO cancelled the series that was based on the Israeli show “BeTipul.” Meanwhile, Israeli TV is still going strong with “Israeli Idol,” so I guess the show conversion process only goes one way between our countries.

HBO had no comment on the cancelation of “In Treatment,” which starred Gabriel Byrne (“The Usual Suspects“) as therapist Dr Paul Weston and was developed by Rodrigo Garcia (“Big Love“). Critics liked the series, but it regularly turned in low ratings. Perhaps now, after some counseling, the show will be able to live a regular life as a well-adjusted DVD box set. (Hollywood Reporter)

Gabriel Byrne To Once Again Play Down-On-His-Luck Fella

Penn Collins — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 20:38:45 +0000

As we all know, studios need to provide documentation and a list of good reasons why NOT to cast Gabriel Byrne as a grizzled detective, should that role come up for casting in any film. And it would appear that Embargo Films failed to provide the necessary documentation, cause they got Byrne to play their gritty detective in I, Anna, a noir suspense movie that started filming last week.

The film is told from the point of view of a femme fatale (Charlotte Rampling) who falls in love with Byrne, who is investigating a murder. That’s pretty much the plot of every film noir ever produced, so the story checks out.

If the supporting cast fails to sell you on the film (Eddie Marsan? Bill Milner? Honor Blackman?), fear not. The plot sounds pretty damned hard-boiled. From the mouth of Embargo Films:

A man is found bludgeoned to death in a London apartment block. DCI Bernie Kominski, an insomniac dazed by the prospect of divorce, is first on the scene, but distracted from his duties by a brief encounter with a striking and enigmatic woman. Going through the motions of the case, Bernie’s thoughts return to the woman, Anna Welles, whom he tracks down and follows. When they finally meet at a singles’ party, the mutual attraction is instant, though Anna has no recollection of Bernie, or of the night they first met. As Bernie’s professional judgment battles with his desire for intimacy and love, the mystery deep within Anna’s mind finally unravels, revealing a truth too painful to bear.

Sounds promising. The fact that the director is a first-timer (Barnaby Southcombe) is offset by the fact that young Barnaby wrote the script, so perhaps he simply wants to tell his story his way. Never stand in the way of a Barnaby with something to prove. That’s what I never say. (Playlist)