It’s true what they say – talent attracts talent. Further to the news that Kevin Costner is climbing aboard Ariel Vromen’s next directorial effort, Criminal, it now seems that powerhouse actor Gary Oldman is also looking to catch that ride.
The action-thriller, which sees the memories, knowledge and skills of a dead CIA operative transplanted into a prison inmate in an effort to complete a dangerous mission, comes from screenwriters Douglas Cook and David Weisberg – both of whom wrote Double Jeopardy. Ariel Vromen takes the helm for the first time since 2012’s The Iceman. Kevin Costner is said to be locked on to the role of the prison inmate, while Oldman would play a CIA chief.
If the film comes together successfully in this way, it becomes one of the more interesting projects to enter the pipeline. Firstly, the plot would suggest an interesting subversion of the usual good guy/bad guy roles. Though the prison inmate is assumed to be a ‘bad guy,’ because he is in jail, he is essentially the ‘good guy’ here, because he is being manipulated by the shadowy CIA. We also see Costner in the role of prison inmate – something he played to great effect in 1993’s A Perfect World – though we are more accustomed to associating him with the role of hero, rather than anti-hero.
While Costner remains a big name, and something of a box office draw, the involvement of Gary Oldman elevates this project to a whole other level. Oldman has increasingly, in the past ten years, selected pivotal roles in high profile, high quality blockbusters – from Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise, to this month’s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes. Bringing with him a gravitas and breadth of experience, Oldman may just help sway the verdict of the audience in favour of Criminal.