Zach Braff to Star and Direct Swingles
By Krystal Clark
Remember the 2004 indie hit Garden State? The movie had a Grammy Award winning soundtrack and was a runaway hit on the festival circuit. It was a commercial success in every meaning of the word, and became a cult sensation once it was released on DVD. The film was the directorial debut of actor Zach Braff from the former NBC now ABC comedy, Scrubs. He’s ready to follow up State with his sophomore directorial project called, Swingles.
Swingles is a romantic comedy that follows a single man and woman who use each other to get dates. Braff will star as a man who’s best friend and wingman is taken away when he and a new woman enter a serious relationship. The woman’s best friend (Cameron Diaz) also feels the burn of their coupling, and realizes she doesn’t have anyone to be her wingwoman. The ousted buddies become each other’s support system in hopes of landing their own significant other.
According to FirstShowing, Braff is in negotiations to direct, star, and rewrite Swingles, which is being produced by Kevin Misher for Paramount. I’m getting really tired of seeing Cameron Diaz in these romantic comedies. Granted she does try to throw in some drama here and there, but can we get something different? As for Braff, I liked Garden State, but I wouldn’t consider myself one of it’s cult followers. It was a decent movie, but nothing to write home about. But with the high standards everyone else have set for the film, Swingles doesn’t sound like a worthy follow up as of yet.
Do you think Swingles is a worthy follow up to Garden State?
Friday, May 22, 2009 5:01AM
I never understood why everyone became so enamored with Garden State. It was JD from Scrubs in New Jersey. The soundtrack and Natalie Portman were great, but the movie wasn't. On to Swingles, I think Cameron Diaz can do other roles well, but if this is what she wants to do, more power to her. From the synopsis I already feel the script will be formulaic, but that's never stopped a movie from being good before.
Thursday, May 28, 2009 8:30AM
[...] Motorcade, and the Spyglass remake of The Tourist. Diaz is currently developing the romantic comedy Swingles, which she will co-star alongside Zack [...]