Variety reports that Leonardo DiCaprio has signed to portray Travis McGee in a movie version of John D. MacDonald's THE DEEP BLUE GOODBYE . Dana Stevens wrote the script, and Peter Chernin will produce, but no director has been set yet. I have a hard time picturing DiCaprio as McGee, how about you?
Fine actor, but no, not McGee.
My first reaction is, “What?” Now, although I admit I’ve never seen Titanic (don’t tell me how it ends, okay? Did the boat sink or what?), I’ve see DiCaprio in a few other movies and found him to be particularly effective in Blood Diamonds, so on the basis of that performance and a couple others (the espionage one with Russell Crowe?), I think he could probably pull it off. He’s a terrific actor.
I saw the one with Sam Elliott as Travis and although I like Elliott fine, I’m not sure that was great casting, although maybe it was good casting and bad everything else.
I agree with you Lee. John D. MacDonald depicted McGee as a gnarly middle-ager who had to do a fair amount of exercising to stay in trim. There was a lot of melancholy (and a lot of bar room bullshit in McGee particularly when it came to women) in the books and I don’t see DiCaprio at his age being able to portray the often angry and disenchanted McGee.
The very thought makes me gag.
You ever see that Star Trek episode where Kirk & crew are trapped by a bunch of androids? They escape by acting illogically until the android’s computers burn out and smoke comes out their ears. That’s how reading this news makes me feel.
DeCaprio has managed to surprise me in several of his movies, Blood Diamond, for one. I just pictured McGee has being taller.
My head nearly flew off my shoulders at reading that one, Lee. If I recall, Travis was muscular, a war vet with various scars, and north of six feet tall with large appetites… Leonardo? Mmmm… some days, it looks like a stiff wind would blow him over….
I think he’s a great actor, but too young by far for the part.
I, for one, don’t really care who plays McGee as long as FOX does something, anything, with the McGee rights. DiCaprio is a good actor who can pull it off. FOX is planning on a series, and they may as well start out with someone who can age with the series. This is better than letting the script sit on a shelf. Everything really depends on the script and the director. We’ll see what happens with that. I just hope it happens.
McGee always described himself as being six-four. DiCaprio, according to his buio, is six foot even. So unless they have him standing on an orange crate the whole time, I have a hard time picturing him in the role. Lee Child has said he’s had the same time coming to any agreement on Jack Reacher adaptations. Who do you cast as a six-five muscle-bound hero who can act?
I’ve liked DiCaprio’s performances in a lot of films, but I can’t picture him as McGee. Too baby-faced, even when he’s playing tough.
He’s talented, but too short, skinny, and (to me) wholesome to play Trav.
I very much liked Rod Taylor in the role. HE had the physical chops for it and was sexy as all get out.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065610/usercomments
Sorry, Leo. You’re cute and all, but you just don’t do it for me. I keep wanting to pour a cold milk for you, give you a cookie, then tell you to play nice with the neighbor kids. You’re just too *safe*!
;>)
DiCaprio as McGee? Shoot me now.
6’4″/205 ex-pro footballer, stronger than he looks and knows it, disguises his ability with a shambling gait and manner. Somewhat world-weary, a lot of hard mileage on him both physically and mentally. McGee is the anti-DiCaprio.
I can think of a lot of actors who should have played the role 20-30 years ago; Steve McQueen heads the list.
Lots of perceptive comments here — Breitner, DuBois, Gorman pick up on McGee’s size, age, and ennui. The knight-errant, slaying savage small fish — that’s not Leo. I also found him miscast in The Basketball Diaries (BTW, Jim Carroll JUST died last month) also. The slo-mo basketball scenes show him dribbling like a 10-year-old girl — pathetic !
McGee in my mind is a leatherly, rawhide-tough, copper-skinned man’s man with a surprisingly sharp intellect and a sense of world-weariness that grew in sharpness with each successive novel. I could see an older actor like a Jeff Bridges or a Kevin Costner pull it off, but not Leo.
But at least McGee is being kept alive. So sad that the final book, The Lonely Silver rain, had Travis discover he had fathered a daughter. McDonald could have spent several novels investigating this new travis.
Sellick was made for the role and could still pull it off. Leonardo is one of our best “young” actors…he’d struggle for believability.
Kevin Sorbo? He’s in his 50s now, hulky, and looks like a guy, not a poster. If he could lose the nice guy demeanor…