Are you kidding? Is Adrien Brody our next action hero?

In a move that feels almost as weird as casting Jack Black in "The Manny Ramirez Story," Variety is reporting that Adrien Brody will play a heroic mercenary who battles alien hunters in "Predators," 20th Century Fox's new reboot of the "Predator" franchise. Yeah, that's right. The same Adrien Brody who won an Oscar as a frail musician in "The Pianist," the same boho hustler who was in Wes Anderson's "Darjeeling Limited" and Rian Johnson's "The Brothers Bloom," the same guy who played the village idiot in M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" and an oddball screenwriter in "King Kong" is now set to play much the same character that Arnold Schwarzenegger played in the 1987 "Predator" original. [Note: An earlier version of this post misspelled Shyamalan as Shamaylan.]

Does this sound like a miscasting of epic proportions or what? This is no knock on Brody, who is shaping up to be the Jeff Goldblum of his generation, a quirky guy who's good in oddball parts. But can you imagine him fighting aliens, much less shooting the gun and kissing the girl? (I'm not sure Halle Berry's career has recovered from her smooch from Brody, either.)

If I were the head guys at Fox, I wouldn't just be wondering about whether Brody is a good fit for the part or not, but whether anyone would pay to see him in the leading role in a commercial film. His track record as a movie star is awfully thin, since most of the movies that relied on him for star power -- including such recent films as "Cadillac Records" and "The Jacket" -- barely made a dent at the box office, not to mention "Manolete," a film shot in early 2006 that stars Brody as the famed bullfighter that still hasn't been released in the U.S.

Am I being too tough on Brody? Or does he have some hidden virility that I'm missing here? What do you think?

Comments

[DRE DAWG]

NOPE.COM

[thetruth]

He is the worse actor.

[sasha]

well, yes, Brody does have some "hidden virility," as you call it. It certainly is not a Schwarzenegger virility, a stereotyped virility, but there is a offbeat sexiness about the guy. Physically he is no slouch. He moves really well - while this is going to sound weird given the eccentricities of his role in Spike lee's "Summer of Sam," we do see a fit body and a nice command of it that is indeed virile. Whether Brody is right for the Predator movie I don't know - if most people see Brody the way you do, well, then it's a big "no." And I suspect most people do. Yes, you are "too tough on Brody." He's already paid for the Halle Berry kiss.

[jo schwarz]

lol. OK we get it Adrien Brody is NOT your idea of an action hero. But remember that Tobey McGuire was getting the same comments.

So if Spiderman is any indication, Adrien is going to be super hot in Predator.

Good luck Adrien. Brake a leg.

FYI calling someone the "Jeff Goldman" of his generation is not a compliment.

[Jolie]

Boring actor. I do not run out to see his films. Sorry.

[David]

Brody would be better suited to play the guy who hands the mercenary his ammo. Ahh, but who knows, maybe his character will be an advisor. A heroic military advisor to the Blackwater-esque mercenaries contracted to root out the Predator beasts. Either way, just tell Fox to do a good job and not ruin one of the franchises that geeks like me just live for (i.e. see Transformers II).

[JR Moore]

I think Adrien Brody has better skills as an actor than Jeff Goldblum (whom I also like).
Tom Cruise was supposed to be the worst miscast in vampire lestat according to the pre-release critics. That worked out pretty well I think. I applaud the reach by casting Brody.
His look is not that of a leading man in the sense of kissing the girl, but let's see what he looks like with 30lbs of added muscle.
I think the columnist's commentary contained slightly too much vitriol.

[windrider]

Is Adrien Brody right for the hero of the "Predator" prequel?

In a word, no. It's not that Ah-nold could not be replaced by another "rugged" actor in the prequel; it's that Brody is the quintessential anti-hero by temperament. I can't imagine him doing that role because he just comes across as too cerebral, no matter what part he's playing. I wouldn't mind seeing Matthew McCaughey. He played an amazingly gritty hero in "Reign of Fire".

[kenyatta]

That's exactly the point. Big-time Sci-fi action movies have so many cliches today that Brodie was added to shake up what has essentially been a moribund genre for a good long while now. If Seth Rogen can be a (financially) successful lead in a romantic comedy then the next logical step is Adrien Brody as the lead in a big-budget action movie.

[sammy]

NO! Not because he isn't muscular like Arnold...I mean they could have a muscle dude and Brody could be the "brains"...it's because he is not a very good actor IMHO. Very boring indeed. Geez...I wish they would stop f'ing up the Predator series. Has anyone read the books? It's very good story. I love them. AvsP movies could have been amazing but H'wood f'up! And now they are doing a remake of the only good Predator movie! Dammit! Just skip the movie and read the books.