To say Harmony Korine is one of my favorite filmmakers would be a boldfaced lie. That is not to say his movies are not interesting, except for Mr. Lonely, but his approach of getting a group of people together and just messing around for a bit does not gel with me. Up until now, though, he has not had a group of people of this caliber, so his latest film, The Trap, certainly has me raising an eyebrow with a bit of a smirk.
Idris Elba, everyone’s favorite actor to hypothetically cast in movies, has signed on to play the film’s lead Rico, a gangster rap artist at the height of his power, taking over for Jamie Foxx. Benicio Del Toro will play Rico’s former best friend Slim, who took the fall for a robbery the two committed years earlier, and Slim is just now getting released from prison to find out Rico married his former girlfriend and raised his son. Along with those two, Al Pacino, James Franco (who gave the best performance of his career with Korine in Spring Breakers… even if it is incredibly one note), and Robert Pattinson are in final talks to join the cast as well.
That is cast you get interested in no matter who the filmmaker is. I hope Korine gives them a little more to play with than the one note degenerates he has been writing for years. If that doesn’t happen, I think these actors are good enough to add something to the material. This is probably the first time I will be mildly interested in, if not really looking forward to, a Harmony Korine film. So, that is something.
Original report from The Hollywood Reporter.
