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4:54 pm - 01/17/2013

Pacino to play Paterno in 'Happy Valley' movie

Al Pacino will play Joe Paterno in an upcoming biopic of the famed Penn State football coach to be directed by Brian De Palma, Deadline reports. Paterno's career ended in scandal when it was revealed he and others were aware of allegations of molestation against assistant Jerry Sandusky, but ignored them.

Tentatively titled Happy Valley, the movie could be based on the bestselling biography Paterno by Joe Posnanski, which producer Edward R. Pressman optioned. American History X and Blow scribe Dave McKenna is reportedly making a deal to write the script.


In confirming the project, Pressman said: "Happy Valley reunites the Scarface and Carlito’s Way team of De Palma and Pacino for the third time, and I can’t think of a better duo to tell this story of a complex, intensely righteous man who was brought down by his own tragic flaw."

source
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spartacus 17th-Jan-2013 10:19 pm (UTC)
Yeah, let's profit off this horrible story.
punishermax 17th-Jan-2013 10:21 pm (UTC)
If we didn't have films like this Lifetime would cease to exist.

FATAL ATTRACTION TO A DEADLY VIEW: THE JANE DOE STORY
spartacus 17th-Jan-2013 10:32 pm (UTC)
now that's a movie I want to see
kurtvonnegut 17th-Jan-2013 10:23 pm (UTC)
this is basically every movie based on a true story though?
spartacus 17th-Jan-2013 10:24 pm (UTC)
Idk I feel like this one is just... different. Maybe "too soon" is what I should have commented with first.
hearthecity 17th-Jan-2013 10:20 pm (UTC)
and I can’t think of a better duo to tell this story of a complex, intensely righteous man who was brought down by his own tragic flaw.

Intensely righteous? what the hell
punishermax 17th-Jan-2013 10:22 pm (UTC)
I can sort of see where he's coming from. Paterno did do some good things, I KNOW I KNOW BEFORE ANYONE JUMPS MY ASS I KNOW HE DID A TERRIBLE THING CONCERNING SANDUSKY, so I can see trying to portray the good he did as well.

It's never a good thing to portray a complex person as a one sided villain.
hearthecity 17th-Jan-2013 10:25 pm (UTC)
I think he loses credit for whatever good he did because it's outweighed by how much damage he caused.

Why does he deserve to get a complex portrayal? It all just seems really unnecessary.
punishermax 17th-Jan-2013 10:26 pm (UTC)
Because Biopics painting people as slavering monsters with no good are intensely boring and absolutely pointless.
hearthecity 17th-Jan-2013 10:28 pm (UTC)
But this is a biopic about his life. Why do we need a biopic about his life at all right now?
punishermax 17th-Jan-2013 10:29 pm (UTC)
Why not? It's a topic that should be explored and looked at and talked about.

Are people really thinking the movie is going to be JOE PATERNO WAS A WONDER PERFECT ANGEL: WHY WE SHOULD SAINT HIM?
hearthecity 17th-Jan-2013 10:33 pm (UTC)
The topic of Joe Paterno's life should be explored and talked about?

I haven't read the biography this article says the movie will be based on, but it says it's a biography of his life, not the abuse that took place at Penn State.
punishermax 17th-Jan-2013 10:35 pm (UTC)
You haven't given a good answer for it shouldn't? Should we never ever explore the topics of bad people because they did bad things?

Unless the film straight up says that Paterno was wrongly hurt by the whole thing there is literally no reason why it shouldn't be made.
hearthecity 17th-Jan-2013 10:38 pm (UTC)
I don't think we need a film dedicated to this man's life, as a whole. If they want to paint him as a realistic person in a film about the abuse and cover-up, that's different, but that's not what it sounds like they're doing.
punishermax 17th-Jan-2013 10:41 pm (UTC)
How do you know that's not what is going to be discussed? Paterno was a huge figure in sports. He was an icon, his story does deserve to be told.

It's the story of how a man had everything, respect, fame, power and lost all of it and his legacy because he didn't look at a horrifying crime that he had the power to stop. There is literally no possible way this will; paint him in a good light.
hearthecity 17th-Jan-2013 10:46 pm (UTC)
I'm basing that on the article, which says this will be based on a biography of HIS life. Any biography includes the good and the bad, but generally still manages to glorify the person.

And based on the statement they released about him being intensely righteous, which I think is bullshit in every way, I don't have a lot of faith in how they're going to portray this. I'm not sure why you're going so hard for this movie.

Edited at 2013-01-17 10:47 pm (UTC)
punishermax 17th-Jan-2013 10:48 pm (UTC)
I'm going hard because the whole "Do we NEED a movie like this!?" thing annoys the hell out of me and ends up crushing art a ton of the time.
jeveuxmacaron 17th-Jan-2013 10:58 pm (UTC)
lmao mte

can we have a biopic of someone awesome who no one knows anything about, like chiune sugihara?

this pointless endeavour will do nothing but draw more attention to the fucking losers who were targeting the victims of rape for tainting their beloved joepa's legacy
wombat_nectar 17th-Jan-2013 11:04 pm (UTC)
exactly
venetianglass 17th-Jan-2013 11:06 pm (UTC)
I have read the biography (I had ordered it before the scandal even broke). Joe Posnanski is an amazing sports writer, and the book is really good.
kurtvonnegut 17th-Jan-2013 10:34 pm (UTC)
exactly. it doesn't do anyone any good to say "what a sicko." it can actually be really helpful to understand WHY he was so indifferent and didn't speak up. revealing the coverups that go on not only in college sports but in any atmosphere where you have a sainted figure is actually really important. i've also seen a lot of people who reduce it to "athletics" but i think it has more to do with any atmosphere which harbors a sainted figure, both on a collegiate level and a local level... and the more media we have on it, the more discussion.
jeveuxmacaron 17th-Jan-2013 11:01 pm (UTC)
this isn't 'der untergang' we're talking about, this is a film that someone clearly decided to make just because of a rape scandal that barely has any legal dust on it at all and about a man who still has many vocal supporters. the whole thing is gross and i'm frankly not interested in this man having a biopic. a documentary would be more appropriate to what you are talking about.
kurtvonnegut 17th-Jan-2013 10:26 pm (UTC)
i don't think he "deserves" shit, but people who do damaging things get complex portrayals all the time.
kurtvonnegut 17th-Jan-2013 10:25 pm (UTC)
i know what you mean. i will never respect the guy and i think he's scum but movies are made about villains trying to understand them all the time, why not him.
marywebgirl 17th-Jan-2013 10:32 pm (UTC)
Maybe they meant self righteous and are just stupid? Supposedly he was insanely pig headed and wouldn't hear the word no.
expromqueen 17th-Jan-2013 10:44 pm (UTC)
an intensely righteous person whose tragic flaw was that he wasn't righteous at all lol
wheresandrae 17th-Jan-2013 10:20 pm (UTC)
superdogbiter 17th-Jan-2013 10:22 pm (UTC)
Photobucket
satellite__eyes 17th-Jan-2013 10:26 pm (UTC)
Are they going to be sucking JoePa's dick in this? If so, no thanks.
mydogfred 17th-Jan-2013 10:28 pm (UTC)
they better not paint him as a fucking saint
bellwetherr 17th-Jan-2013 10:28 pm (UTC)
still not over how awful this whole thing was. fuck penn state tbh.
winonaforever 17th-Jan-2013 10:28 pm (UTC)
I can’t think of a better duo to tell this story of a complex, intensely righteous man who was brought down by his own tragic flaw.

Whan an euphemism. I bet they will make him sympathetic.
chimbleysweep 17th-Jan-2013 10:30 pm (UTC)
Why would I ever want to watch something like that? Gross.

TRAGIC FLAW? HE RAPED YOUNG BOYS. AND PATERNO KNEW.

Edited at 2013-01-17 10:30 pm (UTC)
wombat_nectar 17th-Jan-2013 10:36 pm (UTC)
not every dead white man needs a biopic ffs
punishermax 17th-Jan-2013 10:42 pm (UTC)
Not every dead white man was part of one of the, if not the, biggest sports scandal in American history
wombat_nectar 17th-Jan-2013 11:03 pm (UTC)
a scandal in which he basically acted as an accomplice in the rapes of children

his life isn't worth the screen time
punishermax 17th-Jan-2013 11:05 pm (UTC)
Yes, we should never ever make films about bad people. We should hide them away and hope no one ever brings them up again
wombat_nectar 17th-Jan-2013 11:10 pm (UTC)
are you serious?

not making a biopic about somebody is not the same as hiding them away and never bringing them up again
punishermax 17th-Jan-2013 11:12 pm (UTC)
Paterno was a sports icon who was involved in the greatest scandal in sports history, of course we'd get a biopic. There is literally no way this will put him in a good light by the end. I will literally buy a hat and eat it if it does.

Edited at 2013-01-17 11:12 pm (UTC)
nationalboner 17th-Jan-2013 11:45 pm (UTC)
He died?

Where have I been?
lieueitak 17th-Jan-2013 10:38 pm (UTC)
I'm not necessarily against this project, but that statement is some bullshit. Intensely righteous men do not ignore children being raped, and being caught ignoring children being raped hardly constitutes a "tragic flaw." I understand wanting to create a complex portrayal of Paterno. However, that doesn't mean you should minimize/sanitize what Paterno did as this statement does. You can look past your disgust over Paterno's choices to create a great movie, but if you don't have the disgust to begin with, I don't trust any creative choices you're going to make.
ediesedgwick 17th-Jan-2013 10:57 pm (UTC)
Yeah, I'm not sure why they consider him intensely righteous when his legacy now will be looking the other way while children were abused. They should be able to address his good points without making him out to be an intensely righteous person who was a victim of the system or something.
tankmachine 17th-Jan-2013 10:41 pm (UTC)
omg lmaooo

as a current PSU student myself i'll never understand the idol worship he gets here
schmanda 17th-Jan-2013 10:58 pm (UTC)
"Complex character portrait" Oscar bait, tbh. I would be eternally surprised if someone not backstroking in PSU Kool-Aid produced a movie that made him out to be a saint.
jennyfinnly 17th-Jan-2013 11:12 pm (UTC)
i watch dog day after noon every other sunday, it goes so well with brunch.

...so does tootsie
noneko 18th-Jan-2013 02:07 am (UTC)
For a second I read Posnanski as Polanski and I thought that one criminal who was never brought to justice wrote a biography of another.
mushroom18 18th-Jan-2013 03:02 am (UTC)
NO. AL PACINO. NO. FUCK DON'T MAKE ME NOT LOVE YOU ANYMORE.

Fuck this mess
prophecypro 18th-Jan-2013 06:04 am (UTC)
Tough sell for a biopic that would have been easy 18 months ago
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