Posted on 09/26/2005 12:24:10 AM PDT by Uncle Joe Cannon
DiCaprio is Theodore Roosevelt
Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese have been named by Paramount Pictures to respectively star and direct in the adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Edmund Morris book The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, says Variety.
The film adaptation, currently being written by Nicholas Meyer (The Human Stain), will chronicle the political career of Roosevelt (DiCaprio), from a slight and privileged New York politician with a Harvard degree, right up to his ascension to the White House as the 26th U.S. president.
At present, DiCaprio and Scorsese are working on their third film together - after Gangs of New York and The Aviator - entitled The Departed, the Warner Bros. remake of the Hong Kong crime drama Infernal Affairs.
You beat me to it. Brian Keith was the best TR. Bully!
Tom Berenger was adequate in the TV movie, The Rough Riders, but not a stand out. There have also been one-man theatrical performances that everyone from James Whitmore to John Davidson to Laurence Luckinbill have performed. And there is at least one guy somewhere who makes a living playing TR. Gary Sinese might have been an inspired choice, because he really gets under the skin of a wide variety of different characters.
Now, who to play Taft?
That said, Leonardo DiCaprio may be an excellent choice for a young TR.
I have read the book, and you are correct. TR was sickly into his 20's. DiCaprio would be good.
Perhaps you should post a *few more* pictures of Leo, so we can compare......*wink*
Now who should play PR after his trip to the Dakotas? Gary Sinise might work. Tom Hanks might also be a good choice.
Who will play Taft? Will they go with fat and jolly or dignified and restrained?
I would rather remember him as the writer of Star Trek's II: Wrath of Khan (also directed), IV: The Voyage Home, and the underrated VI:The Undiscovered Country (also directed).
TR was a rough rider....LC is a rump rider.
Didn't get to see The Aviator. My husband and I are not DiCaprio fans, but we both thought he did an excellent job in Catch Me If You Can.
And Rosey Greer is Britany Spears
If you liked him in Catch me, then I think you would like the Aviator. Although some on this thread didn't like it, I thought it was the best picture of last year. Those (like me) who remember Howard through news footage and coverage would have to admit that DiCaprio had all of his mannerisms, ticks and voice inflections down cold. He obviously spent his time researching the man. Like many, I started out thinking that Leo was just another Hollywood pretty boy, but I have changed my opinion. The film is very historically accurate and I've seen it several time. Certainly a DVD worth renting.
The original Uncle Joe probably would be downright pleased. He had no patience for TR. Other than TR's re-election, which was about the only thing that really mattered to Roosevelt, Cannon actually got the best of the man. Cannon ever led the legislative agenda, including such Roosevelt "victories" as the Pure Food Act (which Cannon held out against until he got his way), the Hepburn Act (a total victory for the roads) and the Aldrich-Vreeland bill. Check out this illuminating -- and short -- list of Roosevelt "reform legislation here (not musch to speak of, really).
Whenever Roosevelt wanted anything from Congress, he had to promise Cannon that in exchange for it he wouldn't touch the tariff. This capitulation is a major failure of the Roosevelt presidency, a failure as large as his greatest victories.
x, no need for Taft here if it's just the first two volumes. By Morris, Taft is TR's waterboy in the Philippines, Cuba, and Panama. If it weren't for Root and Taft, TR wouldn't have any of 'em, or at least nothing much of it to speak of. We won't see this in the film, of course.
Time to build another pyramid for the great Teddy Roosevelt...
And, oh, in the movie they'll slam McKinley. So sad.
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