Celebrity biopics are difficult to do well – they have to have the right casting and the right director and they have to avoid the usual cliches of rise, fall and redemption. They typically either represent their subjects as brilliant and luminous, or dark and desperate, but rarely do they manage to capture the complexity of a real human being. We can hope that the upcoming biopic of Montgomery Clift, entitled Monty Clift according to IMDb, will do justice to its difficult subject.
Today we’re hearing that Matt Bomer of White Collar fame has agreed to take on the role of the tragic star. Monty Clift will not tell the full story about the actor, but rather focus on his burgeoning relationship with Elizabeth Taylor after they met on the set of A Place In The Sun. Clift and Taylor would remain close friends until his death at the age of 45, working on two more films together: Suddenly, Last Summer and Raintree Country. While IMDb claims that the film is about Montgomery Clift actually falling in love with Taylor, that might be a bit misleading. Clift was a homosexual, though his relationship with Taylor was obviously deep and affectionate.
Christopher Lovick penned the script for Monty Clift, with Larry Moss attached to direct. No word yet on who will join Bomer on the cast, though presumably they’ll be looking for an actress to take on the part of Liz Taylor. I hear Lindsay Lohan might be available.
Bomer is an interesting choice for the part of Clift. He has the right look and perhaps the right emotional vulnerability to play the star of From Here To Eternity and Red River. As a film actor, though, he’s largely untested, with a few bit parts in Magic Mike and Flightplan to his credit. I’m assuming that he got this role largely on the basis of White Collar.
We’ll keep an eye out for future casting news about Monty Clift as it comes out.
Does this sound like a winner to you? Let us know in the comments.
