As Tina Fey joked in her Golden Globes monologue on Sunday, there are still plenty of roles available in Hollywood for Meryl Streeps over the age of 60. The actress received her 18th Academy Award nomination earlier today for her performance in August: Osage County and she is still a formidable box office draw. Naturally, mogul Harvey Weinstein wants to work with Streep again (and nab another chance at Oscar gold) and he plans to do so with The Senator’s Wife, a story that the executive explains will be a fierce indictment of the National Rifle Association gun lobby.
In an announcement on The Howard Stern Show, Weinstein explained that the movie would be like a contemporary version of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, except the subject matter may not be so Capraesque. “We’re going to take this issue head on, and [the NRA is] going to wish they weren’t alive after I’m done with them,” says Weinstein, a supporter of President Barack Obama. He mentioned that the film would be a scathing account of how the NRA influenced public policy to defeat legislation that could have expanded background checks on gun sales.
My only concern here is that a film with such overtly liberal-friendly political subject matter may not do very well at the box office. See the withering reception for The Ides of March and Lions for Lambs, the latter of which starred Streep, for proof. However, the recent controversy surrounding gun legislation in the wake of mass shootings in Aurora and Newtown, combined with the star wattage of an actress like Streep, should make this drama one to keep an eye on.
The Senator’s Wife does not currently have a writer or director on board, although with the fervor that Weinstein speaks of the project and the power he wields in Hollywood, it won’t take long to find someone. As tempting as it may be to hire Aaron Sorkin or Danny Strong (Game Change), who use their art to champion their liberal views, perhaps a more restrained, less didactic story will be what brings audiences in.
