Banderas Bags “Big Bang”

Antonio Banderas communes with his inner Puss-in-Boots.

Variety reports that Antonio Banderas has signed on to star in “The Big Bang.” Tony Krantz, a former agent, will make his big screen directorial debut with the film (he’s done a few straight-to-video it seems…nothing to be ashamed, think of it as filmmaker kindergarten).

The film is described as “neo-noir. Here’s the story: “An L.A. private detective (Banderas) is hired to find a missing stripper. The trail leads to the New Mexico desert, where the private eye finds a trail of bodies and contends with a brutal Russian boxer, three LAPD detectives and an aging billionaire looking to perfect the nuclear physics equivalent of the Big Bang.”

Well, it’s not LA and neo-noir if a stripper isn’t involved, is it? This reminds me a little of a Mickey Spillane movie from the 1950s that I saw where people spend a lot of time running around with a box of nuclear weapons (yes, a box). At the end, some people get vaporized in spectacular fashion (for a 1950s, low-budget movie, at least). Most of LA seems to have been relatively untouched, though. Then again, I can’t even remember the name of the movie, so perhaps you shouldn’t trust my grasp of the details. Anyway, I’m rambling.

Mr. Banderas recently finished shooting Woody Allen’s latest and currently untitled film (not the one with Larry David that hasn’t had a general release yet, the one following; got to give this to the Woodman, at least he can’t be accused of slacking). Other than that, it seems like it’s been a while since he’s done a feature film. In the parts where I live, he’s fondly remembered for his starring role in the revival of the musical “Nine,” the success of which no doubt led to the film version finally being made. The lead in the movie went to Daniel Day-Lewis. No complaints there. Anyway (again), I knew people who had friends who worked with Banderas in “Nine,” and they said he was incredibly nice, so I hope he has some success with this rather trite sounding film. Hey, trite on the page can sometimes turn into a lot of fun onscreen. Good luck, Antonio.