Lange and Harris to lead LONG DAY’S JOURNEY film

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 11/28/22 at 11:41am

Production has wrapped on the new film adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer prize-winning play, Long Day's Journey Into Night, starring Jessica Lange, Ed Harris, Ben Foster and Colin Morgan.

Deadline reports that theatre and opera director Jonathan Kent will make his film debut helming the new movie, which was shot on location in County Wicklow, Ireland. David Lindsay-Abaire adapted the play for the screen.

Lange will reprise her role as Mary Tyrone. Harris is portraying her husband, James. Foster plays their son, Jamie. Morgan plays their other son, Edmund, who is a portrait of O'Neill himself.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/LONG-DAYS-JOURNEY-INTO-NIGHT-Film-Starring-Jessica-Lange-Ed-Harris-Wraps-Production-20221128

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 11/28/22 at 1:13pm

I never wanted to sleep in all my life watching her on stage do this role. The front runner that year was clearly Michelle Willams in Black Bird

[JSquared2]

Posted: 11/28/22 at 1:38pm

WldKingdomHM said: "I never wanted to sleep in all my life watching her on stage do this role. The front runner that year was clearly Michelle Willams in Black Bird"

 

Huh??

[JoeW4]

Posted: 11/28/22 at 1:46pm

Ugh, this sounds awful - I didn't like Jonathan Kent's revival, I don't like Lange, I don't like the play, and I have a hard time imagining it working well on film (I've never seen the 1962 film - Is it any good / does it hold up? I feel like audiences back then were more forgiving of films that felt somewhat "stagey" than they are today).

But I'll watch it for Ed Harris. He'll kill it in this role. I've seen this play a bunch of times even though I don't like it, because it tends to attract great actors, and the play has the potential to be one hell of an actors' showcase.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 11/28/22 at 2:00pm

[Dollypop]

Posted: 11/28/22 at 2:57pm

They play is difficulty to like and I'd had a difficult time staying awake during most productions of it. I saw the Brian Dennehy/Vanessa Redgrave production out of a sense of duty because Brian and I had worked together out here on Long Island and had become friends. That production was brilliant!

Redgrave was mesmerizing as Mary and Dennehy was fabulous as James. That performance was so pitch perfect I never want to see any other prodection of the play.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 11/28/22 at 5:10pm

Dollypop said: "They play is difficulty to like and I'd had a difficult time staying awake during most productions of it. I saw the Brian Dennehy/Vanessa Redgrave production out of a sense of duty because Brian and I had worked together out here on Long Island and had become friends. That production was brilliant!

Redgrave was mesmerizing as Mary and Dennehy was fabulous as James. That performance was so pitch perfect I never want to see any other prodection of the play."

Man, I love Brian Dennehy.. I have such a respect for him and I am just in awe of his talent. He got a late start in his career and went from playing anything he can get his hand on to becoming perhaps the foremost living interpreter of playwright Eugene O'Neill's works on stage and screen. 

 

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 11/28/22 at 5:35pm

I thought Lange was absolutely fantastic in the last revival (and she has the Tony to show for it!) so I'm surprised at the comments here. I also thought there were some great scenic and lighting choices made with the design. Sadly I felt that Gabriel Byrne couldn't quite match Lange's intensity, and his role (which usually dominates the play) took a backseat to her. Though he was more successful int he scenes with his sons.

It's a classic play that deserves a quality film adaptation which will stand the test of time. I hope this film version winds up just that.

[bk]

Posted: 11/29/22 at 1:41am

I have never liked Lange as an actress, not in a single thing. Ed Harris seems like a very strange choice for James Tyrone. Prior to the pandemic, I was lucky enough to see Jeremy Irons and Lesley Manville do it and while I didn't love the production, I will say Irons was excellent but Manville was the greatest Mary Tyrone I've ever seen and, in fact, one of the greatest performances I've ever seen. The play remains a favorite of mine but it must be cast perfectly. 

[JoeW4]

Posted: 11/29/22 at 8:57am

In Lange’s (partial) defense, with the way O’Neill wrote the role of Mary, it’s an extremely tricky role to get right, without engaging in melodramatic scenery screwing. 

Between live productions and pro-shots, I’ve seen Lange, Manville, Metcalf, Redgrave, and Elizabeth Marvel - and actually Metcalf and Marvel were the only 2 who gave performances I liked.

But to the person above who said they were surprised by the comments about disliking Lange’s performance: I am too. At the time, it was almost all high praise from this board, and she was considered a lock for the Tony.  People who disliked her are in the minority, but I guess we just happened to come to this thread first. 

[east side story]

Posted: 11/29/22 at 9:19am

Lange was mesmerizing, but the production around her was noticeably lacking.  Her final monologue was haunting, but her costars, even Michael Shannon, were on a different frequency.  

The Tony race was between Michelle Williams, Lupita Nyong'o, and Lange that season.  Michelle's play was not for everyone, even though I thought she was brilliant, and Lupita's alleged behavior backstage could not have worked in her favor, so Jessica prevailed.  I just wish her production had been stronger.

 

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 11/29/22 at 10:37am

Interesting they chose to film in Ireland when the setting is Connecticut.

[Amos Hart2]

Posted: 11/29/22 at 10:39am

I'm sure there are those who will disagree, or make the usual jokes, but Faye Dunaway was born to play Mary.

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 11/29/22 at 1:33pm

Amos Hart2 said: "I'm sure there are those who will disagree, or make the usual jokes, but Faye Dunaway was born to play Mary."

Oy vey.