Given The Greenlight

Fox Searchlight's Hollywoodteur presidents Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley walked away from Cannes with the Palme d'Or award for Terrence Malick's visionary The Tree of Life, in theaters this coming Friday, they also gave the greenlight to the first film by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris since Little Miss Sunshine.

The new film, He Loves Me, is a reunion of sorts. Besides being back in the Searchlight camp, He Loves Me stars Paul Dano, whose career was launched by Sunshine. Dano will be paired alongside his girlfriend, Zoe Kazan, who wrote the script. The film also reunites Dayton and Faris with Sunshine producers Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa. Casting news reveals Jeff Bridges is being courted to join the production, currently set for July.

After Little Miss Sunshine won two Oscars and was a Best Picture nominee, Dayton and Faris were courted like crazy by studios and became attached to a number of projects, none of which pan out. After five years since the release of that Sunshine, the team is ready to go.

Repped by CAA and Anonymous Content, Dano, recently completed, Looper, sold in a big Cannes acquisition deal to FilmDistrict and he just wrapped the Paul Weitz directed adaptation of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City for Focus Films opposite Robert De Niro. Dano will be seen this summer in Cowboys & Aliens.

OVERLOOKED: Gigantic

If you loved 500 Days of Summer, you are going to be delighted with Gigantic. Gigantic is like the director's cut or probably a closer scripted version of 500 Days of Summer.

The story of a high-end mattress salesman in Manhattan from an affluent and lovingly goals oriented family, Gigantic is sure to keep you interested. There are so many great performances including a wonderful John Goodman as the father of the love interest, Happy, played by Zooey Deschanel. However, the real stand-out here is Paul Dano.

Apparently Dano absorbed a little Daniel Day-Lewis from their brilliant film There Will Be Blood. Playing Brian Weathersby, Dano is the patient and considerate youngest brother, who since age 8 has wanted to adopted an Asian baby. Dano is so like-able, you want good people around this sensitive young man. Scene after scene Dano fills not only the frame with a nice presence but enters the lives of normal everyday people who need his calming effects.

Gigantic is not a perfect film; however, it did win "Best Feature Film" at the Dallas International Film Festival for director Matt Aselton. In a great film decision making debate, there are two (2) things/scenes/scenarios that should have been left on the editing room floor 1 - Happy's visual conversation with her {absent} mother and 2 - Zach Galifianakis's homeless man shenanigans. Plot points that serve as restroom breaks.

In the end, Gigantic is a fresh, modern take on the boy meets girl genre. It is a story of one man's place in the lives of his friends, family, co-workers, work and personal goals that are unpredictable and often materialize when you least expect it.

How did I miss this one?