Matt Damon as RFK
Personally, I belong to the school of the condensed-biopic. What I mean by that is movies about real life figures that focus in-depth on a particular moment in time that was either historically fascinating or defined their greatness, instead of the biopics that condense a whole person's life into a two soulless hours. I'm thinking The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Capote, Schlinder's List and Downfall. Condensed storytelling rather than a moment by moment account that attempts to explain the person's every action and decision. How he was always born for greatness, how he found his passion and became a great man, how he met his wife, how many times he washed a day - and all that, we don't need it. I think it was Quentin Tarantino who said on the Charlie Rose show one time; "nobody's life is ever that interesting" and I know exactly what he means. For example, as much as I liked say - The Aviator - how much better of a movie would it have been if it decided to focus on one aspect of Howard Hughes' eccentric life rather than trying to cover the whole thing? That's why I'm a little bummed to report from Deadline that Matt Damon is getting ready to portray the whole tragically unfulfilled life of former New York senator Robert F. Kennedy in a biopic at New Regency.
Steve Knight (Eastern Promises) will adapt Evan Thomas' biopic His Life for above-average storyteller Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) to helm.
Mike Fleming at Deadline says;
Perfect casting, of course. He has the grace, the considered complexion and the eyes that reflect a deep thinking wisdom that Kennedy possessed- and that's before you remember how good of an actor he is but I don't want to see the kodak moments so Damon can win an Oscar nomination, which will be the likely scenario here. Sadly, Chris Columbus' much more intriguing adaptation of Thurston Clarke book "The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America." - about the presidential campaign of Kennedy that ended in his own assassination just as it was looking likely he was going to the White House (those final moments chronicled in Bobby) has been stuck in development hell for over a year.The film will trace RFK's transformation from the younger brother in the shadow brother President John F Kennedy to a strong national leader in his own right before he was gunned down in 1968.