It was a strange announcement last month, when Variety reported that Russell Crowe had signed on to play The Sheriff of Nottingham, in a move that would make him $20 million. Oh no, it wasn't the fact he was meant to play The Sheriff that was so strange... I actually think that would have been a great fit if they were doing a period Robin Hood piece. The strange thing was that in this movie The Sheriff was the good guy and the flick was described as being a modern day detective story. Film Ick will kindly fill us in on some of the details, they have got their hands on a script review for the movie.... The script for Nottingham bears the tagline There are two sides to every legend,The story begins in late 12th century Cyprus with Sir Robert Tornham battling in the Crusades. Hes a good soldier, a leader, and his reward from King Richard is to be appointed the Sheriff of Cyprus. Tornhams stay is short-lived, however, when a letter from Richard notifies him hes to be the new Sheriff of Nottingham. Tornham and his Squire, Thomas (a role seemingly written for Michael Caine) pack up and head to England.In Richards absence, England is ruled by Prince John and the city of Nottingham, second only to London in size, is in crisis. Theres a Norman/Saxon divide, a mysterious hooded outlaw causing trouble and a recent gruesome murder involving a pair of young Nobles. Sir Guy of Gisbourne suspects Robin Hood (formerly Sir Robin of Locksley, a Nobleman who was outlawed for defending a man accused of killing one of the Kings deer) is behind the murders and the new Sheriff begins the manhunt.Tornham meets Marian, Robins fiancé, and is immediately smitten. The pair become close, Marian is a fine archer and attempts to coach the slow-to-learn Sheriff, but both know that their relationship has no future. Marian is devoted to Robin and they will wed once his title is restored by King Richard, and the Sheriff ultimately wants to track down Robin and bring him to justice. Their verdict on the script is that, it's good but doesn't quite live up to the hype. There's no Will Scarlet or Friar Tuck and Little John gets nothing but a fleeting cameo..... Nottingham isnt a bad script but it feels like a missed opportunity. Reiff and Voris wanted to re-invent something familiar and I applaud them for doing so, but they seem to be holding back, not quite going the whole nine yards for fear it they might go too far. Interesting. I really like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves but that's mostly because of how super cool Alan Rickman plays The Sheriff, and it does sound like with this flick they are taking the fun out of his character a little. Interesting to see who gets the director's gig for this. I keep hearing Sam Raimi's name being mentioned, but with him possibly leaving Spider-Man, he gets linked with everything under the sun at the moment. source - film ick