Here Glinksi dreamcasts an adaptation of The Friendship of Criminals, his first novel:What crime fiction writer doesn’t dream of his or her characters hitting the big screen? Most of my all-time favorite films are novel adaptations so the evolution from page to projector has always struck me as a worthy and natural artistic progression, e.g., The French Connection, Goodfellas, Marathon Man, The Godfather, Jackie Brown, Mystic River, The Town, and Out of Sight.Visit Robert Glinski's website.
I was lucky enough to option film/TV rights before publishing rights so this has been an actual discussion point we’ve mulled over with producers. One of my novel’s principal characters – a hustler named Sonny – is James Caan because Caan is the spitting image of the character’s real-life inspiration in terms of accent, mannerisms, bravado, and background. Sonny needs an actor who the audience believes can earn $100 million and spend $105 million with the same emotional trajectory. That’s Caan.
The protagonist – Anton Bielakowski, an old-school Polish mobster who stays true to his neighborhood – is either Harvey Keitel (ala his shaved head prisoner cameo in The Grand Budapest Hotel) or one of my favorite character actors – Armin Mueller-Stahl. Both have the chops and stones to carry a role that says a whole lot with a shut mouth.
For Anton’s son Marcek, we need a good-looking hood, a guy with a twinkle in his eye who knows first-hand all the book’s neighborhoods and street corners. Hello, Philly’s own Bradley Cooper. Marcek’s girlfriend Angie Spina – probably the novel’s most intelligent character - is Rooney Mara because Jennifer Lawrence is too obvious and no one is entitled to the perfect cast.
The Page 69 Test: The Friendship of Criminals.
--Marshal Zeringue
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