By: Kristy Puchko
As the befuddled football player with a song in his heart, Glee star Cory Monteith became a TV heartthrob. But now that Finn Hudson has graduated from McKinley High, Monteith’s role on the show will likely be scaled back, which allows this All-American-looking Canadian actor a chance to try his hand at movie stardom.
Previously, Monteith has snagged supporting roles in teen-aimed features like Final Destination 3 and Monte Carlo, but Variety reports he has signed for a more mature feature called McCanick. An action drama from Bleiberg Entertainment, the film will focus on hotheaded narcotics officer Eugene “Mack” McCanick, who becomes wildly obsessed with a seemingly harmless criminal who has been released from prison. Over the course of a long, hot day, McCanick and his partner track this peculiar perp, encountering violence and uncovering a dark secret from Mack’s past.
Monteith has signed on to play the mysterious man, while the often intimidating character actor David Morse (Disturbia) will play McCanick, and Superman Returns‘s Brandon Routh his partner. Josh C. Waller, director of the little known horror flick Raze, will helm, bringing to life the original screenplay penned by Daniel Noah (Max Rose). Rather than attempting a flashy non-stop action approach,McCanick will follow in the vein of 70s cop pics like The French Connection and Serpico, focusing primarily on tormented cop character study, punctuated by scenes of stirring action.
Morse is a riveting performer, so I’m confident he can shoulder such a reportedly intense emotional arc. The question will be if Routh and Monteith can keep up. Both could use the jolt a thriller like this could give their career. Routh is still paying the unfair punishment of years of unremarkable opportunities following the lackluster box office of Superman Returns, and Monteith needs to move fast lest Hollywood brand him a goody goody gleek for the rest of his relevancy. If done right, McCanick could prove a good turning point for each of its leading men.
McCanick shoots this September in Philadelphia.
Source: Cinema Blend