Moving further still from his small-town dramedy roots, director Barry Levinson will direct indie O.K.C. for producer Peter Safran, from a script by Clay Wold. The film will focus on the aftermath of the Oklahoma City Bombing and a young legal clerk on Timothy McVeigh‘s defense team determined to prove a conspiracy that ultimately destroys him. Said legal clerk is directly based on Wold’s own brother, which makes this whole project oddly personal. [Deadline]
The whole McVeigh story has always read pretty straightforward to me and post-9/11 the Oklahoma City Bombing feels somewhat muted, at least cinematically speaking. Furthermore, the McVeigh character was sufficiently tackled via Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking when all of this made for a “hot-button issue.” These narrative obstacles interest me if only to see how a master filmmaker like Levinson will overcome them. The man’s in the middle of a comeback, hopefully this won’t stale the trend.
Fan of Levinson? How’s he fit this project in your eyes?