Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Reap the Whirlwind

How is it that I hadn't bothered to pick up and read Josh Bazell's Beat the Reaper before now? I was aware of the title, for a year and a half or so, but was just too... something.... lazy? to investigate. Hot damn, it kicked ass. Kicked a very special kind of ass too. That too rare - hyper violent, precision vulgarity alternate universe that a Duane Swierczynski or a Tom Piccirrilli or Chuck Palahniuk might conceptualize, and deliver on the page so fresh it's still sticky with birthwater kind of ass. Kicked it. I'm going on a bit about it and other high-concept sort of shit over at Ransom Notes. Hold on... hmmm, Glenn Gray - whose gross-out body-building/medical-horror stories Reaper sort of reminded me of informs me that Leonardo DiCaprio has snatched up the rights and plans to star in the film adaptation - but now that I think of it, Reaper might make a good Jason Statham/Guy Ritchie vehicle. Especially as Dr. Peter Brown is supposed to look like a brute, (hard to imagine Leo pulling that off) and the appeal of the book lies so heavily in the internal monologue of the character, (something that Ritchie is pretty good with). Am I too self-conscious a hipster to cop to a fondness for Ritchie and Statham? Hell, no. When he's not disappearing up his own ass (or Madonna's) Ritchie is a first-rate genre filmmaker whose kinetic energy measures at something close to nuclear level and Statham? Have you not seen Crank or The Transporter (or Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels or Snatch for that matter, just not Revolver, please not that one)? His appeal is obvious. I can't wait for Blitz and I hear good things about The Mechanic -  the remake of the old Charles Bronson movie - out now with Ben Foster. Is it too late to make this happen? Shit, just go read the book. And whoever is representing Glenn, get us a novel please.

7 comments:

Sean Patrick Reardon said...

I too had heard of the title, which alone had me interested. Thanks for the reminder and I am so all over this. Guy Ritchie is one of my fav directors and the storylines and style he brings to the table are right up my alley.

Chris said...

This was one of my favorite books of 2009 -- just a fun, explosive read. Everyone I've loaned it to has loved it as well. I'm with you, though; can't really see Leo in the movie. Statham I could live with.

Neil said...

I loved REAPER. It was strong medicine. Big influence on me going forward, I think.

Rod Norman said...

I loved this one as well. I spent a Sunday morning in bed & read it in couple hours from start to finish. It was one of those that once you start it, you don't want to put it down.

Kieran Shea said...

Reaper should star the "mayhem" dude from the All State Insurance commercials. Dean Winters. He was freakin' awesome in HBO's OZ and the early seasons of RESCUE ME playing Dennis Leary's wife-fucking brother. Too bad he ended up getting shot in the series, but he's a hardknock kinda guy. Take a peak: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-ZdU3Yf7u8

jedidiah ayres said...

I like Dean Winters a lot. His Oz twins were highlights and yeah that was about the time I stopped taking Rescue Me seriously - still enjoyed it, just didn't take it seriously. He's pretty hilarious on 30 Rock too. I could see him in Reaper.

Grant Jerkins said...

Got it on my shelf. Great reminder to pull it down and read it.