Quirky, verbal romantic comedy Little Black Book has character, Jane Craig, who worked in the Peace Corps
Holly wouldn't
Quirky, verbal romantic comedy Little Black Book has a lot on its mind about trust in relationships, mostly trust in one's own instincts. While Brittany Murphy's its perky core as an employee on a Montel-like show (hosted by a spluttering Kathy Bates) going down the tubes, the movie's dark, beating heart is fierce producer Barb, embodied with a small woman's zest as only the one and only Holly Hunter could.
There are all kinds of twists here, but it's still strange to see her in what most people would think of a Hollywood movie. She offers up her sidelong grin. "It's not a Hollywood movie if I'm in it!"
While she's choosy, Hunter doesn't seem to be like Brando saying that acting is a valueless thing to do with one's life. "No," she says quickly. "Nor do I really think he thought that. It can be a little embarrassing. It's all got a kind of wash of humiliation running through it. It's a patina of humiliation! It's because of the exposure when everybody else is thinking what time lunch is going to be and god I really need a smoke and you're up there being concerned with y'know, revealing something universal about humanity. It's tough."
There's a lot of bracing meanness in Little Black Book, some distance from morally uptight, unhappy Jane Craig in Broadcast News, the last time she played a character in a TV studio. "I hope that people also think of me as the 'Cheerleader Murdering Mom,'" she says, eyes bright. "I was hoping she put an end to Jane Craig! There are parallels. And huge differences. The biggest difference that I liked and wanted to shape with Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, the producer, who also heavily rewrote [the script], I really wanted to instill in the character that she's a drifter, she's a dabbler, she's not a careerist. She's not a professional woman, even. She's interested in a grand scientific experiment, which is us. She worked in the Peace Corps, she drove a bus, Wall Street, and then she lands in reality TV. I thought her a slightly bohemian type who definitely had an off-screen life, as opposed to Jane Craig, who was all on-screen. I wanted hints of an off-screen existence with this girl; she's put together. She looks good. She's got something going on that has nothing to do with being a producer."
