Best Actress 2013: Michelle Pfeiffer, Malavita

Michelle Pfeiffer is working more consistently these days, and while she hasn't done anything as grand as her earlier work, it's just nice to see the legend out there and acting.  But, when you put the actress and the thriller genre together, there's generally a reason to get excited, no?  Okay, What Lies Beneath is the only movie that comes to mind to make my argument, but Malavita is directed by Luc Besson (who directe La Femme Nikita once upon a time), so the pairing holds a lot of promise.  Besson adapted Tonino Benacquista's novel (released in an English translation under the cringeworthy title Badfellas) about an American Mafia family called the Manzonis headed by Robert De Niro who relocates to a villa in Normandy under assumed identities.  Also in the cast are Tommy Lee Jones, and Dianna Agron.  If anything, at the very least, this sounds like what might be a fun and exciting romp.  For some reason, initially, the casting made me think this was going to be a comedy; I take De Niro so less seriously these days.  Besson is producing with Martin Scorsese as an executive producer.  Filmed last Summer mostly in the Orne region of France, Relativity Media set the release date for October 18th.

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