The jump from acting to directing is pretty common now days in cinema. Recently the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt has made the leap from starring in such films as The Dark Knight Rises and Looper, to direct his first feature film, Don Jon. And everyone's favourite Ryan Gosling is soon to direct his first feature film, How to catch a Monster. And now Avengers Assemble star, Scarlett Johansson can join the ranks of actors turned directors. Johansson has been looking to direct her own film for a while now, with rumors that date back two years ago and now it has been confirmed that Johansson is set to adapt Truman Capote's Summer Crossing. Production company Aldamisa Entertainment, who are releasing the sequel to Sin City this year, spoke about funding the project at the Cannes Film Festival this week. 

Summer crossing is Capote's first novel, written in the 1940s, centering around a middle-class New York teenager left at home over the summer while their parents are on holiday in France. With all the freedom she could hope for, she falls for a Jewish parking attendant who she sets out to marry. As you would expect class division and society's expectations gets between the young couple. Published in 2005, after Capote claimed to have destroyed the book but Capote's early writing was saved from destruction. In interview Johansson expressed her excitement for the project, saying: “Several years ago," says Johnansson, "I began working alongside the Capote estate and writer Tristine Skyler to adapt Summer Crossing, an inspired early work of Truman’s which has long captured my heart. Being able to bring this story to the screen as my full length directorial debut is a life dream and deep privilege.” Production is set for early 2014, it is unsure whether Johansson will star in front of the camera as well as behind.

DVD review: Crazy, Stupid, Love

Everyone's heard of midlife crisis's, you know when men around 50 feel the need to buy a motorbike and use just for men. Well it would appear Steve Carrell's character Cal Weaver in Crazy, Stupid, Love is having just that. The film opens with various shots of people touching each others legs under the table and then we get to Cal's table, no leg touching just a pair of battered New Balance trainers sitting lonely. The mood above the table is not any better, the chemistry Cal and his wife, Emily, have would struggle to fill a small petri dish. It doesn't get any better after finding out his wife, played by Julianne Moore, wants a divorce after she slept with a peer at work. Cal's already emotionless face freeze only for the news to have no effect on him. What ensues is Cal, rather unhumorously, falls out of his car as his wife discusses their divorce and blah blah blah. Its not a particularly gripping first ten minutes, if it aims to bore its audience then it surely achieves its goal.

After Cal moves out he soon finds himself sitting at the same bar every night shouting and raving about his wife and David Lindhagen, played by Kevin Bacon. Soon enough Ryan Gosling's slick, quick witted Jacob offers him a deal, he will help him become a man again. You'd think the introduction of Ryan Gosling, an actor who typically makes a film about 40% better, would succeed in making the story more interesting but no, instead you spend the rest of the film questioning yourself  whether he is gay or not and if he will actually start acting soon. The chemistry between Carrell and Gosling is at times no existent, although it is a pleasure to watch Carrell's Cal attempt to chat up woman with discussions about his wife, David Lindhagen and his children. The funniest parts of the films are down to Cal's son Robbie who is hopelessly in love with his babysitter Jessica who is actually in love with Cal, how funny a love triangle. Robbie's declarations of love for a babysitter four years older are awkwardly funny but still could have been funnier if the writers had cared abit more about their characters. The best aspect of Crazy, Stupid, Love is without doubt the inclusion of Emma Stone who brightens up the comedy instantly and her chemistry with Gosling is the most believable and emotional with belief that these two people are actually involved somehow.

To give away the plot twist that includes a fight on a makeshift mini golf course would be to ruin the film's plot but it doesn't really matter as you will probably be bored by the film by then. At the heart of the film there seems to have been, at one stage at least, a funny idea but between the ideas stage and the creation it got lost somewhere. Disappointing to see talent from the likes of Stone and Gosling wasted, I didn't particularly expect much more from Carrell who lost any credibility he had after Evan Almighty.