If you've turned on the television at all this week -- or, gasp, read a newspaper! -- the chances are good you've familiarized yourself with Steven Slater. Or, as you might know him: The JetBlue Guy. His crazypants story -- cursing out an unruly passenger and then exiting the plane via the inflatable emergency exit slide -- has become a rallying cry for an unhappy culture of worker bees. Naturally, a movie has to come next, right? Ahead, Movieline picks five directors who would best bring Slater's story to life.
1. Steven Soderbergh
You could nominate Steven Soderbergh to direct any film and not be wrong -- in his review of Eat, Pray, Love, David Poland makes the case for Soderbergh to direct that film... and it sounds good! -- but the more background we discover about the Slater incident, the more the Oscar-winner seems like a natural fit. If Steven Slater is some modern-day version of Mark Whitacre from The Informant! -- somewhat unhinged, a legend in his own mind -- then Soderbergh's bouncy and delusional character deconstruction would be a perfect template for a film based on Slater's life to follow. Why get an impostor to direct it then? Just hire Soderbergh -- and maybe Matt Damon, too -- and let him hit those beats again, but with a zeitgeist-y spin.
2. Sidney Lumet
More than being quintessentially American, Slater's story feels quintessentially New York. There are many filmmakers associated with the city, but of everyone, only Sidney Lumet feels uniquely qualified. The way Slater quit his job had an anti-establishment bent that recalled the "Attica! Attica!" sequence from Dog Day Afternoon. And besides, no one does summer in the city like Sidney. (Abel Ferrara might have him beat for crazy, but we want to like Slater in the end.)
3. Nicole Holofcener
What if you told the story of Steven Slater not from his perspective, but from that of the entitled female passenger who drew his ire? Enter Nicole Holofcener, a wizard of entitled characters. Put her in front of a fictionalized version of Slater's story, one where the crazed incident is a meet-cute that ends in ennui and an affair. Catherine Keener stars, natch.
4. Robert Schwentke
Beyond just having the most fun name of any director in Hollywood, Schwentke also has some familiarity with claustrophobic plane sets -- he was the man responsible for the Jodie Foster dud Flight Plan. Plus, come on: Schwentke.
5. Ryan Murphy
Say what you will about Glee, but it is a show that consistently finds the barely suppressed rage inside each character, and creator Ryan Murphy has a way of drawing that personality trait out with ease. Here's guessing a flight attendant who jumped off a landed plane by using the exit ramp had some rage issues. Bonus points if he turns it into a musical: First song, "Take This Job and Shove It."