The film is He Loves Me -- directed by Little Miss Sunshine duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris -- and Bening is in talks to play mother to Sunshine's best actor Paul Dano. Per Variety:
Dano stars as Calvin, a once-great novelist who is creativity blocked due to heartache and loneliness. That changes when he writes his dream girl, who comes to life to be his girlfriend. That role will be played by Dano's real-life girlfriend, Zoe Kazan, who also wrote the script.
Bening will play Gertrude, an [sic] painter who's curious about Calvin's new girlfriend but worried about how much he hates her second husband, a hippie named Mort.
That makes Bening most likely a supporting character in He Loves Me, which would hearken back to 1990's The Grifters; she scored her sole nomination for Best Supporting Actress in the Stephen Frears-directed film. That role was bubbly and conniving; this one sounds concerned and supportive -- perhaps more akin to Holly Hunter's role in Thirteen than anything in Bening's own oeuvre, and you betcha Hunter picked up a nomination for that. The appearance of Paul Dano is also a help; he's been in two movies in five years where costars picked up trophies. His offbeat panache makes movies seem respectable, guys!
What do you think? Does He Loves Me have the potential to finally give Bening a chance to make the triumphant walk up to the Oscar stage?
ยท Annette Bening lining up for 'He Loves Me' [Variety]