It’s getting on twenty years from the release of “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?,” the film that cemented Johnny Depp as an adult leading man, as well as introducing the world to Leonardo DiCaprio. This makes us feel very old. Peter Hedges, who wrote the novel that Lasse Hallstrom’s film was based on, has only written one novel since that, 1998’s “An Ocean in Iowa,” focusing instead on his career as a screenwriter and director. He was also behind the camera for the pretty good “Pieces of April,” and the pretty awful “Dan in Real Life.”
Now, for the first time, Hedges is going to combine his various different disciplines, as Focus Features have bought the rights to his third novel “The Heights,” which was published last month, and have hired him to adapt and direct a film version. The book follows Tim and Kate, a married couple in Brooklyn Heights whose lives are turned upside down by their wealthy, mysterious new neighbor.
Hedges will reteam with “Pieces of April” producer John Lyons, who’s now president of production at Focus. We liked that film, despite its flaws, and Hedges’ new novel has had some pretty good reviews, with its depiction of the neighborhood coming in for particular praise, so we hope this is closer to Hedges’ debut than the weak Steve Carell vehicle from a few years back.