Don't call it a comeback, but it looks like Jane Fonda is ready to get back to work. The actress/fitness guru/activist hasn't been entirely idle on the big screen in the past ten years, but she hasn't been Jessica Chastain either. Back in 2005, Fonda co-starred in the Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy "Monster-in-Law," Fonda's first acting role in 15 years. Despite being hated by critics, the film was a box office success, and seemed to herald Fonda's return to acting. However, after 2007's "Georgia Rule," Fonda disappeared again only to reappear years later with three projects: the comedy-drama "Peace, Love & Misunderstanding," a recurring role on Aaron Sorkin's HBO series "The Newsroom," and, last month, Fonda was cast as Nancy Reagan in Lee Daniels' "The Butler." The excellent trailer for "The Newsroom" arrived earlier this month, and now the first trailer for "Peace, Love & Misunderstanding" has been revealed by Yahoo!.
It's Catherine Keener who is the actual lead in "Peace, Love & Misunderstanding," but as the trailer makes clear, the movie is all about capitalizing on Fonda. Keener plays a lawyer, who undergoing a divorce who takes her two teenage kids (Elizabeth Olsen and Nat Wolff) out to visit their hippie grandmother (Fonda) in Woodstock. The role is a perfect fit for Fonda, certainly better than "Monster-in-Law," even if the film looks like a fairly rote tale of redemption where Fonda's crazy antics slowly but surely (and predictably) fix every family issue. The draw for the cast probably wasn't the script (unless you think naked old dudes are hilarious) but the opportunity to work with Bruce Beresford, who directed "Tender Mercies" and "Driving Miss Daisy."
IFC Films picked up the film rights to "Peace, Love & Misunderstanding" at the Toronto International Film Festival last September and has scheduled it for limited release on June 8th. We're hoping the studio has a better film than is on display in the trailer.