Scott Timberg at the LAT has some good news: there’s a chance we’ll see a Travis McGee movie sometime in the future.
If you don’t know who Travis McGee is, don’t feel too bad — I blame our educational system. McGee was the prototypical hero-for-hire in John D. MacDonald’s series of novels. A former Marine “taking his retirement on the installment plan,” McGee lived in a houseboat he won in a poker game, drank gin, basked in the sun, and when necessary, went out to right wrongs for a nice percentage of the profits.
He wasn’t a private eye, not exactly — he called himself a “salvage consultant.” If someone ripped you off, you could go to McGee, and without getting the cops involved, he could get back your money — for half. Which, as he pointed out, was better than nothing.
But McGee was also a modern knight. He had a fine moral sense that left him unable to turn his back on a friend, or on anyone suffering. So he wound up taking a lot of not-for-profit jobs as well.
With McGee, MacDonald set the pattern of the reluctant hero for everyone who came after. You can see his influence in the works of dozens of writers, including Carl Hiaasen, Dean Koontz, Robert Parker, and pretty much everyone who’s set a novel in Florida ever since. It helped that MacDonald could write the hell out of his stories, and McGee had an opinion on everything he saw — from the ongoing pollution and degradation of Florida to the relationships between men and women.
As Timberg says, McGee was the American James Bond. And it’s baffling to me that he’s not the star of just as many movies.
Now, however, the quest for a franchise has some producers turning to the View-Master and the video game Asteroids. If they’re that desperate, then perhaps a richly detailed, tightly plotted series featuring a compelling protagonist has a shot.
Dream casting has already started:
Lovers of the books are most concerned, of course, with who will play McGee himself. The Internet has included speculation that Robert Downey Jr., fresh off his portrayal of the upcoming “Sherlock Holmes,” might take on the role. Ideally, the actor would have to be young enough to hold on for a franchise that could run for close to a decade.
“I’d like to see someone like Daniel Craig,” said Penzler. “A real man, macho, someone with swagger, or a young Russell Crowe. A young Harrison Ford. Not Tom Cruise or someone like that. If they get the right guy, there’ll be five or six of them.”
My personal choice: Josh Holloway (Sawyer from “Lost”). Trim his hair, put him on a boat, he’s good to go.
I’m trying not to get too excited, however:
Though the project, which puts McGee on the trail of a seductive and dangerous ex-con who’s left a trail of broken women in his wake, is not greenlighted and there is no director or talent attached, supporters are hopeful for the first time in decades. Sources close to the project say the studio is bullish on McGee.
Part of me hopes someone at Fox, which owns the rights, will pull his or her head out and get McGee onscreen. But another part of me — the slightly more delusional part — hopes for a few more delays. I’ve always wanted to make a Travis McGee movie, and if this one doesn’t work out, I might just get the chance.
4 Comments
August 15, 2009 at 10:49 pm
i have read the 21 book series at least 5 times ,it is ageless and should be made into a Bond type movie series,,Daniel Craig is the obvious TRAVIS.
August 17, 2009 at 11:49 am
Sam, I think Craig is the best Bond yet — yes, even better than Connery — but I have some remaining, jingoistic hope that McGee will be played by an actual American. That said, we do seem to be outsourcing all our tough-guy roles to Brits and Aussies. So if it has to be someone else, then Craig would be great.
November 15, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Craig is too short to play Trav, plus he’s already played Bond. Robert Downy Jr. isn’t a good fit either. Not many action stars are big enough to play a guy like trav, you’d need a young John Wayne who could act.
November 16, 2009 at 11:31 am
Holloway’s height is the main reason I like him, Phil. That, plus he’s proven he can do the laid-back thing. Problem is, not too many actors look like John Wayne anymore. We’re definitely experiencing an action-hero deficit.