Disney Pulls Chair Out From Beneath Mamet’s Remake of Anne Frank

Sometimes there is a project that seems so incongruent with the predilections of a director or writer that the entire concept conjugally fits together like the left side and right side of the brain. That seems like the best way to describe David Mamet, who is known for the circuitous, urban, and vulgar dialogue in movies such as “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “Wag the Dog”, and his interest in “The Diary of Anne Frank”. Rather than creating a kind of Mobius strip, in which parts of the movie twist into each other, his intentions seemed straightforward. The movie is described as “a pro-Israel exploration of anti-Semitism movie set in contemporary times”. Unfortunately, Sharon Waxman of The Wrap reports that, with the current state Disney is in after the departure of Dick Cook, the project has been put in turnaround.  An executive is quoted as saying:

“It’s very intense, and dark and scary. It’s not a film version of ‘The Diary of Anne Frank.’ The story evolved into something more intense.”

After “The Dark Knight” it almost seems like the word dark has become a euphemism for something, as if movies that explore real and mature themes without any sanitation are a recent invention. I understand the risk that Mamet’s version takes with the property, but it definitely feels like something interesting has been lost here. Mamet voiced his own opinion on anti-Semitism with the book “The Wicked Son”,  so he has something to say. Unfortunately, coffee’s for closers, and Mamet couldn’t close the deal.

The Diary of Anne Frank