When we think of idea romantic comedy pairings, Cameron Diaz and Benicio Del Toro are not exactly at the forefront of our minds. But 20th Century Fox clearly disagrees, as it’s picked up the rights to Jane Heller’s novel An Ex To Grind with the two actors attached.
The high concept pitch of the chick lit pun-standard title finds a star athlete (Del Toro) supporting the dreams of his waitress wife (Diaz). Fast-forward to a few years later and he’s a has-been with a career shut down by an injury, content to sit on the couch and drink beer. His missus, on the other hand has become a big business success.
But when she tries to divorce him, she’s shocked to discover that she’ll be paying big bucks to keep him in his slovenly lifestyle and decides to find him a new wife to stop the money drain. Yet when the new woman in his life forces him to shape up, his ex realises that – predictable plot twist alert – she really did love him after all!
Can’t say we see Del Toro anchoring a rom-com, which sounds like the dodgiest casting idea since he tried to play English/ American with a hint of Latino in The Wolfman. And do we really, honestly need another rom-com where one of the stars thinks the other isn’t right for them, then realises their mistake?