Keanu Turns Night Watchman

After a film about a Wall Street whistleblower turned lesbian babymaking facilitator(She Hate me), Spike Lee is back on more familiar ground in The Night Watchman, and he has now signed Keanu Reeves for the starring role. Despite the title, Keanu's fans will be glad to know that he's not playing your typical night watchman, and won't be bingeing on doughnuts to bulk up for the role. Instead, Reeves will play a disgraced cop who discovers serious corruption within his department, and tries to redeem himself while bringing down those responsible. The story was written by James Ellroy, the man behind LA Confidential and the upcoming Black Dahlia, who has made a career writing about the intricacies of police work and knows a thing or two about creating gripping cop stories. He also makes a welcome habit of abandoning the traditional police clich – the maverick cop who gets results, the ugly, corrupt cop who kills witnesses and robs criminals – in favour of rather more intelligent characters. Between Ellroy and Lee, therefore, let's hope for interesting characters, quotable lines and heavy helpings of noir. Keanu will begin work on the film after he finishes promoting Constantine, out in February, and finishes work on Richard Linklater's take on Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly, due to hit screens late next year.