Rick Reilly has had some big hits with his novels, along with the occasional dud (Slo Mo). As a golf fan, "Missing Links" and the follow-up, "Shanks for Nothing" were fun reads about a the every day municipal golf course and all the crazy stereotypes that embodies such a place (drunk, hustler, 6-pack girl, etc.). Hollywood appears to like the book so much, they're making it into a movie, and now Steve Carell has signed on to star in the film.
(Warner Bros.) has acquired "Missing Links," a golf comedy based on a novel from ESPN's Rick Reilly, with Carell loosely attached to star as a golfer angling for a better place to play.
Carell will produce via his Carousel Prods banner, while the company's Vance DeGeneres and Charlie Hartsock are on board as exec producers. Bobby Cohen ("Revolutionary Road") is also producing.For all the flack Reilly gets, "Missing Links" was arguably written when Rick was doing his best work, and the story flowed out well as Reilly focused on his favorite sport. Golf and Reilly have always gone hand-in-hand and a screenplay like this will hopefully turn out better than "Leatherheads," the football screenplay Reilly turned in that turned out to be mediocre at best.
Carell seems like a perfect fit for this type of role, it just poses one question -- what kind of golf swing should we expect from "The Office" star? I'm hoping his move is better than Matt Damons.
