Alas, Chris Farley cannot play dead Toronto mayor Rob Ford. You remember Rob, don’tcha? Fat and loud, he partied like it was 1999, drank, did drugs, went to rehab. He finally exploded and died from cancer in March 2016.
Now comes word of a movie about Ford, produced by brothers Jonathan and Andrew Bronfman of Canada. They are distant relatives of the Bronfmans of Seagrams fame. Their father, Paul Bronfman, chairman of Pinewood Toronto Studios. Bronfman owns William F. White International Inc., (Whites) described as Canada’s oldest and largest provider of professional motion picture, television, live event, digital media production equipment and technical expertise.
So who did they get to play Rob Ford, a man whose shirt tail was rarely tucked in? Why, his physical opposite, Damian Lewis, of “Billions” and “Homeland” fame. Lewis is tall, thin, lanky. Makes no sense.
The movie is called “Run This Town,” named for a Jay Z song that has nothing to do with anything. This is the first directing job for producer-actor Ricky Tollman.
While I’m sure Lewis up to the challenge, the question is Why? We’ll have to wait and see how this works out.
