Timothy Olyphant as Dave

[Billsdad]

I would like to suggest Timothy Olyphany as the next Dave in a movie. He is currently starring in Justified and was previously in Deadwood. He has many movie credits also. For the life of me, I can never come up with an appropriate actor to play Clete.

[siderussianlegsweep]

Big fan of him, but isn't he about 15 years too young? Even at the start of the James Lee Burke journey with The Neon Rain, I thought Clete and Dave were in their 50's.

[Billsdad]

Timothy Olyphant (spelling was never my long suit) will be 43 in May.

[M from Missouri]

I also like Timothy O as Dave. I believe Dave was 48 in the first book.

[leoauthor1970]

I like Timothy, too, but I don't feel he has the depth to pull off Dave. He might be 43 soon, but he still looks too young. Timothy doesn't have the world-weary look that Dave carries.

I could seem him playing a Lonnie Marceau or Nate Baxter, though.

I was thinking the other night, and don't know why he hasn't come to mind before, but Brian Cranston would make a great Dave. Most people only remember him as the goofy dad from Malcolm in the Middle, but his character in Breaking Bad (for which he has earned 2 Emmys) is a layered, complicated guy...and shows a tremendous range and, well, that all-so-important depth and world weariness I mentioned above. He may not have the Cajun look as we see him now, but, make-up artists can attend to that.

Cranstons face is mapped with what would easily pass for hard living, his Breaking Bad character exudes an underlying, and sometimes tapped into, anger at the circumstances around him that are beyond his control. Fim acting is in the eyes, and he has a look that penetrates and dissects. He's always thinking...just like Dave. He's always analyzing, processing and following information to its logical conclusion. Dave is a thinking man's cop, and Cranston can deliver that, no question.

I'd love to see all the novels brought to life on the screen, but feature film has it's limitations, and the Robicheaux novels are far too complex and intricate to effectively encapsulate them in 90 to 120 minutes. A lot gets left out, and in these stories, everything is so completely intertwined, to leave out one thing due to time constraints, everything else is impacted. I just got through watching "In the Electric Mist" for the 4th or 5th time. Sadly, not a great movie, but I'm finding it gets better with each viewing. The elements are all there, there just wasn't enough time to bring them all to fruition, and, to me anyway, the movie is kind of choppy, with no flow to the story. It feels like just a bunch of scenes edited together. By no means anyone's fault, but like I said, the source material is so intricate, that it simply can't be properly conveyed in a single feature film.

Someone had mentioned turning them into HBO mini-series. I agree! They would be the best way to do any justice to the novels. 2 or 3, two hour installments for each novel would be perfect, I think. If I were financially capable, I'd produce them myself! But, alas...


-S

[notathumpa]

A miniseries would be lovely.

Reading through the posts here, I stumbled upon Johnny Depp, referenced in something or other. (Puter skills poor.)

He'd make a great young Dave.

[M from Missouri]

After this year of Justified, I still like Tim O. Just put a streak in his hair and you got Dave from Neon Rain. Make a movie a year and Tim would have a nice career.

[Lakeboy]

If they were both in Nam in the 60's they'd be about 70-75 now. I think we need to ignore age and just love the stories. I thought Tommy Lee was terrific!

[JJeff8]

Love Olyphant, but he comes across as too clear-eyed to play Dave R. I still like Tommy Lee.

Note - How about that semi-retired Democratic campaign strategist from Virginia (Catfish Something?) for a bit part?

[tjpratt]

As to Lakeboys math
"If they were both in Nam in the 60's they'd be about 70-75 now. I think we need to ignore age and just love the stories. I thought Tommy Lee was terrific!
Lakeboy"


I am a Viet-Nam era Army Vet, I will be 64 this coming September. You lost a decade somewhere???