There's always a fly in the good books being turned into films ointment.

If you haven't read any of Jonathan Ames work, then I pity you and encourage you to immediately run out and pay full price for one of his delightful books. I would probably urge you to buy/read The Extra Man, his 1998 slightly autobiographical novel about a struggling young writer, his obsessions with the trannie community and his relationship with an older man who takes the young writer on as his protege to learn the ropes of being an Extra Man, or walker, for rich, older ladies. Ames has also written several books of comic memoirs, in the vein of David Sedaris, as well as establishing himself as a raconteur/performer in the New York alternative theatre world and on television with his own special on Showtime and with numerous appearances on David Letterman. He is an all around great guy, a terrific writer and possesses a noble, muscular physique that he uses to his advantage in his alternate guise as a boxer named The Herring Wonder. I would marry him if I could.

So naturally, I was delighted when I heard that The Extra Man was being made into a movie, and that Jonathan Ames was adapting his book for the film, AND serving as an Executive Producer, (and hopefully having some control over how his work is adapted into film), AND I was even more delighted when I heard that Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcinki, the directors of one of the best films of this decade, American Splendor, were signed to co-write and direct the film, AND even more pleased to hear that Kevin Kline and Paul Dano, (he played both Sunday brothers in There Will Be Blood) were signed for the two male leads AND modestly pleased to hear that John C Reilly was going to be in it, too.

BUT,then, I heard the name "Katie Holmes" and saw a picture of America's Favorite Bearded Wife in costume for her role in The Extra Man and suddenly the air went out of my tires and I felt very, very, very tired and wanted to talk a long, long nap and hopefully wake up to find that all the Scientologists had been rounded up and sent back to Psychlo...yes, I'm being unfair, and maybe she'll be fine in the film, but really...they couldn't have found a more interesting twentysomething actress than this stick in a pair of Tom's old rolled up jeans? For that matter, there's more interesting alums from Dawson's Creek that would be better suited to a role in this film...