Actress Reese Witherspoon has shown an ability to act in many genres, but she’s often remembered for her successful romantic comedies. Films such as Legally Blonde, Sweet Home Alabama , and Just Like Heaven have shown her to be a proven draw in the genre, and so she’s lined up for one more.
Hollywood.com calls Reese Witherspoon’s newest project, The Beard , “a Sexually Incompatible Rom-Com.” Witherspoon will star and co-produce the film, but not too much is known about it just yet. But as Access Hollywood points out, the term beard when applied to a woman usually denotes a girl who poses as the lover of a secretly gay man. Hollywood.com, however, adds that Witherspoon could just as well be playing a lesbian who pretends to be straight, as the term can be used both ways.
In fact, The Beard could bring about a new take on a genre in desperate need of a fresh idea. Instead of the standard formula (girl meets guy, false pretense, girl falls in love, confusion ensues, epic chase scene, happily ever after), the film could involved platonic relationships between members of the opposite sex. It could deal with the heartbreak of one person being in love but orientation being the thing that keeps the other from reciprocating.
The Beard is written by Becca Green and co-produced by Peter Chernin. Reese Witherspoon, 36, most recently appeared in the romantic comedy This Means War with Chris Pine and Tom Hardy.
Whatever the case, when Reese Witherspoon makes a rom-com, people tend to go see it, and The Beard should be no different.