Why Ray Winstone Is Perfect for That ‘Point Break’ Remake (CLIPS)
Brit character actor Ray Winstone is in talks to star in the tussled-about “Point Break” remake as FBI agent Angelo Pappas, a role Gary Busey immortalized in Kathryn Bigelow‘s 1991 homoerotic cult classic about bank-robbing surfers.
He’ll be joining Gerard Butler, currently cast as wave-chasing, surfer-gang leader Bodhi (originally played by Patrick Swayze). Aussie hunk Luke Bracey will star opposite Butler and Winstone as FBI rookie Johnny Utah (played Keanu Reeves in Bigelow’s film).
Winstone induced shivers in 1999 as a walking picture of paternal evil in Tim Roth’s indie “The War Zone,” but you’ve also seen him skulking along the fringes of many mainstream and indie films, including “The Departed,” “Cold Mountain,” “Hugo,” “Sexy Beast” and as a descendent of Cain in “Noah.”
Across the pond, he’s been a film and TV mainstay for decades, with two BAFTA noms under his belt, accolades from the British Independent Film Awards and love from critics for his performance in John Hillcoat’s blood-stained western “The Proposition” (2005). Winstone inhabits his roles fearlessly, while balancing wicked comic chops with his rather sinister presence — though no one was laughing in “The War Zone” — which makes him perfect for iconic, meatball-loving wisecracker Pappas.
The remake will need to lean into the original film’s campy undertones, and avoid becoming an overly earnest action film, if it’s going to swim. Unlike Bigelow’s gen-X action movie, the new “Point Break” will focus less on surfing and more on a variety of other extreme sports. Ericson Core, helmer of Disney’s moribund football drama starring Mark Wahlberg “Invincible” (2006), is currently set to direct the screenplay by Kurt Wimmer (one of six writers on 2012’s disastrous “Total Recall” remake).
