I absolutely love
The Screwtape Letters, so I can't help but be excited at the prospect of a movie. Because I love the book so much, it increases the potential for disappointment if the movie is not executed just right. A perfect (I'll even settle for a really good) execution depends on the creative staff behind the movie, so I immediately checked out who the director and writer were (who happens to be the same person in this instance.)
The Screwtape Letters is being written and directed by
Randall Wallace. Since I didn't recognize the name, I did some digging.
Wikipedia notes that he planned on being a minister before he became a screenwriter and that
Christianity Today claims he is a devout Christianity. These two biographical tidbits seem to indicate he is uniquely suited to bring C.S. Lewis' work to the screen.
But what about his work thus far? Other than serving as a staff writer on a handful of TV shows, his career (particularly his feature film career) seems to have begun with penning
Braveheart. There are worse ways to begin one's career. He was even nominated for an Oscar for that one. But one must ask how much of that film's success is due to Mel Gibson's wonderful directing. His next two major projects, under different directors, did not fare so well.
Man in the Iron Mask, directed by Wallace himself, was a critical failure. It's been a while since I've watched it, but I remember liking it.
Rotten Tomatoes does not have the same memory. It gives the film a 33%. His next screenplay,
Pearl Harbor, was butchered by Michael Bay. His last film of note, Vietnam War movie
We Were Soldiers is another that he both wrote and directed.
Rotten Tomatoes was kinder to this film with a 63%.
It has been over six years since his last film, but he has not been idle. Wallace is also a novelist. His novel about espionage during the Revolutionary War,
Love and Honor, came out in 2005.
With his biographical background and his experience in both novel writing and adapting novels (
Man in the Iron Mask) and historical events (
Braveheart and
We Were Soldiers), he seems uniquely suited to creating
The Screwtape Letters. At the same time, his successes are not consistent enough to leave me confident about this movie.