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Jon Gries and Val Kilmer Together Again to Go 'Deep in the Heart'

by Ethan Anderton
January 31, 2011

The two actors worked together on the goofy comedy Real Genius before one went on to become Batman while the other became Napoleon Dynamite's scheming Uncle Rico. Now THR reports Val Kilmer (along with a tremendous beard that would make Joaquin Phoenix blush) and Jon Gries are reuniting for Deep in the Heart, a new indie flick that follows Richard Wallrath, a real-life alcoholic who reinvents himself and puts hundreds of kids through college via his charitable donations. Wallrath went on to become a Texas entrepreneur who is the biggest all-time individual donor to the state's 4-H and Future Farmers of America.

Gries is set to play Wallrath while Kilmer is playing a mysterious character known only as The Bearded Man. Apparently this character only exists in Wallrath's mind as some sort of Jesus Christ-like guide as he struggles on a path to recovery. I'm not sure I can see this film being a straight-up drama with Kilmer in that beard and guiding an alcoholic to recovery, but producer Scott Duthie says, "Wallrath is an alcoholic who hit rock bottom and lost everything, then reinvented himself, re-established his relationships with his family and built a multimillion-dollar business. The stories involving real-life inner struggles with positive moral messages always attract me." Sounds like a pretty serious story to me. Interested?

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