2 movies about former Providence Mayor Cianci moving forward
PROVIDENCE, R.I.—One big screen apparently isn't big enough for the outsized personality of former Providence Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci.
Two films are moving forward based on the life of the ex-convict and radio talk show host who was one of the longest-serving mayors in U.S. history and one of Rhode Island's most influential politicians.
But only one has Cianci's backing, and he was working just as hard Thursday promoting his own project as he was pooh-poohing the other.
Cianci served a total of 21 years as mayor in two separate stints. Both ended after felony convictions -- the first in 1984 for attacking his ex-wife's lover with a lit cigarette and fireplace log, the second for racketeering conspiracy, or as Cianci calls it "conspiring to conspire."
Before heading to prison in 2002, he spent his nights out on the town, sold his own marinara sauce for charity and never appeared in public without a toupee, which he stopped using after being released from prison last year and now calls a "squirrel."
The movie going ahead without his cooperation is based on "The Prince of Providence" by Providence Journal reporter Mike Stanton, a book about Cianci's life and downfall after the federal probe into widespread corruption in his administration.
Cianci said in a telephone interview the book was "a lot of fiction."
Rhode Islander Michael Corrente will direct the movie, which starts filming in the state in mid-August. He said he hopes to have the film ready in time for the Cannes Film Festival next year.
"It will be a film that portrays him like the city that he created: fun, energetic, crazy, sometimes a little dangerous, but always exciting," Corrente said at a news conference Thursday. "This is not going to be some crazy hatchet job."
Corrente has selected rotund character actor Oliver Platt to play Cianci, a pick he said had an unbelievable resemblance to Cianci, but one Cianci griped about on his radio show on WPRO-AM.
"That guy's still not better looking than me," he said, later referring to Platt as "What's his name?"
Cianci pointed out the lack of involvement of a major studio in the Corrente production and said his lawyers would be watching it closely. Corrente said he preferred to make the movie without the involvement of a studio because it's less cumbersome, and invited Cianci and his lawyers to come to the set.
Cianci's own project, with Robert De Niro's company Tribeca Productions, is still in the works. The two have a verbal commitment and are finalizing a written deal, said Tammie Rosen, a spokeswoman for the company.
"It'll be a story that'll have the good, the bad, the indifferent and all the things that are important to a movie. The truth," Cianci said. "The other movie that might be made, I don't know how it can be made without talking to the person who they're writing about."
A documentary about Cianci's life, released last year, won a New England Emmy. Cianci also is working on a book that he said will be out by September 2009.
Corrente said he had spoken with both Cianci and Tribeca Productions about making a movie together before deciding to go ahead on his own.
Why does the world need two Cianci movies?
"We're talking about Buddy Cianci," Corrente said. "There's enough material to make 10 movies."
Rosen said it wasn't uncommon for two movies to be made about one person.
"This will be the only one that has the cooperation of Buddy Cianci," she said.
Rosen said Tribeca Productions already was looking at screenwriters, but it was too early for any actors or directors to be attached to the project.
When asked whom he preferred to play himself, Cianci replied: "Somebody young and handsome."
