David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole) opened Good People last month on Broadway, and he's in negotiations to cash in the rave reviews for a script deal with Focus Features. 24 Frames hears Frances McDormand is attached to reprise her role as Margie Walsh from the stage production. Lindsay-Abaire, a Boston native, set the drama in the working-class, predominantly Irish neighborhood Southie. Margie is a high school dropout and single mother of a mentally disabled daughter who struggles to make ends meet. Tate Donovan (Damages) plays a successful former classmate of Margie's -- their relationship anchors the class politics explored in the production. It is not specified if Donovan or other cast members are involved in the talks with Focus; Dan Jinks (Milk) is on board as producer.
Hit the jump for the official synopsis and few clips from the play.
Welcome to Southie, a Boston neighborhood where a night on the town means a few rounds of bingo...where this month's paycheck covers last month's bills...and where Margie Walsh was just let go from yet another job. Facing eviction and scrambling to catch a break, Margie thinks an old fling who's made it out of Southie might be her ticket to a fresh new start. But is this apparently self-made man secure enough to face his humble beginnings? Margie is about to risk what little she has to find out. [Broadway]
You can see more than the expected amount of humor (given the logline) in the clips below, and even more funny if you follow the links down through the Youtube looking glass. I imagine that's enough sugar to make the melodrama go down, especially since you can always rely on McDormand to deliver. Go ahead and pencil in her name for an Oscar nomination in 2012.