My Fair Lady Gets a Fair Makeover (Now If Only They Would Cast Hugh)

I have no problems with the remake of My Fair Lady that's currently in the works. I know that some of the purists will be at the point of throwing blood at new Eliza Doolittle Keira Knightley at the premiere, but I'm not one of those people who thinks that George Cukor's 1964 version is untouchable. Because, in all honesty, the film is a bit of a bore. To be fair, it's been quite a few years since I've seen it, but I barely remember any musical numbers besides the one where Audrey Hepburn/Marni Nixon sings something about "Ole' 'enry 'iggins should die" and apparently there were supporting players who were nominated for Oscars that I can't remember for the life of me (you mean it wasn't the Rex & Audrey show?).

When they first announced Keira sometime ago, I was pretty meh about the whole thing because I'm not a huge fan of her or the source material. Then I found out Emma Thompson is set to write the screenplay and my curiosity was piqued. I haven't seen Sense & Sensibility yet (the screenplay that won her an Oscar) but Emma rarely makes a wrong move, right? Now that Stephen Daldry is set to direct the film, I'm feeling a tad better about the whole thing. Billy Elliot, sucky ending aside, was quite a good film and The Hours grew on me with a second viewing (let's not get into the solid yet underachieving The Reader, shall we). Now they have got one big casting hump to overcome: who's going to play Henry Higgins? There's a rumor going around that they're trying to get Daniel Craig for the role but I think he's completely wrong for it- he's way too sexy to play the irascible professor. And I don't think he can sing. I actually quite like Emma's suggestion of her friend Hugh Laurie for the role. I really don't think I would have thought of him on my own, but once I heard his name, everything clicked. He can sing, he has the comedic chops and he can play cranky absolutely effortlessly. If they decide to go with someone else (and they probably will, this being the movie business and everything) no one will ever seem as good as Hugh does in my mind.

Oh Hugh, you'll never know the extent of my daddy issues with you.