Once upon a time in 1999, a book of short stories titled, The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing, came out and captured the hearts of female readers, many of them single, New York women looking for love and career fulfillment (much like the main character in most of the stories, Jane), as the Bridget Jones/Sex and the City zeitgeist started to take hold. And Gothamist thought, "This should be a movie!" And a year or so later, we heard that Reese Witherspoon had optioned the book. Then nothing. Last year, Marc Klein, who wrote Serendipity, was charged to adapt two of the stories and later direct it. And this year, Sarah Michelle Gellar was announced as the lead. Finally, yesterday, the Hollywood Reporter announced that Alec Baldwin was cast at the older man that Jane falls for. Which threw us for a loop, because we usually think about his as Frank The Cucumber or as whoever he is playing on Will & Grace these days (we don't really know, as we only see the previews and think, "Hell, that show is like the comedy Love Boat with all those guest stars"); Archie always seemed to be more Waspy and destructive. But maybe Alec Baldwin is right for the role, as he was brilliant as a Wasp in the classic Saturday Night Live sketch, Greenhilly. Clearly, we'll need to reread the book this weekend.
Did you read The Girl's Guide? What do you think of Buffy playing Jane?
