Considering Russell Crowe as Bill Hicks

I wish this were a joke, said Vox’s Ruiner blog, but apparently Russell Crowe is gearing up to take on the role of the late comedian Bill Hicks. Russell Crowe? He’s the kind of guy Hicks “would make fun of.” And Hicks “may be remembered for being angry and a bit dark, but he was hilarious”—Crowe isn’t.

“Frankly, the thought of a Hicks biopic makes me sick to my stomach,” said John Moore in the blog Den of Geek! I really “don’t want the Hollywood Bill—not now, not ever.” But it could be a lot worse: They could cast Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Mark Wahlberg or, worst of all, Denis Leary as Hicks.

“I’d love to see a movie about Bill Hicks,” said the blog Your Movie Stuff, and I “definitely think Russell Crowe could pull off” the part. But Hicks passed away when he was just 32. Shouldn’t they get “a young guy to play the role”?

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Come on, said the blog Movie Blaze, just look at a photo of Bill Hicks. Doesn’t he look like our “favorite phone-chucker”? And based on his personality, Russell Crowe could be great at Hick’s style of “intense stand up.” This biopic is a “good idea” and Crowe is the right man for the part.

Hicks was a “serious figure in comedy,” said Todd Jackson in the blog Dead Frog, “and probably the kind of comic who’d be a great fit for a more dramatic actor” like Crowe. And what makes me “optimistic” about this biopic is that “Crowe and his screenwriters seem to want to work closely with those who knew Hicks best.”