You Can’t Win
Director: Robinson Devor
Writer(s): Devor, Barry Gifford and Michael Pitt
Producer(s): Parts & Labor’s Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy, Robert Scarff, Zach Sebastian, Michael Pitt.
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Michael Pitt, Jeremy Allen White, Will Patton, Hannah Marks, Louisa Krause, Julia Garner
With such a strong filmography to date in The Woman Chaser, Police Beat, and Zoo, Robinson Devor’s fourth feature is certainly his most challenging endeavor yet. You Can’t Win includes the heavy participation from its lead actor in Michael Pitt and it takes on what is referenced as “one of the most influential books in the American literary underground.” Could be a great indie surprise that didn’t debut in Park City.
Gist: Scripted by Devor, Pitt, Barry Gifford and Charles Mudede, this is an adaptation of adventurer (Pitt) Jack Black’s 1926 autobiographical novel of the same name which tells of his experiences in the hobo underworld, freight-hopping around the still Wild West of the United States and Canada while he explores the topics of crime, addiction, criminal justice and human folly from various viewpoints. The drama is centered on the unusual friendship between Black and a young prostitute (Garner).
Release Date: Surprisingly, not included in this year’s Sundance line-up (it was likely not submitted), this might be presented in a Cannes side-bar, or might be slotted for Telluride/Venice/TIFF.