Remember that scene in L.A. Confidential where James Cromwell took out his gun and shot Kevin Spacey in the kitchen while his four dear daughters were in Santa Barbara? That was pretty awesome. Cromwell has a habit of being pretty awesome in movies, television shows, and mini-series, even when he’s not the focus. Can you imagine Babe without Cromwell’s “that’ll do, Pig, that’ll do.” It would have been Babe: Pig in the City. That's scary to think about.

Fortunately for writer/director Justin Evans, Moviehole reports that Cromwell is brining his awesomeness to A Lonely Place for Dying. Evan’s thriller is about a KGB defector in 1972 who tries to get into the USA by providing information about war crimes in Laos during the Vietnam War. A CIA agent tries to keep the mistakes he made during the war from getting out. Cromwell will play Washington Post editor Howard Simons. He’s a real person and was played by Martin Balsam in All the President’s Men.

Cromwell is the only person involved in this movie who I’ve ever heard of. The lead roles are portrayed by Ross Marquand and Michael Scovotti, and Michael Wincott has also been cast. Those names just don’t ring a bell in my admittedly tiny brain. Evans, who co-wrote the script with Catherine Doughty, has one additional IMDB credit, Saturday Night Special, a short. That doesn’t mean this movie can’t be fantastic, but I’m not sure even Cromwell can turn this into something most people will end up seeing. Filming starts next week.