Too bad I didn't know to ask James Franco about this yesterday at the Pineapple Express junket-- he'll have a role in Mark Ruffalo's directing debut, Sympathy for Delicious, which Ruffalo will also star in. The plot, as described in Variety, is amazing and strange. Chris Thornton, who also wrote the script, plays a paralyzed DJ who becomes a faith healer, attracting the attention of a Jesuit priest (Ruffalo) and a rock singer (Franco).

This is the kind of thing that happens on the streets of L.A. all the time, right? The film is financed by the indie company Corner Store Entertainment, though with a cast like that it seems likely to find a distributor. Mark Ruffalo has seemed on the verge of megastardom for years now, so maybe once he steps behind the camera he'll give himself the kind of role that gets the right kind of attention. That is, if this movie and its wacky concept ever wind up making any sense whatsoever.