<\/p>\n
Midnight Chimes and the Mise En Sc\u00e8ne Company have unveiled additional first-look images from \u201cForelock,\u201d a dark comedy starring David Krumholtz that will premiere as an opening night marquee selection at the Austin Film Festival on Oct. 23.<\/p>\n
The \u201cOppenheimer\u201d actor, who also executive produces, is stepping into gritty character actor territory with the indie film, marking the solo feature directorial debut of writer-director Caleb Alexander Smith, who also stars.<\/p>\n
More from Variety<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cPlaying Randy was a chance to pay homage to the character portrayals of actors like Nicholson, Pacino, and Dustin Hoffman \u2013 those unsavory underdog characters you can\u2019t help but root for,\u201d Krumholtz says. \u201cMy Ratso Rizzo moment was perfectly imagined in a modern context by Caleb.\u201d<\/p>\n The reference to Ratso Rizzo \u2013 Dustin Hoffman\u2019s iconic downtrodden hustler from 1969\u2019s \u201cMidnight Cowboy\u201d \u2013 signals the kind of meaty, morally ambiguous character role that allows actors to showcase their dramatic range.<\/p>\n The film follows Caiden (Smith), a hapless fitness enthusiast who moves to Los Angeles dreaming of becoming a trainer, only to be diverted by Randy (Krumholtz), an opportunistic Hollywood Boulevard grifter who exploits his likeness to the world\u2019s most famous superhero. The pair must hustle their way out of trouble involving a temperamental drug boss and a whimsical cop investigating a celebrity murder.<\/p>\n \u201cForelock,\u201d named for the iconic curl on a certain superhero\u2019s forehead, draws from Smith\u2019s real-life experience as a superhero lookalike after arriving in Los Angeles, where he was told to \u201cgo stand on Hollywood Boulevard.\u201d<\/p>\n Shot entirely on location in Los Angeles, the film takes an unflinching look at the city, from the homeless crisis and public disorder to mansion dwellers in Bel Air.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Forelock\u2019 is somewhere between a love letter to LA and a passionately scrawled breakup note, crumpled and hurled at the face of a city full of potential and contradiction,\u201d Smith says. \u201cInspired by how \u2018Midnight Cowboy\u2019 shined a light on the grit of late \u201960s Manhattan, we strove to capture a frighteningly authentic snapshot of downtown Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n As executive producer, Krumholtz says he wanted to be more than just a performer on set. \u201cMaking any indie is an uphill battle, but making one on the streets of Los Angeles is particularly thorny,\u201d he notes. \u201cWhat results is a dynamic and comedic thrill ride that capitalizes on the relatable themes of a specific brand of desperation: Hollywood desperation.\u201d<\/p>\n The Austin Film Festival, now in its 32nd year, is showcasing \u201cForelock\u201d in its marquee lineup alongside Texas premieres of Chlo\u00e9 Zhao\u2019s \u201cHamnet,\u201d Joachim Trier\u2019s \u201cSentimental Value\u201d and Park Chan Wook\u2019s \u201cNo Other Choice.\u201d<\/p>\n Roberto Schaefer (\u201cQuantum of Solace,\u201d \u201cStranger Than Fiction\u201d) served as cinematographer. The film was produced by Midnight Chimes, founded by Smith and entrepreneur Lindsay McCormick.<\/p>\n Krumholtz\u2019s upcoming slate includes \u201cDeliver me from Nowhere,\u201d A24\u2019s \u201cAltar\u201d and a role as Zor-El in DC Studios\u2019 2026 tentpole \u201cSupergirl.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith has television credits including \u201cBrooklyn Nine-Nine\u201d and \u201cModern Family\u201d and is set to recur on Ryan Murphy\u2019s upcoming Hulu series \u201cAll\u2019s Fair,\u201d whose recently released trailer became the streamer\u2019s biggest ever trailer launch with over 57 million views in 24 hours.<\/p>\n The Mise En Sc\u00e8ne Company is handling global sales.<\/p>\n Best of Variety<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.aol.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Midnight Chimes and the Mise En Sc\u00e8ne Company have unveiled additional first-look images from \u201cForelock,\u201d a dark comedy starring David Krumholtz that will premiere as an opening night marquee selection at the Austin Film Festival on Oct. 23. The \u201cOppenheimer\u201d actor, who also executive produces, is stepping into gritty character actor territory with the indie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2097369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[396222,347761,372441,347644,396224,376945,22693,396221,396225,396226,396223],"class_list":["post-2097368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-austin-film-festival","tag-character-actor","tag-david-krumholtz","tag-dustin-hoffman","tag-forelock","tag-hollywood-boulevard","tag-los-angeles","tag-midnight-chimes","tag-midnight-cowboy","tag-mise-en-scene","tag-ratso-rizzo"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/David-Krumholtz-Calls-\u2018Forelock-His-\u2018Ratso-Rizzo-Moment-as-Austin.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2097368"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2097370,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097368\/revisions\/2097370"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2097369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2097368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2097368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2097368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}