Hollywood’s back at Lynn’s Gannon

LYNN – Hollywood crews shooting a new movie starring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones were expected to wrap a late-winter golfing scene today at the Lawrence Gannon Municipal Golf Course.The production, entitled “The Company Men,” is also scheduled to return to the golf course on June 2 for additional filming.According to the Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB), an online Web site that tracks Hollywood news, the running story behind “The Company Men” centers on a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing at a major company – and how that affects them, their families and their communities.The film is being directed by John Wells, whose credits include executive producer on 329 episodes of the weekly television drama “ER” and 155 episodes of the series “The West Wing.”Tinseltown scuttlebutt also posted on IMDB indicates that actress Rosemarie DeWitt has joined the production. The redhead was a standout in last year’s hit movie “Rachel Getting Married.”The Hollywood Reporter noted that actor Chris Cooper is negotiating to join the film as well. The article hints that Affleck plays a corporate hotshot whose Porsche and six-figure salary vanish after he gets laid off. Costner purportedly plays a drywall construction worker and brother-in-law to the downsized executive, helping him get a blue-collar job, according to Variety magazine. Jones stars as a senior partner in the firm.Cooper’s Hollywood film credits include roles in “Jar Head,” “Syriana,” “Capote,” “The Bourne Identity” and “American Beauty.”Gannon was the on-location site for scenes from the Mel Gibson film “Edge of Darkness,” which will soon be released. The filming in Lynn made national entertainment news last September when actor Robert DeNiro parted ways from the project after a disagreement with director Martin Campbell. DeNiro was replaced by British tough guy Ray Winstone, 51.The film stars Gibson and is based on a 1985 award-winning television mini-series aired on the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC). Gibson, 53, plays straight-laced police homicide detective Thomas Craven, who while investigating the death of his 24-year-old activist daughter, uncovers not only her secret life, but a corporate cover-up and government collusion that attracts an agent tasked with cleaning up the evidence.DeNiro was slated to play a CIA operative whose mission is to destroy the evidence. Rumors swirled over DeNiro’s departure and included stories of the celebrated actor arguing with Campbell on the set in Lynn, adjacent to a deep sand trap designed for the film. But Mike Foster, the Gannon golf pro, said no such disagreement occurred – at least not within earshot of spectators and staff. “Edge of Darkness” crews returned to the golf course at least three times after Winstone joined the cast.