I miss Neil LaBute …

Audiences know what to expect from virtually every movie they see these days.

Those wascally Decepticons will lose in the final reel but vow revenge.

Will Ferrell will act like a 14-year-old and expose his flabby belly for the world to see.

Kate Hudson will land the man of her dreams but not before making everyone in the audience pine for Meg Ryan circa 1990.

But a Neil LaBute film was different.

LaBute, the successful playwright who segued seamlessly to the big screen with dark comedies like “Your Friends and Neighbors” and “In the Company of Men,” always kept us off balance.

And, very often, angry.

But you couldn’t dismiss his movies, and few films could stoke conversations better. So where has he gone?

Well, like Kevin Smith he appears to be a director for hire these days, helming films like “Lakeview Terrance” and the upcoming remake of “Death at a Funeral.”

LaBute’s “Terrace” represented a step up from the typical thriller, but it hardly burned itself in my memory.

The trailer for “Funeral” doesn’t look promising. But why isn’t LaBute directing his own screenplays?

LaBute fans (and boy, do they deserve a clever nickname, like LaDowners or something …) can look forward to “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” a movie the writer/director is prepping for a 2011 release. The film, which follows a sketchy art critic, is based on a novel by Charles Willeford.

I’d rather see LaBute work from his own original screenplays, but perhaps he’s realizing his cinematic gimmick has run its course and it’s time to go in new directions.

If so, he’s leaving a void in the indie film scene not easily filled.

(Photo: Writer/director Neil LaBute)

Related posts:

1. Don’t miss the original ‘Bastards’
2. ‘Bruno’ – We miss ‘Borat’ already
3. Wish I Wrote That: The ‘Miss March’ edition
4. The return of Tim Allen
5. ‘Descent’ director to ‘Burst’ into 3-D horror with next feature