Robert De Niro and Jennifer Aniston to Co-Star in THE COMEDIAN

If I were to sit down and make a list of cinematic couples I'd like to see on the big screen, the pairing of Robert De Niro and Jennifer Aniston would be a few thousand entries deep simply because it's such an unexpected combination. But apparently it's coming to a theater near you, because Deadline reports that Aniston has signed on to star opposite De Niro in a passion project of his called The Comedian to be directed by Taylor Hackford.

De Niro, who played an aspiring comedian before in Scorsese's 1982 movie The King of Comedy, will play a "toxic insult comic" who meets Aniston's character at a wedding and develops a close relationship with her. Art Linson wrote the script with comedian Jeffrey Ross, who you probably recognize from Comedy Central roasts, and all of De Niro's character's stand-up material is written by Ross. As someone who's never found Ross very funny, this sounds kind of awful to me, but apparently De Niro has been working to get the film made for years. He finally got his wish, and shooting starts next year in New York.

I have almost no faith in this project considering the kind of comedy that will likely be on display, the bizarre cinematic pairing of actors, and the fact that Hackford is directing. Sure, he has An Officer and A Gentlemen and Ray on his resume, but more recently he directed Parker, one of the worst action mainstream movies I've seen in years. (Even seeing that movie at the Playboy Mansion couldn't save it.) I'd love to be proven wrong, but this seems like a bad idea from the outset.

Do you think The Comedian has a shot at being good?