I can’t help but root for Winona Ryder in her hopeful career resurrection. She gave a very (intentionally) disturbing performance in Black Swan and is a truly talented actress even though, inevitably, she’s “not the ingenue anymore.” Still, I think she can keeping doing the Hollywood thing so long as she steers clear of future mindless projects like The Dilemma, which not only possessed no redeemable value (unless you consider a Kevin James/Vince Vaughn buddy movie to be culturally enriching) but also underperformed at the box office by failing to earn back its budget. In short, the acclaim following Winona’s turn in Black Swan has helped her earn back a few of her former stripes (and seriously, she was punished far too long for one shoplifting incident, whereas Lindsay Lohan keeps getting chances). To maintain this good will, Winona will have to be very careful about what projects within which she participates. For the moment, she’s erroneously selected a James Franco movie:

James Franco will star with Winona Ryder in The Stare, a Jay Anania-directed film that is the first project funded by Waterstone Entertainment, a new producing/financing company formed by producer Jeff Kalligheri and Texas real estate developer and producer Steve Bowen.

Watersone gets started with The Stare, a drama in which a playwright (Ryder) finds her mind beginning to warp as she struggles to launch her next production. She’s plagued by dreams and visions of being watched, but can’t decide if she’s at the center of a manipulative plot or simply losing her grip on reality. Franco plays one of the performers in the playwright’s production. The film will shoot May 6 in New York. Franco is producing with Jolivette, with Kalligheri exec producing with Steven Garcia, Rich Hill and Eric Amadio. Franco previously starred in Shadows and Lies for the film’s writer-director Anania, a teacher of Franco’s who heads the directing program at the graduate film school at NYU.

[From Deadline]

This can’t turn out well, for Franco himself has abruptly fallen from “critical darling” status to “moody, pouting diva” after he thumbed his nose at the Academy with a lackluster Oscar hosting gig and subsequent social media tantrums. In light of Franco’s recent revelation of his true colors, I think it’s a serious mistake for Winona to star alongside him at this turning point in her career. She needs to back out of this one and hold out for brighter pastures, which (if anything else) do not include Franco’s self-referential, cutesy ways that everyone has had enough of for now except, just maybe, on “General Hospital.”

Photos of Ryder at the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards courtesty of Juan Rico/Fame Pictures; Franco photos courtesy of WENN and Franco’s now-defunct Twitter account.