The Prying Game: Lisa and Larry

With English professor Elisa New sporting Larry Summers’s rock around campus, it looks like our foot-in-mouth University President will have a partner to help him temper his sharp and unruly tongue. Because it’s my job to worry about stuff like this, I started wondering: if Ron Howard did an “A Beautiful Mind”-style biopic on their relationship, who would play the loose-chinned economist and his poetry-reading lady love?

Susan Sarandon was the popular nominee to play New. Larry was a tougher one, but the winner was­—and I swear this is true—animated green ogre Shrek, with three independent mentions.

Alfinio Flores ’06

Annette Bening looks like New, and was good in “The American President.” As for Larry, could he be animated? Could we get Shrek? It could be a cross between real life and animation, like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” I think it’d be a romantic comedy of epic proportions.

Mike P. Monteiro ’06

John Goodman [could play Summers]—he’s a very versatile actor. Summers is like [Goodman’s PTSD Vietnam vet] character from “The Big Lebowski”—they both have big plans, and they follow through on them. [For New], the mom from “That 70’s Show.” New has that very maternal and reassuring look about her.

Olivia Levine ’08

Will Ferrell. He’s goofy, he’s awkward and tactless, but very put together in the presidential sense. [New could be played by] Susan Sarandon. She’s almost pretty, but not quite, and kind of morose.

Ravi Raju ’06

[For New] Susan Sarandon­—elderly woman, comes off as being scholarly, not “hot,” but could see her playing his wife. [For Summers] Milton from “Office Space.” [He] kind of comes off as being in his own world.