So with buyers, sellers and generally bleary-eyed filmgoers about to sleepwalk through the event's final four days, Variety appears to be calling Fox Searchlight as the winner of this year's underachieving Toronto Film Festival.

Ian Mohr writes this morning that head Searcher Peter Rice has not only survived the Thank You For Smoking fracas with both a film and a distribution contract, but also dropped $8 million on Bart Freundlich's romantic Gotham comedy Trust the Man. No word from Paramount Classics' Ruth Vitale, who was rumored to be working out a handshake deal to expense the 20 to 25 vodka tonics she would need by Tuesday night.

Rice evidently beat out a kinder, gentler Miramax for the rights to Trust the Man, stirring speculation that the latter studio could struggle as it finds its sans-Weinstein sea legs—or at least a receptionist:

According to sellers, (Miramax chief Daniel) Battsek might face some challenges landing pics before the company has officially filled out the rest of its staff. Though Miramax is one of the specialty film world's most prominent brand names, producers' reps and agents say they are looking at the company as essentially a new entity.

"They have a brand and a lot of muscle," said one rep, "but the execs will be more important. Filmmakers may feel it's hard to sell to someone when you don't know who their head of marketing is."

Oh, come on—that is really no obstacle. Sell all you want, but just do not put it in writing until the next day. Everybody is doing it.