And I’m not impressed. Did they read the book? Thankfully, an article in Esquire says that the trailer does not reflect the film that well—the film is much closer to the novel in its pacing and dialogue. According to the article, the film, like Cormac McCarthy’s novel, offers no explanation for the post-apocalyptic setting. The trailer makes it look like another post-apocalyptic action story like, I Am Legend, rather than a beautiful story of the love between a father and his son in the midst of a harrowing future. I hope that the trailer truly does not give us a good picture of the film and that The Road merely goes down as another example of a bad trailer for a good movie. My hall of shame includes trailers for The Truman Show and Cast Away, which gave away significant plot points that the films try to keep hidden for, you know, dramatic purposes. The trailer for Master and Commander made a cerebral epic look like Gladiator at sea. Then there is the all-time king of a bad trailer for a good movie: The Princess Bride. “It’s as real as the feelings you feel”? A saxophone? Really?
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As to the Princess Bride, perhaps this is why I never even heard about the movie coming to the theater. Great movie, no theatrical following. Coincidence?
Comment by Bill Ekhardt — May 16, 2009 @ 1:15 am
What about trailers that are intentionally misleading? For instance, I feel like Fight Club was terribly represented by the trailer, BUT that perhaps it was done for a reason. Surely, the movie would not have had the impact that it did, had the trailer been more accurate concerning the point of the movie?
Comment by Ben — May 16, 2009 @ 8:50 am
That’s a tough question, Ben. Fight Club was a notoriously difficult movie to market given its tone and if you didn’t want to give away plot points. I agree that Fight Club might have had intentionally misleading marketing. If the trailers were trying to trick us, that would have easily fit within the themes of the film. I think Fight Club’s trailer did a good job making me interested in the film, but didn’t give me a great idea of what the film was going to be about.
My problem with a film like Master and Commander was that it should have made more money than it did, but in my opinion, marketing cut its legs out from under it. The studio marketed it to teenagers, which wouldn’t appeal to the adult audience for whom the movie was made. Then all those teenagers leave the theater thinking the film was long and boring and would tell their friends it sucked. I think that’s the problem The Road is going to have. The trailer makes it look action-packed, but if the film is truly faithful to the novel, the action will be sporadic, sudden, short, and very violent. (Enough alliteration!)
Comment by Tyler Watson — May 16, 2009 @ 3:14 pm