November
23Big Movies, Tough Sell
I do not envy the marketers assigned to build campaigns around the two mega budget blockbusters of the holiday season. This is not to disparage “Australia” or “Benjamin Button.” Both are very ambitious and superbly crafted movies.
But try describing either film in a short, cogent sentence. Therein lies the problem.
It’s a cinch to tell someone what “Iron Man” is about. Even “Slumdog Millionaire.” But these two?
No one knows this better than Baz Luhrmann. Luhrmann set out to create a movie of mixed styles and moods – over-the-top comedy in one section, John Wayne western in another, war drama in yet a third. He loves Hollywood sagas. As a boy in a tiny town in Australia, he and his father endlessly ran Hollywood movies on their jerry-built projector.
“Australia” is the kind of film that should ideally open in a small number of theaters and be discovered by dedicated filmgoers. But that’s not the way blockbuster season works. It will open wide with a massive campaign. I’m just glad I don’t have to come up with it.
Or one for “Button.” David Fincher has conjured up a very long, brooding meditation on … well, it’s hard to pinpoint what it’s about. To the film going public, it’s really about watching Brad Pitt reverse the aging cycle, moving from old to young. Again, it’s a love story, kinda, a war story, in moments and a reflection on the meaning of the experience of life.
Try conveying that in an ad.
“Button” is a masterpiece of filmmaking technique. Its story-telling, however, is, at best, idiosyncratic. The central character is himself more observer than participant. His life journey (or reverse journey) does not provide him with glints of wisdom.
No one knows what “Button” really cost, but it is a truly remarkable film at whatever price -- $150 million is the popular guess (Paramount made a hefty deal for a tax rebate). Some may term it Hollywood’s most expensive art film. Some may argue that it courageously bridges the gap between pop film and art film. Some may liken it to “Forrest Gump.”
Again, I’m just grateful I don’t have to figure out how to sell it.
But try describing either film in a short, cogent sentence. Therein lies the problem.
It’s a cinch to tell someone what “Iron Man” is about. Even “Slumdog Millionaire.” But these two?
No one knows this better than Baz Luhrmann. Luhrmann set out to create a movie of mixed styles and moods – over-the-top comedy in one section, John Wayne western in another, war drama in yet a third. He loves Hollywood sagas. As a boy in a tiny town in Australia, he and his father endlessly ran Hollywood movies on their jerry-built projector.“Australia” is the kind of film that should ideally open in a small number of theaters and be discovered by dedicated filmgoers. But that’s not the way blockbuster season works. It will open wide with a massive campaign. I’m just glad I don’t have to come up with it.
Or one for “Button.” David Fincher has conjured up a very long, brooding meditation on … well, it’s hard to pinpoint what it’s about. To the film going public, it’s really about watching Brad Pitt reverse the aging cycle, moving from old to young. Again, it’s a love story, kinda, a war story, in moments and a reflection on the meaning of the experience of life.
Try conveying that in an ad.
“Button” is a masterpiece of filmmaking technique. Its story-telling, however, is, at best, idiosyncratic. The central character is himself more observer than participant. His life journey (or reverse journey) does not provide him with glints of wisdom.
No one knows what “Button” really cost, but it is a truly remarkable film at whatever price -- $150 million is the popular guess (Paramount made a hefty deal for a tax rebate). Some may term it Hollywood’s most expensive art film. Some may argue that it courageously bridges the gap between pop film and art film. Some may liken it to “Forrest Gump.”
Again, I’m just grateful I don’t have to figure out how to sell it.
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