Sunday, September 19, 2004

SUPPORTING TRUTH IN ADVERTISING: Two movies seen this weekend, and I feel compelled to correct misapprehensions the advertising has created for both of them. The first, Sky Captain And The Excessively Long Title, has been pitched as a nostalgic action movie for adults. However, watching it, you realize that it's the movie you'd get if you gave a 12 year old boy a massive visual effects budgets. The narrative spills out like it's being told by an overexcited child. "And then the giant robots came and attacked! And then the plane turns in to a submarine! And then there were the dinosaurs! And the spaceship!" Hence, the narrative makes almost no sense, though there's much pretty to gawk at.

The other is Wimbledon, which has been marketed as a kicky Kirsten Dunst romcom. Instead, what we get is a British variant on a Ron Shelton movie, with Paul Bettany as the journeyman getting his last chance to succeed. Bettany may be second billed, but he owns the movie. Given that, you can project almost exactly the track that the film is going to take, but I still pumped my fist as the final match proceeded to its natural conclusion. I'm not a tennis fan, but you see the passion and intensity of the game as the ball pops back and forth. It's been marketed to teenage girls, who are going to be disappointed, but those who enjoyed Bull Durham and For the Love of the Game will enjoy this one.

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