Trailer Hitch
By Eric Hughes
September 3, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Humboldt County – Opens September 26th
Thanks to Showtime's Weeds, we have movies like Humboldt County, which appears to be a winner from Magnolia Pictures. Pegged as a dramedy, though the dramatics are laid on pretty thick as seen in the latter half of the film's trailer (alongside excellent music accompaniment of Earlimart's "Happy Alone"), Humboldt County is about a down-and-out medical student, Peter (Jeremy Strong), who stumbles upon a community of counterculture pot growers in Northern California.
Though eccentric, the family - played by Frances Conroy, Fairuza Balk, Chris Messina, Brad Dourif and newbie Madison Davenport - is also quite warm, turning the place into an unexpected site of serenity in Peter's search for happiness. Humboldt County joins the growing list of fall movies - Burn After Reading; Towelhead; Synecdoche, New York - that I can't wait to see.
Grade: A-
Also expected to be released on this date: Miracle at St. Anna, Nights in Rodanthe, The Lucky Ones, Forever Strong, Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot, Choke, Fireproof, Smother, Hank and Mike, Johnny Got His Gun, Whaledreamers
The Lucky Ones – Opens September 26th
From Illusionist writer-director Neil Burger comes The Lucky Ones, a drama featuring a strong core of actors – Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins, Michael Pena – all starring in a movie that should be more moving than its trailer makes it out to be. Set after returning home from Iraq, the film follows three soldiers who find out that life back at home has moved on without them, leading the vets to take an unexpected road trip with one another while catching up with what they have missed.
Kudos to McAdams for taking on a challenging role alongside the more seasoned Robbins, but I can't say I'm a big fan of her Southern bell character, Collee. It's disappointing, considering I usually take a liking to her characters. Another mistake? Sarah McLachlan's "I Will Remember You," which begins playing around the trailer's midpoint and doesn't let up until the end. It just comes off as way too commercial for a movie that I'm expecting was made to tug at your heartstrings (which this song certainly does, but here merely felt out of place).
Grade: C
Also expected to be released on this date: Miracle at St. Anna, Nights in Rodanthe, Humboldt County, Forever Strong, Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot, Choke, Fireproof, Smother, Hank and Mike, Johnny Got His Gun, Whaledreamers
The Secret Life of Bees – Opens October 17th
Based on Sue Monk Kidd's 2002 debut novel of the same name, The Secret Life of Bees is a 1960s period piece set in South Carolina about a girl, Lily (the much grown-up Dakota Fanning), who flees with her stand-in mom, Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson), to a Southern town that may hold the key to her late mother's past. Taken in by a trio of beekeepers (Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo and R&B singer Alicia Keys), Lily also gets introduced into their secret world of bees and honey.
The trailer was a bit different from the everyday adaptation in that it is separated into two distinct sections. The first is the lighter of the two, where the giggling characters are introduced, accompanied by The Four Tops' "Baby I Need Your Loving." Then the main drama cuts into the fluff, filling audience members into the depths of where this one's headed. All in all a strong sneak peek to Fox Searchlight's latest. Paul Bettany also stars.
Grade: B-
Also expected to be released on this date: W., Sex Drive, Filth and Wisdom, Morning Light
Local Color – Opens November 7th
The trailer to Local Color is entirely too cliché for its own good. So much in fact that I became distracted while waiting to see what else the editors could pack in to such melodramatic storytelling. The film, set in 1974, is about an 18-year-old art student, John (Trevor Morgan), who befriends an old Russian man, Nicoli (Armin Mueller-Stahl), in hopes that he will teach him to paint. Unfortunately for the boy, the man already turned his back on art, and even life itself. But then, as the pair spends more and more time with one another, John slowly begins learning from the Nicoli, who in turn begins seeing life through innocent eyes again.
Sappy, right? Uh, yes. Where even to begin? It's the (hot) girlfriend of Nicoli, who just happens to be around the same age as John. It's the inspirational text that splices in between beautiful video and orchestrated soundtrack. It's the slow-motion kisses, slaps to the head and stares off into nothing in particular. When it comes right down do it, Local Color is something I'd downright never be interested in seeing.
Grade: D
Also expected to be released on this date: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Role Models, Repo! The Generic Opera, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Real Time – Opens TBA
If anything, Real Time certainly intrigues me. Starring Randy Quaid, Jay Baruchel and basically no one else, the drama is about a hit man, Reuben (Quaid), who gives a compulsive gambler, Andy (Baruchel), one hour to live for successfully coming up short on crucial debts. Set in real time (get it?), Andy sets out to perform his last actions on this planet, including nailing a hooker, seeking revenge on a former boss and getting reacquainted with his grandmother (all while searching for a childhood toy, of course).
It isn't the way many of us would want to spend our final hour on Earth, but who's to say we'd have it any other way? The preview ends with Reuben sticking a gun at Andy's head, presumably to kill him. Though something tells me Andy makes it out alive, since Reuben appears to have some skeletons in his own closet.
Grade: B+