Trailer Hitch

By Eric Hughes

January 20, 2010

Quite possibly the most beautiful actress in Hollywood.

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Welcome to Trailer Hitch, BOP's look at the latest movie trailers to hit the Internet. This week: A young woman faces an identity struggle unlike many that have come before her. Also, Rory decides between the rebel and the nice guy.

Off and Running – Opens January 29th

Though it plays like an expertly mapped piece of fiction, Off and Running is actually a straight documentary about a girl who's battling a number of issues concerning her identity within many circles. For one, she's black, raised with two adopted siblings. Second, her parents are two white females, which, of course, sets her against the common structure of the majority of families. Once in her teens, Avery becomes increasingly curious about the people who conceived her, specifically her birth mother. Her adoptive moms become worried that her concentration would be too much set on meeting her real mom that Avery'll distance herself from the family she always knew and also her college track career, which up to now she was extremely passionate about.

Seems convenient that filmmakers would be standing by when this battle struck young Avery. I wonder what went into the planning of such a movie, like whether the team put out a call for families facing big issues and chose the one they wanted to make a film about. Even so, the stuff they likely captured during their time with the family probably makes for some thought provoking material.

Grade: B

The Good Guy – Opens February 19th

The Good Guy is yet another contrived romantic comedy about a girl who must make a choice between two decent men. We saw the same thing in Leap Year, which is in just its second weekend at domestic theaters. The idea gets spun on its head in When in Rome, set to be released just a bit later this month where a woman is pursued by a whole band of suitors – five in all – who equally share in the believe that they have fallen instantly in love with her.




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The girl in question this time around is Alexis Bledel, who unfortunately must make a choice between two quite terrible actors. Both Scott Porter and Bryan Greenberg play their parts with so little emotion so as to make it hard for the people who tend to enjoy these kinds of movies care about whether Alexis chooses the sleazy, but sexy professional or his sensitive and cute colleague.

Grade: C-

Preacher's Kid – Opens January 29th

Amazingly, the people behind Preacher's Kid literally gave away the entire movie in under three minutes. As if it was made entirely of quick cuts to expository parts, the trailer introduces its lead character, Angie King, to the audience and then swings her through a roller coaster of decisions (and indecisions) before winding all the way back to the place she started. We see this kind of movie time and time again – so it wasn't like we needed that much hand holding by Preacher's Kid's marketing department to begin with. The fact that the trailer gives everything away – in a movie we've already seen in different clothing – makes it pretty obvious that this one is bound to be a clunker.

In it, former Destiny's Child member Latoya Luckett marks her film debut as a girl who is persuaded by a gospel play that living life a little less conservatively is OK too. Her father, who is of course a preacher, is threatened by her daughter's reinvented outlook.

Grade: D+

MacGruber – Opens April 23rd

I'll admit when I first heard of plans to turn the popular NBC sketch, MacGruber, into a feature length movie, my hopes were high. The recurring skit, in which Will Forte plays a zanier version of TV's MacGyver, is a consistent bright spot on an otherwise spotty 90 minute comedy show. Each time, Saturday Night Live's weekly host and MacGruber's lady stand side by side, trapped in a room that is about to detonate. The agent does his best to use the room's resources – often located atop a table or chair – to save the crew, but then gets distracted by something and unintentionally kills everyone inside.

What's problematic about the sketch, however, is that it draws its biggest laugh at the end, when the room suddenly explodes to smithereens. Of course, having this happen in a theatrical take of the skit would have MacGruber fallen dead in the first few minutes, with the rest of the movie as filler (I guess?). A movie would only work if the parts leading up to the quick death were funny, too. (If not downright hysterical).

The results are in, and it's not looking good. Actually, not good at all. Will Forte plays the character so dumb so as to make you feel like pitying him, not laughing at him. Knowing a movie like this is even being made is an insult to our intelligence.

Grade: D-


     


 
 

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