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Movie Madness: Provocative Openings
(Rant: September 2005) The most
provocative element about Flight Plan,
besides Jodie Foster lending her sublime talents to such a harebrained
thriller, is the four Arab passengers placed on a plane where there’s an
alleged kidnapping and potential hijacking in process. With scant evidence
and a thinly credible accusation, they come under suspicion. Passengers react
differently. Some nearly erupt into lynch mob mentality, while others tow the
politically correct line. It’s a piquant equilibrium that challenges the
audience to wrestle with their own fears, stereotypical biases and beliefs in
innocence and guilt. Roll Bounce, the mediocre film
about roller-disco-dancing in the 70s, says it will donate 10% of its weekend
till to the victims Katrina. It’s a nice thought, but is it really an act of
kindness from the heart or an exploitative move to bolster sales? Probably
more the latter than the former. Is it harmful? Not really. The more sales,
no mater how shameless the promotion is (and they asked the members of the
press to play up the item in our reviews—the head’s up was too late for my
deadline and my editorial powers were none too keen on the notion any how)
will benefit the victims. That’s a given, but think of the film. It will go
onto greater success than it might have, and in the rearview mirror, the
talents of the stars and directors will be inflated, allowing them to garner
future projects that they might not have otherwise gained. In Hollywood
careers and talent are judged by the box office and those future projects
banking on the bankability of their stars’ past records might be in for a
rude awakening. It’s a move made famous by the white-collar marauders at
Enron. If the backers of Roll Bounce really wanted to give from the heart,
they would have just made a charitable donation it without the publicity.
If you go to the movies
this weekend, see David Cronenberg’s excellent A History of Violence.
It’s a dark gothic tale set in the Midwest where a small-town family
is tossed into turmoil after the father (Viggo Mortensen) thwarts two
cold-blooded killers and becomes a media-hounded hero. Get the latest on movies now. - TBM |
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