There are very few things that can upset us as much as false advertising in just about any form. The flyer said it was $5‚Ķ why are you charging me $7? You told me you liked me‚Ķ now you just want to be friends?!?! That commercial swore chicks would dig me if I wore this body spray‚Ķ and yet I’m still home alone tonight just typing this article.
Yes, we’ve come to almost expect advertising to be a bunch of lies. But now they’ve gone too far! Movie promotion that boasts a big star is “starring” in a movie, when in reality they’re barely in it at all.
The first time I remember really feeling ripped off by a film’s marketing was with Mission Impossible 2. The commercials declared “Starring Tom Cruise and Anthony Hopkins“. This excited me because I wasn’t really thrilled with the first one and thought Hopkins could really bring a great new dynamic to the franchise. Imagine my surprise when Hopkins had about a 4 minute scene near the beginning and another 1 minute scene at the end. I was so ticked off‚Ķ and the movie sucked to boot.
The most recent occurrence of this marketing deception is in Sky Captain. A great film‚Ķ but the commercials and posters CLEARLY state the film stars Jude Law (true), Gwyneth Paltrow (true) and Angelina Jolie (LIES LIES LIES LIES)!!!!. Jolie probably appears for a grand total of 3 ¬Ω minutes of screen time and doesn’t even show up in the film till about ¬æ of the way through.
Some films take the higher ground and will have a big name star and not even tell you about it. This is always a nice surprise. Take The Village for instance. Academy Award winner Adrien Brody had a major role in the film and I didn’t even know it until I saw the flick. That was a great surprise and increased my enjoyment of the film.
So what is my message to the movie marketing people? DON’T LIE TO ME YOU DIRTY BASTARDS! Prop your movie. Give me glimpses of the best parts if you want. Make the film look better than it is if you need to. But DON’T tell me some big star is “STARRING” in the movie when all they really have is a glorified cameo. Is that too much to ask?
Out of curiosity, what other movies can you think of that do this? Or, what other flicks gave you the pleasant surprise of having a great actor in it without showing them in the ads?
