Which movie are you going to see on May 4 (when Spider-Man 3 is sold out): The father/son drama Lucky You? The romantic dramedy Lucky You? Or the please-think-it’s-kinda-sorta-like-Ocean’s Eleven Lucky You?Well, it depends on what trailer you’ve seen. (They all star Drew Barymore and Eric Bana, pictured.) I get that movie studios want as many people to see a film as possible — and that movies, at least the best ones, are layered — but when a trailer changes tone this much, isn’t someone’s butt being tricked into that seat?Perhaps it’s not fair to peg this recurring beef on a film that’s been sitting on a shelf for two years (after all, they couldn’t bandwagon Ocean’s Thirteen a year ago). But you can’t really blame Spider-Man 3 for playing up Sand Man in one trailer and then pretending he doesn’t exist. Spidey’s got himself some enemies, but no matter which one is featured, the genre stays the same.Do I have a point here, or should I fold?
Trailer switcheroo: 'Lucky' Who?
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Comments (1-18) of 18 Add your comment
I actually agree. While I like Eric and Drew both, the fact that they are marketing this movie so heavily, makes me think it isn’t going to be that good. I had the similar suspicion about Click. In any case, I definitely won’t be paying to see this in the theatres. (sorry guys).
Movie trailers are the stupidest things in the world. They ruin comedies by showing all the funny parts, they ruin horror movies by showing all the scary parts, and they always pair cheesy music with dramas that I’m SURE is better at keeping people away than bringing them out. I find that when I avoid trailers, I like a movie 100 times more. Like, Borat was hilarious the first time I saw the trailer, but by the time the movie came to theaters, nothing was fresh or as funny. Thankfully, I was able to avoid this with Knocked Up, which I saw last week at an early screening and thought was HILARIOUS.
Have to agree with this one. All I can really tell is if someone can make something out of nothing, it’s Eric Bana. Not exactly a selling point.
I saw the trailer for the movie this morning and I swore it was completely different than the one I saw earlier. Thanx EW for validating my sanity. The preview this morning was such a sell for sappiness that I swore I would never see it. I thought it was kind of wierd too that Debra Messing was in it.
Yeah I really have no idea what this movie is about. Drew needs to take the advice that was in a recent EW magazine and branch out. The whole quirky rom/com leading lady thing is getting a little old.
I can think of two distinct movies where this happened to me. The first was Moulin Rouge. I felt like the trailer portrayed it as racy, artsy, over the top, but when I saw it (years later on DVD) I was pleasantly surprised it was a love story that was really tender. On the other hand, I just recently watched a movie I thought would be a great romantic movie with a good young cast about growing up and settling down. The Last Kiss had to be the most depressing movie I’ve seen in a long time. I definitely felt fooled into watching that. I guess the marketing behind “Lucky You” is taking their cues from Geico. Oh yeah, one more thing. I love how different trailers are on MTV compared to just about every other channel.
I’m with you, Mandi. I’ve seen the ads portraying “Lucky You” as a romantic dramedy, and I can tell I’m being deceived. I remember when “Gigli” came out–they tried to portray that as some hugely romantic film, and everyone knew it wasn’t.
But the worst offender, in my mind, is “Stepmom,” which was portrayed as some comedy where the new wife and the old wife were butting heads hilariously. Anyone who had the misfortune of seeing that movie knows that it wasn’t. The filmmakers probably want to shoot themselves when they see the lousy trailers the studios cook up.
Drew has middle-age Mom hair in that pic.
I’m so with you on this. I have not been able to figure this movie out for the life of me! What is it about anyway? I keep seeing clips of Drew saying something that sounds meaningful, but then it tries to tell me the movie is really about playing poker…
I still remember there was a Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnet movie from a few years back called “Hollywood Homicide” (I think…) that did the same thing. Depending on which trailer you saw, the movie was either a fun and wacky buddy cop movie or a gripping compelling crime drama.
remember when “the family stone” was a lighthearted comedy? ummm yeah…
I remember this happening with Jerry Maguire. The preview I saw showed how the movie was about a sports agent and featured all kinds of cameos from real athletes. So I was surprised when my girlfriend at the time told me she wanted to see what I thought was a movie about sports. Of course, the preview she saw was a little different. She saw one that focused the fact that this bachelor comes to grips with his life and tries to make a change for the better by settling down with a single mom. Even as I describe them now, I’m having trouble believing they were the same movie.
I love Drew Barrymore but for some reason this movie looks awful to me. All 3 versions. I think I’ll go see Spiderman.
I think one of the worst offenders was another Drew Barrymore vehicle, Home Fries, whose previews promised a light-hearted, predictable romantic comedy. Which is why I ignored it. Years later, I ended up watching this movie on HBO while on a business trip (when all the previously-assumed-unwatchable movies get seen!), and was pleasantly surprised by a very dark, very funny comedy, with a touch of romantic-comedy cheese thrown in. I do wonder, though, how much that film was hurt by bad word-of-mouth – as people who love stereotypical rom-com go to see it and are disappointed that it does not deliver on its promises. I think it’s just another result of the industry’s ridiculous devotion to the concept that success is proven by opening-weekend grosses….
I just have to say that the most tricked into seeing a movie that I’ve ever felt was “Bridge to Terabithia”. Based on the trailers and TV spots, I totally thought it was going to be a fun Narnia type movie. Instead, I (and everyone I went with) was horribly disappointed and depressed as we watched the movie unfold. I grant that it was a good movie, in terms of storytelling and acting, etc., but it was definitely not what I signed up for. I’m still a little bitter, in case you can’t tell.
The trailers almost got me when they pulled the old trick, “from the makers of LA Confidential and 8-Mile.” All that did was make me judge the trailer even more harshly because it was so completely not like either one of those movies. Man, this movie looks awful. Not sure what time period it’s supposed to take place in, but Bana’s hair is enough to keep me away.
poor Curtis Hanson… ill only see this cause he’s the director but no way am i seeing this in the theater… please remember that he’s a consistant genre shifter- so he went from Hand that rocks the cradle to L.A. confidential to Wonder Boys to 8 mile… all good and all different… im expected the same from this one too even though it will definately bomb.
Is it a romantic comedy? A father-son drama? A poker movie? Either way, I’ll stick with Spidey.
I remember watching the trailer for A Beautiful Mind and thinking it looked like a good thriller.
While I did like the movie and it was very well done, I still remember feeling tricked by the trailer and a bit angry.