Bridesmaids (2011)

How intrigued are you, based upon seeing the trailer?

Anne: Excited!

Jack: Interested

Impressions based on the trailer

Raunchy and crude bachelorette-party mishaps starring some of our favorite funny women

Comments after seeing the film.

Jack: The film's marketing department took great pains to suggest that this film was a female version of The Hangover - even the title seems to suggest that girls are capable of misbehaving just as much as boys prior to one of them getting hitched. The trailer prominently features the picture's most scatological setpiece, and makes it seem that the group's bachelorette-party trip to Las Vegas will provide most of the hijinks. (It actually doesn’t.) Although the film boasts one of the best supporting casts in recent memory, made up of comic talent from both sides of the Atlantic, it is less a "group on a wacky adventure" comedy than a late-bloomer coming-of-age story focused on Kristen Wiig's Annie. Wiig's exuberant goofballery and scarecrowish beauty has made her one of our favorite comedic character actresses here at Don't Trust the Trailer, and Bridesmaids proves that she's got what it takes to be a bona-fide movie star.

Annie: This is one of the best films that I’ve seen this year. I absolutely loved it! It seemed like there would be a lot of potty humor, and although there is some, and they make up some incredibly funny scenes, it doesn’t take over the film. Most of the best moments are in the clever jabs, awkward social dynamics and comedic delivery. This is also less of a group or team movie with equal parts for all women, but Kristin Wiig is a freakin’ adorable, hilarious and flawed character as the lead. While trying to make it appear that this film is a compliment to The Hangover instead of a chick flick, they omitted advertising the love interest plotline, which is quite significant.. I was pleased to have the love story not ruined for me by the trailer, but a small clip would have been nice. I went to a theater full of mostly women that I could hear laughing uncontrollably at all the right moments and audibly cooing at the screen and snickering to themselves during the relationship bits. For me it was the best movie going experience all year and it exceeded the expectations that I had based on the trailer.

Final Grade for Film:A

Trailer Accuracy: 50%

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Eat Pray Love (2010)

Eat Pray Love (2010)

How intrigued are you, based upon seeing the trailer?

Anne: I’m interested. I want to feel free and empowered.

Kay: Wary, but the visuals of exotic locales and the trailer's music sucked me in.

Impressions based on the trailer

Exotic locations, a divorced woman discovering herself. Spirituality, romance. Possibly cheesy or possibly deep.

Comments after seeing the film.

Anne: You may have seen this trailer and thought, is this really a movie centered around a divorced woman with enough disposable income to drop supportive friends and family and a good career to see the world and “find herself’ through borrowed spirituality? Yes, unfortunately, that’s one hundred percent correct. The movie is based on a best-selling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert. I guess she can wipe her tears with big wads of money.

Kay: The trailer is pretty much a summary of the film, tantalizing you with pretty images and pretty people. It is not exactly an incorrect or misleading trailer, but it does promise more meaning than the film actually delivers. If the trailer crams the whole plot and every key scene into itself in under five minutes, the film meanders slowly for two hours while you wonder why it hasn't ended yet. There is one scene where Roberts’ character wonders aloud about cultural differences, but the film rolls over it smoothly like a steamroller instead of exploring these issues in depth. Though the title alone rightly discourages viewers of the more manly persuasion, I’d recommend the movie only to women who are die-hard fans of Julia Roberts or James Franco.

Final Grade for Film: D

Trailer Accuracy: 100%

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Hook (1991)

Hook (1991)

Impressions based on the trailer

Mayhem, bloodshed, ancient evil and child endangerment

Comments after seeing the film.

Jack: Usually here at Don’t Trust the Trailer, we look at the trailers of recent films in the hopes of recommending poorly-advertised diamonds in the rough. This week, however, we decided to look at the trailer for a much-maligned older film that is very near and dear to our hearts: Steven Spielberg’s Hook. Its unique mix of English pantomime theater, Disneyland opulence and a stark, uncompromising central theme of lost innocence makes it one of Spielberg’s most emotionally naked films. But you wouldn’t know it from this complete head-scratcher of a trailer, which makes the film look like a horror movie with fantasy elements. Hook’s hook literally rips through scene transitions like the werewolf claws in The Howling trailer, and one has to wonder if this film’s less-than-stellar critical reputation was a result of its being advertised as more Poltergeist than J.M. Barrie

Anne: What the heck was that?! This is a masterpiece of miscommunication! No wonder this film was so poorly received! You wouldn’t want to take your little kids to see this; it looks underpants-soilingly terrifying! By the same token, if you came in hopes of seeing a horror movie with Hook wreaking havoc, resulting in corpses with glistening entrails, you will be sorely disappointed. What a complete mistake! How could they not show Neverland? How could you show Robin Williams and not include a moment of humor and levity? How could you, advertising team – how could you?!

Final Grade for Film: A

Trailer Accuracy: 0%

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Bob Roberts (1992)

Bob Roberts (1992)

How intrigued are you, based upon seeing the trailer?

Anne: Interesting

Jack: Cool

Impressions based on the trailer

Satirical comedy about folk-singing, extreme right-wing senatorial candidate.

Comments after seeing the film.

Anne: trailer does a pretty accurate job of summarizing the film. I think I enjoyed both equally, but differently. The trailer presents it as a comedy where you would get to know the lead character, but the film maintains a constant distance with its fly-on-the-wall style.

Jack: a top-notch political satire that is eerily more relevant now in the Sarah Palin/Tea Party era, when the voices in conservative politics are the ones making broad and cheap emotional appeals, drowning out any logic and reason. Robbins does a brilliant job acting and directing in the “Spinal Tap” style. Trailer reflects this pretty well.

Final Grade for Film: B

Trailer Accuracy: 75%

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Greenberg (2010)

How intrigued are you, based upon seeing the trailer?

Anne: Yes, totally

Jack: Looks good

Impressions based on the trailer

Modern The Graduate feel, amiably plotless character study, darkly comedic, man-child, low-key comedy

Comments after seeing the film.

Anne: The subtle, low-key comedy that they were advertising actually looks a little more appealing to me than the drama that the film ended up being, but I still enjoyed the film a great deal. The lead character is not an everyman, or even a disaffectedly relatable slacker, but in fact a depressed and mixed-up former mental patient – something not advertised in the trailer.

Jack: I greatly enjoyed the film, though not as much as The Squid and the Whale. Stiller gives an incredible performance as an unlikable and deeply screwed-up person. Trailer oversells it as a comedy, which it isn’t really, and also makes it seem like Baumbach’s squeeze Jennifer Jason Leigh has a bigger part than she does. However, these are really minor complaints – all in all a very strong film.

Final Grade for Film: B

Trailer Accuracy: 50%

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I Love You Philip Morris (2010)

How intrigued are you, based upon seeing the trailer?

Anne: Made for me!

Jack: Definitely yes

Impressions based on the trailer

Snarky, smart, raunchy comedy. An unbelievable series of events based on the true story of a homosexual con man. From the looks of the trailer it would appear that the filmmakers called Anne up and asked her for a specific list of criteria for a movie she would like to see.

Comments after seeing the film.

Anne: Leslie Man is more prominently featured in the trailer but has a less significant part about half way through and practically disappears. There is more to the film regarding his con-man lifestyle and newly-found homosexuality than the grounded, religious, family life at the beginning of the film. Other than that, I would say that the trailer does a good job at displaying the themes and general mood of the film. It was great.

Jack: The red band trailer sells this as a very raunchy sex comedy about gay con artist, pointing out that it is jointly directed by the co-writers of “Bad Santa.” In fact, this film isn’t really, really raunchy, but it is really, really good. It may very well be Jim Carrey’s career-best performance, and the real heart of the film is the love story between him and an adorable, Bambi-eyed Ewan McGregor. It’s a real shame that this great film was given a release with almost no advertising and is currently only playing in two theaters in all of New York, but I think over the years it will soon find an audience.

Final Grade for Film: A-

Trailer Accuracy: 50%

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Barry Munday (2009)

How intrigued are you, based upon seeing the trailer?

Anne: Possibly great

Jack: Curious

Impressions based on the trailer

Slightly raunchy, quirky, coming of age 30-something comedy. Pregnancy and virility seem to be central topics.

Comments after seeing the film.

Anne: I think the movie is summarized very well and anyone interested in this trailer will enjoy the movie. I liked the awkward chemistry between the main characters and always appreciate large roles for Judy Greer.

Jack: I’d agree that the film is pretty truthfully advertised in the trailer. The movie is a nice little comedy about it never being too late to man up and take responsibility. A great comic part for Patrick Wilson, who I am used to seeing in intense dramatic roles, and peppered with appearances by people we haven’t really seen in a while (Cybil Shepherd! Lando!)

Final Grade for Film: B+

Trailer Accuracy: 100%

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The Social Network (2010)

How intrigued are you, based upon seeing the trailer?

Anne: Definitely Intrigued

Jack: Looks Perfect

Impressions based on the trailer

culture, internet entrepreneurship as a Scarfacian rise-and-fall story, edgy, Ivy League, backstabbing, betrayals, and courtroom drama.

Comments after seeing the film.

Anne: The montage in the beginning of the trailer doesn’t match up with the biographical film, but does make the viewer feel like a part of the history being made. I think that I can excuse that minor disconnect because the rest of the trailer does a great job getting you interested in the story of the founders of Facebook and their personal and legal tribulations. I had a genuine fear upon seeing the trailer that this topic is too current and ever changing and might be handled like an episode of Dawson’s Creek. Although with dialogue by Aaron Sorkin and Direction by David Fincher I was enthralled with the film.

Jack: The trailer thematically compliments the film perfectly: a darkly ironic montage of photos and status updates is set to an eerie “We Are The World” type ballad – this transitions to scenes from the film, snippets of Aaron Sorkin’s verbal sparring. It’s a perfect pitch for a film in which characters’ legal backstabbing and entrepreneurial one-upmanship are all extensions of their neurotic personalities, with Jesse Eisenberg at the centerpiece as the world’s most silently angry, defiant, dejected dork.

Final Grade for Film: A-

Trailer Accuracy: 75%

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Gamer (2009)

Impressions based on the trailer

Computer gamers control a real flesh-and-blood human in a Doom-style first-person shooter game. The trailer promises action scenes with a heavy amount of violence and testosterone. There might be also be some social commentary about the dark underbelly of video game culture, but whether this is treated seriously or is just an excuse to see dudes shooting each other remains to be seen. 

How intrigued are you, based upon seeing the trailer?

Anne: Not very

Jack: Somewhat curious

Comments after seeing the film.

Anne: The trailer accurately portrays the action-packed aspects of the film. They definitely play up the things that boys in their teens (and men who think like boys in their teens) would like to see most. That is fair, but I’m personally more interested in the social commentary in the film which is hardly shown in the trailer. I didn’t realize that I would like this movie because it seemed too much like a brainless action film. The film takes place in a society where regular people are willing to turn themselves into puppeted sims for cash and death row inmates have a chance to win their freedom by fighting through 30 rounds of broadcasted combat. I really like the idea of a “big brother” mind control society that has evolved from our cultural championing of Gears of War, World of Warcraft and Second Life. I feel that the trailer only depicted half of the story. However, the movie does deliver the goods as a solid action film as the trailer displays.

Jack: Gamer is a rare treat – a futuristic shoot-‘em-up with a winking self-consciousness and a satirical spirit. The action sequences taking place inside the game world of “Slayers,” as well as star player Gerard Butler’s escape (apparently shot by co-directors Neveldine and Taylor using handheld cameras while rollerblading) are obviously what the trailer plays up as its main selling points. Some of the more idiosyncratic aspects of the film came as a pleasant surprise, such as its disturbingly kinky portrayal of the relationship between gamers and sims, a black-lighted shootout in a nightclub that resembles a Jackson Pollock painting, and not one, but two incidents where characters burst into song. I was happy that these elements weren’t spoiled by the trailer, but at the same time, advertising the film as simply a poker-faced actionier runs the risk of turning off more intelligent viewers who might really enjoy it.

Final Grade for Film: B-

Trailer Accuracy: 50%

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Cyrus (2010)

How intrigued are you, based upon seeing the trailer?

Anne: definitely wanna see it

Jack: looks funny 

Impressions based on the trailer

Intelligent comedy of awkwardness, subversive romance with slightly taboo elements.

Comments after seeing the film.

Anne: This was a very uncomfortably funny film. The trailer almost looks like a taboo version of The 40 Year Old Virgin but reminded me more of Mike White’s Chuck and Buck. This is closer to a drama than a comedy but the comedic aspects take the edge off in a nice way. Even so, it’s a darker and more dysfunctional film than the easily-watchable Saturday-night-with-the-family comedy advertised in the trailer.

Jack: Here we have another attempt to shoehorn a totally unrelated film in with Judd Apatow’s crop of regressed-manchild comedies, with what looks like a Sundance-friendly version of Step Brothers. In reality, it is quite an excruciating and Oedipal portrait of some very damaged people. However, the subtle gifts that writer/director team the Duplass Brothers have with actors ensure that we are always laughing with, and not at, our characters.

Final Grade for Film: B

 Trailer Accuracy: 25%

   

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True Grit (2010)

How intrigued are you, based upon seeing the trailer?

Anne: Curious but skeptical

Jack: YEEAH!

Comments after seeing the film.

Anne: I am a fan of the Coen Brothers, and I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, even when it comes to film genres that I’m not usually attracted to. I like that the trailer shows just as much of Hailee Steinfeld’s character as Bridges, Damon, and Brolin because even though this is her first feature film, her character is who the film is centered around. It’s the revenge story of a plucky and stubborn young girl, which interests me much more than the traditional western elements (horses, guns, and men being men.)

Jack: I’m a western nerd and the Coen Brothers are my favorite filmmakers, so I don’t really need to see a trailer to know that I am going to see this film. However, this trailer presents a fairly accurate picture of a great movie: a sparse and wintery revenge story, peppered with moments of the Coens’ quirky humor. The whole cast is fantastic, particularly the young newcomer Hailee Steinfeld. Bonus points for the trailer’s use of Johnny Cash’s haunting “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.”

Final Grade for Film: B

Trailer Accuracy: 100%

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Splice (2009)

How intrigued are you, based upon seed the trailer

Anne: one thumb up

Jack: two thumbs up

Impressions based on the trailer

Looks a little “Alien”ish. Pulse-pounding, science fiction horror flick. Young attractive scientists breaking the boundaries of science in controversial and somewhat gory ways. 

Comments after seeing the film.

Anne: As scary, gory and terrifying as the trailer makes the film look, this is a brilliant example of how deceiving a trailer can be! This science fiction movie has more to do with taking care of a new baby and questions of ethics and sexuality. I am not a fan of horror movies and I loved it. There are intriguing elements of psychological introspection and dysfunction that are eyebrow-raising and definitely worth checking out.

Jack: Re-viewing the trailer after watching the film elicited chuckles from both of us. Once again we have a very conventional trailer for a very unconventional film. Warner Brothers tried to promote this movie as a spine-tingling monster-on-the-loose picture with a topical science theme. In actuality, this is a deeply and unsettlingly human film about the emotional horror of new parenthood, using the science fiction genre as a vessel to shake viewers out of their comfort zones and consider philosophical questions. It has more in common with Eraserhead and David Cronenberg’s early films than with Alien.

Final Grade for Film: B+ 

Trailer Accuracy: 0%

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Welcome

It’s the advertiser’s job to sell movie tickets and get butts in seats, but what if the movie advertised isn’t the movie you thought you wanted to see? It’s our job here at Don’t Trust the Trailer to step in and find the truth in advertising.


Please leave comments! We'd love to know what you think. You can also write me at DontTrustTheTrailer@gmail.com with questions, comments or movie suggestions.