If you’ve seen the movie trailer and poster (pictured left) for The Lookout, than you’re probably expecting a dark Memento like heist movie, and you would be wrong. It’s probably the worest example of false movie advertising since Bridge To Terabithia (which promised but failed to be a Narnia fantasy world family film). And it’s a shame, because The Lookout is a great film. So when I got the chance to speak to first time director Scott Frank (screenwriter of Minority Report, Get Shorty), I asked him about it point blank. Here is his response:
“We HATE the trailer. The trailer is NOT the movie, and neither is that (pointing to the poster). All morning I’ve been having chats with the folks at Miramax marketing, telling them that the feedback without question - now we’re laughing because we hear the same thing with every interview people come in and say ‘Boy, I wasn’t even looking forward to seeing that movie because I thought it was going to be this kind of movie, NOT that kind of movie.’ And I keep telling them (Miramax) that. So Thank you, yes you’re right. The trailer, I wish I had more of a say, instead of just a voice in those kind of things.”
So the question presents itself: Should the filmmaker be more involved in the film’s marketing? And what else can be done to prevent studios from engaging in deceptive marketing. I understand that it can sometimes help lesser quality films, but what about a good film? What about The Lookout?
March 28th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Okay, so if it’s not a dark Memento-type heist movie, what kind of movie IS it? Can you give an idea of what it really is without spoiling?
I agree that the studios shouldn’t be mis-marketing films, but the fact is that that’s what marketers do when they feel they haven’t been given enough material to make it more “truthful”.
But I’m interested to know why Frank hates it so much and how divergent it is from what the movie’s about.
March 28th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
The movie is a character-sentric story about a guy who was a star athlete at his high school, and in an instant lost everything (his friends, his thinking skills…etc). Some really scummy people try to abuse his weakness, as he works as an overnight cleaner at a small farm town bank (which gets a lot of money once a year during Harvest). The story is in order, no jumps around ala Memento.