Trailer Trash Talk: ‘True Story’
Welcome to Trailer Trash Talk. Each week we’ll break down a new movie trailer – or some piece of pop culture that interests us – for our beloved readers. Full disclosure: If this looks familiar, it’s because we stole the idea from Grantland. They did it first – and, honestly, better – but we’ve just begun. Stick with us and we promise to suck less at this. Even better – please try to outdo us with your own observations in the comments section. We welcome suggestions for future trailers and topics.
Today’s trailer: “True Story,’’ which stars Jonah Hill as journalist Michael Finkel and James Franco as Christian Longo, an FBI Most Wanted List murderer who for years lived outside the U.S. under Finkel’s name. (You can watch the trailer above.)
ALVAREZ:
Now that Jonah Hill has been anointed by Tarantino and Scorsese, I wasn’t surprised to see him playing a New York Times writer in a drama/thriller in which he will probably not be wearing this shirt.
Since this is a Hollywood film, I was also unsurprised to see his wife played by the beautiful Felicity Jones. I’m also a chubby guy who managed to marry a beautiful woman, so I’ll admit it is possible. In the movies, however, it’s inevitable.
Still, after the first 20 seconds, I was having a hard time seeing him as this dude and not this dude.
GOTTLIEB:
Yes, that creativity-in-the-cafeteria scene from “Superbad,’’ If there’s any scene that one might assume would have robbed humanity of “serious Jonah Hill’’ for eternity, it’s that one.
But he persevered, didn’t he? So now, he and his ubiquitous pal James Franco can make this completely not funny at all-looking, true crime pic that looks like it promises to feature Jonah in all his humorless, Oscar-nominated, “Moneyball’’ glory (and while we’re here, let’s not pretend there was anything serious about his second Oscar nod for “The Wolf of Wall Street.’’ It was a tremendous performance in a pretty great movie but that wasted scene with the quaaludes pretty much settled the debate on how serious it was).
Anyway, I’m not really sure what the point of this flick is. Do we have a “Capote’’- style morality play going on? Is it a thriller, as the creepy Franco phone call and shabbily edited car chase footage might suggest? I’m gonna guess that one of the alternate trailers we will certainly see between now and this movie’s eventual release may shed a bit more light on things, don’t you think?
ALVAREZ:
An alternate trailer? Certainly coming. But unless it shows Jonah Hill speaking to an empty classroom about his journalism heroism, ala Hayden Christensen in “Shattered Glass,’’ I doubt it will sell me on this movie. Franco and Hill in a serious drama? I can buy that. A morality play, as you said, based on a discredited reporter and an alleged murderer? Sounds interesting. But a film that involves a writer driving erratically in the ridiculous car chase you mentioned and Franco doing his meth kingpin, “Your door’s open. Neighbor calling!’’ act from “Homefront’’ isn’t going to get me to the theater.
As for Hill’s Oscar nod for “The Wolf of Wall Street’’ – his acting was good. His teeth were better.
GOTTLIEB:
Yeah those chompers should have gotten special mention in the credits. I haven’t seen that Franco movie (which isn’t terribly difficult since there’s a new one pretty much twice a month and it’s impossible to keep up), but seeing as how Stallone wrote the screenplay, I’m not surprised you mentioned it. I dunno man, maybe this will be good. These two dudes are good actors in the right movie and once I get past the fact that there probably won’t be any crazy weed smoking or trip out scenes like the ones in “Get Him to the Greek’’ or “Pineapple Express’’ or — if we want to keep the Jonah and Franco together theme going, “This is the End’’ — I’ll be able to settle in. It’s just too bad Seth Rogen isn’t going to show up as Jonah’s editor or a prison guard where Franco is incarcerated or some weird mountain man who lives in the trees near Jonah and Felicity’s log cabin. That would make it more relatable, no?
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