We could just as easily headlined this: “What? You Thought Movie Marketing Mavens Knew What They Were Doing?” Because let’s face it, no matter how good this film about the deepening buddy relationship between a man suffering from Alzheimer’s and his robot caregiver may be – and the trailer below makes it look pretty darn cute – who in their right mind ,i.e., one that doesn’t suffer from Alzheimer’s, wants to see a film about someone who does?
Especially one starring Frank Langella, who may be the darling of New York film critics (or so we seem to recall – our own memories may not be all that swell), but who, let’s face it, isn’t about to bring anybody’s seat into a theater. Co-star Susan Sarandon isn’t going to help either because we don’t care how free-spirited she’s shown herself to be over the years, there’s just too many years there…although our grandfather’s might dig her, who knows?
We would say that we hope this movie was inexpensive to make, but after seeing what we’ve seen we’re sure that it was. Just as we’re sure that when the premise is stolen and modified it’ll become a moderate TV success on a network like FX. (Note to screenwriter Christopher Ford: Get your TV version going now!)
I’ve heard good things about this movie. It was a hit at Sundance and the studios lined up to buy it. I don’t think anyone expects it to be a blockbuster, but maybe there is still room for a small film in theaters. Or maybe not, you recently posted that Larry David couldn’t get any theatrical distribution with his new film.