'Shrink': New film, old school marketing (http://www.nuvo.net/entertainment/article/shrink-new-film-old-school-marketing)
You could tell in his voice that he was nervous. Nervous for his film. Nervous about the crowds at the Keystone Art Cinema awaiting him with questions. Perhaps most of all, screenwriter Thomas Moffett was nervous this past Friday and Saturday night during the Q and A for his new film, Shrink because, despite attracting an impressive cast, he is not a big-ticket filmmaker. Not yet, anyway.
A mere few years ago, he was just another Indiana kid, raised in West Lafayette, who dreamed of being a storyteller. He shows incredible promise with Shrink. But the film needs help getting seen.
You’d think Academy Award winning actors Kevin Spacey and Robin Williams would make it an easy sell. Being an independent film, however, Shrink cannot afford an advertising campaign and the filmmakers are therefore relying on word of mouth. They shouldn’t have to worry for long. Shrink is bound to provoke plenty of discussion.
Spacey stars as a Hollywood psychiatrist struggling to help his patients while coping with his own problems. The deft, vivid portrait of Tinseltown and the intimacy the film has with its show biz characters is surprising considering screenwriter Moffett is not from Hollywood. Then again, the characters’ conflicts often transcend Hollywood issues. Moffett explained that this was his intention. He said, “I'm not a Hollywood insider by any means. I live in New York. I just wanted to write a film about people with problems. Hollywood magnifies their problems because everything is under more scrutiny there, but my goal was to create characters that the audience would connect with. I think that with some adjustments, you could put the characters in any town.” Moffett has achieved his goal. The key strength of the film is its universally appealing characters. Spacey’s performance is particularly compelling.
Moffett agrees that Spacey’s performance is powerful and will attract people to the film. He elaborated, “There is a vulnerability and an intimacy to his performance which is incredibly moving for me to watch, not only as the writer, but as a member of the audience.”
Shrink is a great little film [see review on page 28]. It just needs a push. As Moffett explained, money is and always will be the biggest obstacle in independent filmmaking and Shrink simply cannot afford a marketing campaign. It’s currently playing at the Keystone Art Cinema. So, as Moffett stressed at the end of his Q and A, “tell your friends, tell your family, tell everyone you know to see it.”
'Shrink' will continue its run at Landmark Theatres in the Fashion Mall: http://www.landmarktheatres.com/.
"Shrink" Quick Review...
NUVO Rates it: 4 out of 5 stars
Shrink is a refreshingly sympathetic satire of Hollywood and the eccentric souls that keep it alive. Kevin Spacey stars as a Tinseltown psychiatrist struggling to help himself and his patients. Screenwriter Thomas Moffett and director Jonas Pate never mock these characters. This is evident in an indelible scene wherein two actors (played by Jack Huston and Robin Williams) ramble inappropriately during a press junket. Underneath the humor of this moment, we see their exhaustion, their struggle to remain enthusiastic about a career that never allows them to be their true selves. Thankfully, the rest of the film is just like this scene: intimately poignant. 106 minutes. http://www.nuvo.net/entertainment/article/quick-movie-review-shrink
No comments:
Post a Comment