Shame in the lobby

email this story
read comments (9)
post a comment

"Not long ago, the Bagger was at an event with a major film writer and director and ended up in a booth with him for several hours. He admired the man tremendously, [but] did not like his last project. Finally, the subject came up and the Bagger told the truth, after which there was suddenly very little to say. Later, he asked a colleague with more experience if he had been wise to speak his mind. 'No, that was profoundly stupid,' he was told. 'They really don't want to know the truth.'" -- from David Carr's latest Oscar-related posting, "Ten Things I Don't Hate About You, or At Least Your Movie."

Carr's friend was right, but I'll never forget the shame I felt eight years ago when I lied by saying something encouraging and enthusiastic about Armageddon to its producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, at an early-bird industry screening. That Michael Bay film felt way too forced and agitated. As Variety's Todd McCarthy famously said at the time, the pace felt to me like that of "a machine gun locked in the firing position." A guy in the know told me a week or so later that Armageddon was "frame-fucked...the length of every last shot was cut down to the absolute bare minimum to keep it moving as fast as possible."

Anyway, I saw Bruckheimer in the lobby right after the show and told him, coward that I was, that Armageddon "seriously rocks." Jerry knew right away I was full of it; he gave me a look that said, "Huh, that''s funny...you're lying to me and you're doing a bad job of it." He didn't look at me for the rest of the evening. Nice feeling, that.

Southeastern Film Critics<< previous | next >>Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 18, 2006 at 12:13 PM

comment #1

erniesouchak says ...

Yes, many of these Hollywood types like to go on and on about important it is to find someone who will give them an honest opinion, but I've never dealt with thinner-skinned folks in my life. You are the proverbial turd in the punchbowl if you say anything negative.

Posted by erniesouchak at December 18, 2006 12:49 PM

comment #2

christian says ...

honest of you to admit to that dishonesty. it is hard to parse words when confronted by a filmmaker but if they're legitly asking your opinion, why not?

for examples of how to pretend you like a film while not liking it, read ain't it cool news. an art form of obfuscation.

Posted by christian at December 18, 2006 12:50 PM

comment #3

Chris D. says ...

I think I can top it. I once told a very minor director in an interview that I liked the premise of his film because I had always wanted to make one like it and finally someone had. When I got back to my office, I was told to send a written apology to said director. My crime? I had implied that he had plaigarized my idea.

Posted by Chris D. at December 18, 2006 1:00 PM

comment #4

Jay T. says ...

I hate these pansy filmmakers/producers who look down on journos when they feed them bullshit about their latest shitty movie, but then can't handle it when someone tells them the straight-up truth.

Posted by Jay T. at December 18, 2006 1:29 PM

comment #5

Craig Kennedy says ...

Do you think Bruckheimer knows he's producing shit but does it anyway because shit sells or do you think he genuinely and passionately believes in his product like some kind of modern Ed Wood?

I'd have a little respect for him if it was the latter, but Jeff's anecdote supports my belief it's just the money.

I'm sure ol' Jerry loses sleep at night wondering what I think of him too.

(cue passionate retort from Actionman)

Posted by Craig Kennedy at December 18, 2006 1:41 PM

comment #6

JD says ...

Just to be diplomatic about this, I think critics have a tendency to be reductive and simplistic in their verbal -- as opposed to written -- analysis of films. If someone has just spent 2-3 years working on a film, you can't just casually dismiss it like an article you didn't care for. Imagine if you asked someone what they thought of your website Jeff and they just said "It's bad. I don't like what you've been doing for the last 3 years." If a filmmaker asks what you think of their film, I think the best strategy is to zero in on a few really specific choices they made and explain why you liked or disliked them, rather than sink the whole Titanic with one phrase. But critics love reducing their feelings about an entire movie to one broad, meaningless sentence. I can kinda understand why this flips filmmakers out.

Posted by JD at December 18, 2006 1:47 PM

comment #7

christian says ...

jerry knows he makes cinematic shit burgers. he knows.

Posted by christian at December 18, 2006 2:22 PM

comment #8

jeffmcm says ...

I'm surprised, this is probably the first time I've read that Bruckheimer actually had personal integrity. Good for him for not being brain-dead...or does it just make him a greater sinner against art, that he's doing it consciously?

Posted by jeffmcm at December 18, 2006 3:31 PM

comment #9