Take It Easy
I'm told that the people in charge of steering Sony Classics' An Education into awards season and Oscar noms -- Best Picture, Carey Mulligan for Best Actress, Nick Hornby for Best Original Screenplay, Alfred Molina for Best Supporting Actor, etc. -- are concerned about the film peaking too early. I get that. It should all be turned down for the remainder of July and the entirety of August -- for the next six weeks or so.
I've also been told, by the way, that a smattering of journalists who've seen it are going "okay, not bad but meh." The snobs, it sounds like. When N.Y. Times critic Manohla Dargis posted her 1.22 summary of Sundance 2009, which came about four days after Lone Scherfig's film had its first big showing at the Egyptian, she didn't even mention it, not even in passing. That seemed indicative to me.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 18, 2009 at 11:14 AM
comment #1
EDouglasCS
says ...
I don't consider myself a snob... I saw the exact same screening as you and besides Mulligan and the filmmaking, I was generally unimpressed with the premise.
Posted by EDouglasCS
at July 18, 2009 11:55 AM
comment #2
Glenn Kenny
says ...
It's entirely possible that Ms. Dargis just didn't see it. She was absolutely comfortable taking down "GFE," which wasn't even an official screening.
Posted by Glenn Kenny
at July 18, 2009 11:58 AM
comment #3
Yuval
says ...
Hornby, not Hornsby
Posted by Yuval
at July 18, 2009 12:19 PM
comment #4
stuckoni15
says ...
What they need to do is start trying to fix the markieting plan.
So far as I can tell Sony's done two things: they released a lousy poster that delivered nothing compelling about the film. And then they compounded the problem with that underwhelming trailer, which went quite a way toward deflating all the great word of mouth from the online critics that've already seen it.
I wouldn't be worried about it peaking too soon. I think Sony took care of that already.
Posted by stuckoni15
at July 18, 2009 12:20 PM
comment #5
btwnproductions
says ...
Best Adapted Screenplay, as it's based on a memoir. At this point I can see Mulligan, Molina, and Hornby getting nominated, but not too much beyond that. Best to give it a rest for a while.
Posted by btwnproductions
at July 18, 2009 12:48 PM
comment #6
byanyother
says ...
The trouble is that bloggers see these movies and rave about them way too early -- it sets them up to fail, especially if they're not the kinds of films that are immediately impressive -- There WIll Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, etc. I don't know but I'd say this isn't one of those movies, thus people will be disappointed. Nothing like being the first to see something and then rave about it - Juno had a nice, long run with lots of early raves but it lived up to the hype (not to me personally but in terms of awards season) - again, An Education probably isn't Juno, which is a general audience movie dressed up as an indie.
Posted by byanyother
at July 18, 2009 12:51 PM
comment #7
erniesouchak
says ...
The film has good performances, but it's hardly the Second Coming.
Posted by erniesouchak
at July 18, 2009 2:25 PM
comment #8
Jeffrey Wells
says ...
Souchak and Douglas represent an entirely predictable second-wave of opinion, which is always about buzz deflation. They couldn't be more wrong -- I know it when I see an exceptional film -- but what are you going to do with guys like this? As Jesus said to Judas, "Whatever you must do, do quickly." It's all part of the process.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells
at July 19, 2009 7:13 AM