Eat Me

A rather intriguing film, "Grilling Bobby Hicks," is in production at the moment, and someone (you neaux who) asked me to take a look at the trailer. First impression? Slapsticky dark comedy. Here's what I wrote back to him:

The Good:

The trailer is slightly amateurish. I'm not sure if that's on purpose or due to budget constraints, but it adds charm to it. Especially the sped up "get-in-the-trailer" scene toward the end.

The writing seems to be pretty good. I'm not referring to the movie, but the dialogue of the trailer, which might not have been written by the same people as the script. It's pretty solid.

It got my interest in the film. I genuinely want to find out what happened. That's pretty much the best praise that an ad is going to get from me.

The Bad:

Funny, but the amateurish feel also detracts from some moments. While it does lend an "authentic" feel to some scenes (as it does with some horror movies), the slightly shaky feel also takes away from some moments. For cinematography I particularly liked: the opening and the guy with the rag wiping off the counter. Looked really good. The stuff in the car is less appealing.

The Ugly:
The sense I got is that, though a lot of fun, this movie is going to be chock-full of cliches. Cheesiness has an audience, and I'm in it, but it's not going to necessarily win over many critics (except Ebert. I think you've got a real chance with him). My point here is that it doesn't come across as a "think" piece. I'd also like to comment on the rapid-fire sequence at the end: over-done. It adds nothing to my interest in the film and I've seen it in other trailers.

Also, they might want to mention what award the script won, or who gave the award. Cannes would add much to the weight. Granted, if it's "Didi's Script-O-Rama: Best Burger Filler," maybe they shouldn't bring it up, but it's driving me nuts. I poked around a bit and still couldn't find it.

One final: The director also wrote. I'm pretty certain he's not acting the lead, but if he acts in it at all he raises an eyebrow.

Total:
Obviously the trailer got me interested in the film. I won't be able to watch it owing to budgetary constraints, but I hope it has more than a local distribution. Give them all the best of luck from me.

Projected rating is PG, and I wouldn't expect anything much in the way of sex or, judging by the trailer, swearing. Violence might not be out of the question, but it looks like they avoided special effects in favor of writing on this one.