'Passengers': At Least the Average Trailer is Better Than the Poster

Maybe I'm reducing it too much, but based on the trailer for Passengers, it looks like a combination of Lost and Fearless, with some time-honored paranormal nonsense thrown in there to good measure. Granted, Patrick Wilson can be pretty creepy even without dissonant string accompaniment (Hard Candy, people), but in the grand scheme of things, this doesn't look like a whole lot. Anne Hathaway plays a therapist called in to counsel (and console) the five survivors of an airline crash. She's intrigued by Wilson so she does what any self-respecting movie therapist does: She falls in love with him, even though he's certainly not quite right. I shouldn't be so down on this movie because it has a pretty good cast: I like Wilson, David Morse is one of the great utility infielders in the movies, you've got Andre Braugher and Dianne Wiest, and, of course, the Princess of Genovia, who doesn't move the needle one way or the other. This movie opens against Saw V, so I'm not expecting huge production out of it at the box office or anything. I'm getting a Flightplan vibe out of it: Same time of year, distressed heroine in a movie with airplanes, has that look about it that something's not quite good enough. Of course, this movie should be so lucky to wind up with Flightplan's box office. Still, I'm not circling October 24th on my calendar because of it. While we're on the subject, I would like point out the atrocious Photoshopping on the poster. Honestly, did somebody draw Anne Hathaway with sticks of chalk? How could anyone think that looks better than the original photo, whatever condition it was in? It's among my nominees for worst poster of the year, along with the similarly butchered one-sheet for My Best Friend's Girl and the mysteriously bad Body of Lies.

Comments

[loganeast]

That poster looks like it was Photoshopped in about 5 minutes. Horrible. I'm trying to talk myself into watching the trailer, but I don't think it'll happen.