One of winter's great flops—The Tourist, in which Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie failed to, in Variety trade-speak, attract domestic auds (yet grossing twice as much overseas, validating the continual attractiveness of household names and glossy production values in foreign markets)—has prompted inquiring minds to wonder why a film concocted from such promising elements fell apart. The answer, according to one source among a post-mortem smattering of anonymous voices close to production, laid much of the blame at the feet of director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. He wanted a style piece, the stars didn't want to be stylish (Depp insisted on an elaborately ugly goatee, to the alarm of all involved) and the production went downhill from there.
Von Donnersmarck had come to Hollywood with big ambitions: his 2006 Best Foreign Film winner The Lives of Others was exactly the kind of historically weighty but easy-to-watch film Academy members love. If his attempt to go Hollywood failed, perhaps it's because he aimed too high, with an outsized budget and a story anchored by people and plot rather than a concept that sells itself. Over the last decade, many foreign directors have quite deliberately emigrated for American studio budgets and never gone back, but they keep their ambitions modest and pragmatic. At home, aping Hollywood on a small budget is a dream. In California, you can do it without the struggle.
Continued reading Hollywood's Tourists...
Comments on this Entry:
(J.M. on
Jan 20, 2011 8:09 AM)
Another example of wonderful foreign directors who magically lose their...well, magic when working in the USA: John Woo.
(Jen on
Jan 20, 2011 10:59 AM)
Is this writer out of touch? The Tourist's worldwide gross is already $186M . . . and counting. Yes, despite the bashing of the so-called critics. This weekend it is predicted to reach $200M! 'Nuff said. Don't want to waste any more time with a stup1d writer.
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