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Regardless of the label, this growing genre of star-studded comedy has been popular in recent years. Four This is the latest version of this classic.
You usually see the same types of characters in every movie. At least one woman is opinionated. Fantastic Fourwhich is Sarandon’s job. She plays Lou, a no-nonsense doctor who loves cats and holds a grudge against Midler’s character for a crime long ago. Keaton, in a turtleneck, is generally the most prudish of her team. When Fonda shows up, she’s playing a sexually adventurous character prone to risqué jokes. Megan Mullaly in Fourassisted by the notoriously vulgar Midler. They usually pull pranks and do things one might not expect of an older person. They get high. They go on adventure trips, like paragliding or ziplining. They experiment with technology and social media. (Fantastic Four There’s a ton of Midler content on TikTok.)
Men are in the mix, played by celebrated older actors—Don Johnson, Andy Garcia, Eugene Levy, and Bruce Greenwood, to name a few—but none are more famous than the women around them. In fact, this string of older chick flicks has supplanted the tradition of comedies starring a cast of acclaimed older male actors; think A grumpy old man. list of last wish and Different stylesincluding originals and remakes, categorized as New York Times Part of the “old guy acting school”.
Films starring women are often bland, even if they do add some poignancy as they battle health issues or the death of a spouse. Given the ages of the protagonists, the overall message is often about embracing life to the fullest, despite society telling you otherwise. Despite the merits of the actresses involved, these films rarely receive critical recognition, so why is there such an influx?
“I think people love these movies,” said producer Alex Saks, who worked on them. Book Club, Poms and Summer camp. “Executives love these movies, so as long as we have reason to believe in them, people are willing to accept them.”
this Book Club Sachs first encountered the script about a decade ago while working as an agent. She said she was drawn to it in part because of her First Wives ClubThe 1996 comedy Friends, starring Midler, Keaton and Goldie Hawn, is about three divorced women who plot against their ex-husbands. The film is in many ways a precursor to these projects, with a similar cast that was already considered aging at the time. They also owe their existence to the success of Nancy Meyers films, such as Sacrificewhich tells the story of Keaton falling in love late in life.
Saks believes Book Club On a personal level, she said: “I know that good movies like this can become classics and be watched over and over again in the same way. First Wives Club used to be.”
Filmmakers understand the appeal of these types of projects, even if they are not necessarily the kinds of films they specialize in. For example, Brady 80 pointsKyle Marvin has worked on independent films such as the climbin which he starred and co-wrote. Marvin told me his motivation for joining Brady 80 points It was selfish. “This was an opportunity to work with legends,” he said. “These women were undoubtedly the greatest comedians of my childhood.”
Australian director Jocelyn Moorhouse Fantastic Fourhad similar thoughts. “I was so excited to be working with actresses of this age group, who are basically some absolute icons,” she says. “I thought, ‘Oh my god, if I could find someone like Susan Sarandon, or even more magically, if I could find Bette Midler to do this, that would be amazing.’ And they said yes.”
Some in the industry also believe there is an audience for these kinds of films, and they are willing to go to the theaters to find satisfaction. That’s why the independent film company Bleecker Street signed on. Fantastic FourKent Sanderson, the company’s president, said in an interview.
“These kinds of films appeal to us as investors and distributors because we think a certain generation will want to go see and experience this film together,” he said.
although Brady 80 points Originally acquired by Paramount for streaming, Marvin said he was confident in its theatrical potential. “We were told when we first started that this group wasn’t going to be around because of the pandemic,” Marvin said. “They said drama was dead in this era. We really believed in drama and thought, ‘This can’t be true.'”
Brady 80 points Far from reaching Book Clubalso distributed by Paramount, did perform better than expected at the box office, with a $12.5 million ($20.9 million) opening weekend and a final worldwide gross of over $40 million ($67 million). However, this was not the fate of all of these films. Summer CampThe Last of The Last, distributed by Roadside, grossed just over $2 million ($3.3 million), and Sachs noted that the film’s marketing budget was millions of dollars less than that of The Last of The Last. Book club.
“You hope that word of mouth and everything works out, but I think post-pandemic it’s going to be a lot harder and there’s going to be a lot of disruption,” she said.
Yet distraction is the intention of these films. The directors I spoke to all insisted that, while their films touch on serious topics related to aging, their primary goal was to be funny. And they are hilarious; you can’t dwell on any one detail because the plot holes are so numerous. In fact, Moorhouse admits that she chose not to dwell on the fact that Mullaly and Sheryl Lee Ralph are much younger than Midler and Sarandon. Instead, she simply altered the script so that the characters didn’t go to college together.
Even with these incongruities, it’s not hard to see how there’s something comforting about seeing these faces combined and behaving ridiculously on screen.
“I think it’s important that we give screen time not only to legendary actresses, but also to actors who are no longer the typical leading ladies, who seem real and who you can really believe in and relate to, because the reality is that we all get older,” said Castile Landon, the director of “Oldboy.” Summer Camp“It’s important to see people having fun. It’s not a hard thing to do.”
That’s how you end up with multiple musical numbers Fantastic FourMoorhouse thought: If possible, why not let Midler and Ralph get along harmoniously?
“It’s a fun, hilarious movie,” Moorhouse said. “I hope people have fun watching it. I certainly had fun making it.”
This article was originally published on New York Times.
By Esther Zuckerman
©2024 The New York Times
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