The Funniest, Most Depressing Movie Trailer of All Time

Like so many people, I watched a lotta movies over the holidays. At home. In the theater. On television. Traditionally, this is a good time at the box office. The season of award-caliber cinema.

My wife and I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night. Technically speaking, an impressive achievement. David Fincher is an excellent director. Cate Blanchett is a world class actress with incredible bone structure. And Brad Pitt, playing -- of all things -- an elderly boy, gives his best performance since Fight Club.

Me? I only thought the movie was so-so. Basically a rehashing of Forrest Gump, easily one of the most grating films ever made. And I'm almost certain that -- just like Gump -- it will win Best Picture. And if Eric Roth wins Best Screenplay Adaptation, he'll be the first man to win two Academy Awards for the same script. An impressive achievement by any measure.

And speaking of curious, something funny has been happening in movie theaters over the past couple of months. The trailer below has been playing before packed-house theaters throughout America. And every time I've witnessed it, the audience has broken out into peals of nervous laughter. Waves of uncontrollable giggling. An involuntary response.

 

 
 

Revolutionary Road. The Sam Mendes adaptation of the Richard Yates classic.

It begs the question: Has there ever been a more perfectly depressing movie trailer in the history of American cinema?

I see this thing as a sort of masterpiece. Worthy of an Oscar nomination all by itself. So darkly funny it makes me want to stand up and cheer. And this, perhaps, is where my sense of humor veers off the beaten path a bit. I find it wickedly hilarious that unsuspecting moviegoers -- out to watch Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughan exhibit horrendous chemistry in Four Christmases -- are suddenly assaulted with a perfect, two-minute encapsulation of the darkest, most nuclear fears at the heart of the American Dream.

The first time I saw this trailer, I howled. And broke out into a light, cold sweat.

And think about it from a sales perspective: Has there ever been a more brazen act of willfully self-destructive marketing? It's almost like Mr. Mendes is trying to scare people away. At the end of the day, this advertisement is tantamount to a two-minute warning: Please stay away from this utterly soul-crushing film at all costs. It's a showcase for Leo and Kate's Oscar chances, certainly. But beyond that? A vicious deterrent.

Whatever the film's merits, I expect Revolutionary Road to do utterly dismal box office here on the home front. (Perhaps it's possible that overseas audiences will embrace it as a sort of comedy... or an exercise in delicious schadenfreude.)

But in these times, in this economy, in this world, I have a hard time believing that Americans will want to spend two hours in the pitch-black dark, watching a surgically accurate pyrotechnic domestic implosion. Right now, as the news reports keep coming in from the precipice, people don't really seem interested in watching their worst fears played out onscreen. Instead they would prefer to be taken away into a miraculous, airbrushed dreamland where simple men with learning disabilities can screw beautiful Southern blonds and change the course of history by accident.

Who made these rules, anyway?

-BL

Comments

[beyobi]

Heaven forbid that you should be asked to actually explore the premise of the American Dream as being possibly flawed. Maybe you should stick with Pixar. That seems to be about your depth. But hey, thanks for turning your ipod off long enough to right the review. (You did turn it off, didn't you?)

"At the end of the day...", God, talk about tired cliches!

[dredge]

No, this isn't a depressing movie. It's a bad movie, which is why everyone is laughing.

[LoRiseAntlers]

Actually,this trailer makes me want to see this movie.

"Revolutionary Road" was the first really "adult" book I ever read,at the tender age of 11 or 12.And from this little taste,this is one of those films that looks like the "movie in my head",or my envisioning of the book.Hopefully it is.That doesn't happen often,but when it does,it's almost magical

[theolcf]

Art, is supposed to raise consciousness. Whether its a film, painting, song, or whatever. I've heard nothing but crap about this movie and how it's just "Oscar Bait".

But I was totally drawn in and captivated by the story. It's about a marriage dissolving. And it's about the spirit of two people loosing their way. But mostly, it's about wasting your life. It's depressing but it's also a great opportunity for humor which the movie has a lot of. About a third of the way through, I thought, Jesus! These people are wasting their lives because they don't know any better. It made the movie a lot more fun to watch.

If watching people wasting their lives doesn't seem worthwhile then stay away from Chekhov and Bergman who made it their life's work. Not to depress us, but to remind us to live. I think this movie achieved this masterfully.

[RobinLandseadel]

Let's hope that "Tropic Thunder" cleans up at Oscar time.

[Brad Listi - Huffpost Blogger]

Downey deserves a nod, I will agree.

[godhelpusall]

in fairness to your readers and to the film's potential audience, it should be noted that RR opened December 26, 2008 to favorable reviews by David Ansen, David Denby, Todd McCarthy, Peter Travers, Roger Ebert and other leading film critics ---

[Brad Listi - Huffpost Blogger]

Yeah, I should be clear in saying that I have very little doubt that it's a quality film---particularly when compared to most of the drivel at the cineplex. I'm a fan of Leo and especially a fan of Kate. Sam as well. I just happen to think the trailer is going to be used in assisted suicides one day.

[mule66]

that was funny

[cart25]

having just seen the film i can tell you that trailer certainly sums up the film. its incredibly depressing and I am not against dark downer films but this one is just a drag..

its biggest problem is that it is just not very good. I do not understand all the buzz about their performances. if anything i thought both of them were off their game. you really feel like you are watching a play. a bad play.

there is one guy who shows up for a couple of brief scene scenes as the kathy bates son and he is fantastic. he injects the film with some much needed life but aside from that the film is a drag.

[DWGRadio]

Thank you thank you thank you. My wife and I saw this and thought the acting was terrible. DiCaprio I expected to be bad, but Winslet is really top rate; check out her performance in The Reader. No one was good in the movie and the only character I liked was the crazy son. This was a pointless, poorly acted (which means poorly directed) piece of junk. If you want good cinema right now, go see The Reader or Slumdog Millionaire.

[Brad Listi - Huffpost Blogger]

Mendes has its roots in the theater, so it's not all that surprising to hear you compare it to a stage play. 'American Beauty' was somewhat similar in its stagings.

[Brad Listi - Huffpost Blogger]

Check that: Mendes has HIS roots in theater. Sorry.

[ProudLiberalDan]

Little Children was my favorite film of 2006. I have a feeling I'm going to love this. An an urban dweller, I love films that rip the pretense of the supposedly superior suburban lifestyle. I'll be having Schadenfreude right here at home.

[Brad Listi - Huffpost Blogger]

Loved 'Little Children.'

[Dukedraven]

Leo and Kate are terrific, but while watching that clip, I felt like getting a Prozac prescription. Everything's so futile and I feel so trapped. I need more therapy!

[Brad Listi - Huffpost Blogger]

Don't we all?

[rmetz74]

A friend of mine who works in tv said 'hey - Lero and Kate did a feature-length, not-as-good episode of Mad Men.'

[Brad Listi - Huffpost Blogger]

Heh. I have yet to see an episode of 'Mad Men.' This always happens to me. I wind up watching good shows, like, three years after they're gone. One day I will find myself in possession of the 'Mad Men' DVD collection.

[JonG345]

Oh, lord. I was with some friends the other night discussing our options for the evening. Someone suggested seeing a movie, and we all thought it was a splendid idea. Then we looked at what was playing. Nothing but depressing, sad-sack movies about nuns raping palestinian wrestlers, or something.

Oh, Oscar season. The magical time when Hollywood decides to only put out entirely depressing movies in the hopes that the studio will win an award. If only someone had the foresight to put out a fun movie this year. Where's Jurassic Park? Or Lord of the Rings? Imagine if Pirates of the Caribbean came out today. It would murder all the other pictures.

That being said, good luck to Milk and The Wrestler at the Oscars!

[antaeus]

At least we don't have to look forward to a prosthetic nose winning this year.

Seriously, the Oscars are maddening for many cinephiles. Remember Irene Dunne!

[Brad Listi - Huffpost Blogger]

A friend of mine saw 'The Wrestler' last week and said it was spectacular. Note-perfect. Now I'm curious. Mickey Rourke in tights and Marisa Tomei naked. I smell a sleeper hit. Or wait...maybe I just smell Mickey Rourke's tights.

Gross.

[ckomeshian]

I think this movie is going to comfort all the people who chose not to get married and live in suburbia and get tied down to mortgages and stale careers. As a single woman, I felt good when I viewed it--that the grass is not greener for those who appear to have it all. As far as sitting through an entire movie about the subject...not sure but the performances are probably exceptional. There's a lot of "feel bad" movies out right now. What's up Hollywood?

[Brad Listi - Huffpost Blogger]

It's Oscar season. The time for "serious artists" to get all serious and stuff. To make art that holds up a mirror to our souls. To move us. To change the culture. To...

*pukes*

[Glencora]

Every time we see this trailer my sister and I have the same reaction - "Can't wait to miss this one!"

[Brad Listi - Huffpost Blogger]

I think you should get very, very, very drunk, and go see it. Just a suggestion.

[antaeus]

Your beef isn't with the trailer, it's with the "Richard Yates classic" itself. These characters just aren't all that likable. It's not entirely clear to me whether Yates' own stance towards April and Frank is more critical or empathetic, but whatever his own intent, the 1961 novel can be seen as a milestone in Me Generation culture.

[Brad Listi - Huffpost Blogger]

At the risk of sounding pretentious, there was a piece on Yates & 'RR' in a recent edition of the New Yorker. Apparently he was channeling his first marriage at the time he was writing the novel. He was living in suburbia...things were coming apart...etc.

[RedsnGreens]

Interesting thoughts on the RR trailer. Before reading anything further than the question you posed, I saw the trailer and wanted to see what there was to laugh about. Not taking it seriously, I laughed at the man's voice (in the accompanying backgound song), when it went all wobbly and shaky (I didn't pay attention to what he was singing so it could've been some very depressing lyrics but as I said, I wasn't taking it seriously). So, maybe people were laughing at the funny man's voice in the song???
Haha. I kid. I don't know, just wanted to put in my two cents.

But really, what you wrote about this trailer and the movie was engaging, so much so that I wonder why there aren't more comments here.

And it might not bring in the bucks in the box office, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good movie. I do hope Kate Winslet wins an Oscar this year, either for RR (most likely Leading Actress) or The Reader (for Supporting Actress).

[OttoMann]

The "man's" voice singing is Nina Simone (performing Wild is The Wind, later made famous by David Bowie).

[Brad Listi - Huffpost Blogger]

Nina Simone does sort of sound like a man.

[OrganOfThought]

How can somebody possibly not recognize Nina Simone? Her records sold for 30 years and is considered an American icon. I can list a dozen recent movies with her songs in them. Red must have absolutely ZERO culture.

And to respectfully disagree with Brad, sorry but Nina does not sound like a man at all - only if you compare her to blond California beach bunny.