Box office overflows with 'Tron: Legacy,' 'How Do You Know,' and 'Yogi Bear'

By Sarah Sluis

We're in the home stretch of the holiday box office season. Three films go into wide release today, and they'll have just five days in the sun before another trio of wide releases (Little Fockers, True Grit, and Gulliver's Travels) bombards holiday audiences.

Disney's been promoting TRON: Legacy (3,451 theatres, including 2,424 in 3D) for years at Comic-Con, and the studio is counting on its long-term marketing efforts to result in a $40 million+ payday over opening weekend. The attempt to "mature" the material from 1982's TRON "[turns] out to be goofier than the original's overeager earnestness," critic Ethan Alter notes. "In trying to make TRON matter to a new generation, Legacy winds up squandering the best thing about the original: its sense of fun." While the story may not be the movie's strong suit, the visuals "lightcycle" races are stunning, and Daft Punk's score sets a dark, techno mood.

The eminently successful James L. Brooks falls short of achieving another masterpiece in How Do You Know (2,483 theatres), which stars Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, and Jack Nicholson. His "faltering" hand, according to critic David Noh, results in a "particularly uncertain yet pushy and often tone-deaf romantic comedy." The actors (who reportedly accounted for close to $50 million of the talent budget) earn their keep, but to what end? "It is almost a criminal waste that both Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd give two of their most heartfelt, charming performances," Noh sighs.

If the idea of hearing Yogi Bear (Dan Aykroyd) and Boo Boo (Justin Timberlake) singing odes to "pic-a-nic baskets" sounds like punishment, not entertainment, you're not one of the many families expected to turn out this weekend for the spectacle, which will unspool in 3,515 theatres, including 2,011 in 3D. Alter pegs this film as about a 5 out of 10 "on the scale of live-action updates of old cartoons," which is to say it's a "relentlessly uninspired and proudly juvenile production," but "doesn't feature a trio of CGI-rodents singing bad pop songs at a pitch only dogs (and kids under the age of eight) can tolerate."

Rabbit Hole (5 theatres) stars Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as parents coping with the death of their child. Though the film has drawn raves for Kidman's performance, critic Frank Lovece wasn't one of those applauding. Except for one moment of "layered subtlety," Kidman's "performance [is] so controlled that even when [the couple] Becca and Howie have their inevitable shouting match, it feels forced and false."

Because we're in high season for movies, a number of released films are still gathering steam. The Fighter is making the biggest jump, expanding into 2,503 theatres after opening in just four last week. Black Swan, which already had a spot in the top ten with just 90 theatres, will expand to 959 theatres. The Tempest, which made a so-so debut last week, will stay specialty, spreading to just 21 theatres. For all of these films, success or failure will be determined in the final weeks of 2010.

Trailer Roundup: 'Love and Other Drugs' and 'How Do You Know'

By Sarah Sluis

As the summer winds down, I take a look at the two recently released trailers for the fall/winter movie season.

'Love and Other Drugs'

Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal (who were briefly paired together in Brokeback Mountain) star in Love and Other Drugs, which I had pegged as a romance with some dark comedy thrown in. Based on a memoir by a Viagra pharmaceutical rep, it led me to expect something with a little bit of The Insider in it. After all, pharma salespeople are rather morally ambiguous characters, since their job is to persuade doctors to prescribe more of their drug, regardless of what is the best medical decision for the patient

Enter the trailer:

Do I like Love and Other Drugs more or less after seeing the trailer? Less. Why? The trailer makes the movie sound too much like a typical romantic comedy. Worse, it gives away moments that must take place towards the end of the movie, including crying (presumably after a break-up) and Gyllenhaal's character trying to catch up with the Hathaway character on a bus (which is usually the scene right before they kiss and go to closing credits). It's possible that the movie's premise has just been sanitized for a public that's presumably skittish about anything out of the ordinary, and the strongest sign that this is true is one striking omission. Hathaway's character has Parkinson's Disease, a plot point that never makes its way into the trailer. Maybe audiences would find that too depressing? This movie is still on my to-see list when it comes out November 24th, but now it needs to redeem itself to fall in line with my initial expectations. Another good sign? It's releasing over Thanksgiving, a prime slot that implies the studio thinks it's got a good movie on its hands.

'How Do You Know'

The latest from James L. Brooks (who last directed Spanglish and As Good As It Gets), How Do You Know places Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd in a love triangle, and also features Jack Nicholson--a cast full of great actors. It centers on a female softball player (Witherspoon) torn between her baseball pitcher boyfriend (Wilson) and a down-on-his luck corporate guy (Rudd).

Enter the trailer:

Do I like How Do You Know more of less after seeing the trailer? More. Most of all, this trailer seems thoughtful, not gimmicky. The trailer brings to mind a Cameron Crowe movie (perhaps Jerry Maguire?) but that's not a bad thing as far as I'm concerned. We learn less about plot points, which are for the most part elided, and more about the characters' states of mind. In As Good As It Gets, so much of the movie was about Jack Nicholson's character, which enriched the relationship he had with Helen Hunt. I really feel that Brooks will be able to pull off a similarly meaningful character transformation here. I also can't decide if this line of Witherspoon's dialogue is interesting or trite: "Most girls' plan is to meet a guy, fall in love, have a baby. But I don't know if I have what it takes for everybody's regular plan." It's pretty common in romantic comedies for women to say they don't want the standard package only to end up with all of the above in the end. However, if Brooks and Witherspoon can make us believe this about Witherspoon's character, I'll be right on board for this movie. It's also eyeing a high-traffic release date on December 17th, where I'm sure it will attract large audiences.