# This movie is not what I expected it to be **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298 "2019-05-21T16:03:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/41 "2019-05-22T03:16:53Z")
Filled with wild action, fantastic choreography and editing, _Duel to the Death_ (1983) nevertheless has a thoroughly misleading title seeing as the main characters only end up dueling till dismemberment. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/42 "2019-05-22T05:57:42Z")
Slight hijack, but a related story: decades ago when I lived on a small island in Micronesia, our main form of entertainment was to go down to the local video store and rent movies. I had a houseguest, and we decided to watch a movie. He offered to go into town and get one. He inquired as to what I felt like, and I said, “Oh, I dunno … something light, I don’t feel like thinking too hard tonight.” He returned with _Das Boot_ and told me nothing about it before we started watching. It’s an amazing movie, but hardly what I was in the mood for. (Semi-spoiler for those who haven’t seen it: it has an incredibly sad ending.) A few days later, I got my revenge. We again decided to rent a movie, only it was my turn to go get one. He wanted a comedy and I promised to deliver. Saying nothing more, I got us _Blue Velvet_ (which I had already seen so I knew exactly what to expect) and let him watch it, completely unprepared. It totally freaked him out. I told him it was exactly what he deserved for showing me _Das Boot_ with no warning when I asked for something light. He agreed. / ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/43 "2019-05-22T07:51:53Z")
I happened to catch Once Upon A Time In Mexico when I lived in Philadelphia. The theater was pretty packed; everybody was some flavor of Hispanic except for four very-white ladies in the front row. After a few minutes of the movie, one of them turned to the others and said “you know, I don’t think this is a fairy tale”. Later when we were exiting they were talking with some of the people who’d been sitting closest to them about how the rest of us could have watched the movie without the subtitles (since yes, all of us were bilingual) and other linguistic and cultural background stuff. They agreed that, while very much not a fairy tale, it had been an interesting experience. > [@TriPolar](#): > > [Pan’s Labyrinth](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457430/) > > It’s a very dark violent movie. It was presented as a fantastical story that despite an R rating seemed suitable for young children. I enjoyed it but I know several people who were disturbed by what they saw, not really the content itself, but the expecting a more upbeat feel good movie. > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Hereditary, while advertised as a horror movie, was so much darker and emotionally charge than I could have imagined.The synopsis I read sounded so formulaic and, frankly corny, that I didn’t bother to see it in the theater. I did not expect to feel the way I did when it was over:eek: With both of those I think I have a cultural-background advantage. “Spanish horror movie” is something that I know is going to go to some nasty, nasty places (Labyrinth is del Toro but made and set in Spain with a Spanish cast, so it definitely qualifies as “Spanish horror movie”). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/44 "2019-05-22T11:56:06Z")
Two movies that (like _Bridge to Teribithia_) are famous for deceptive trailers are _Kindergarden Cop_, which mostly wasn’t in kindergarden, and _Kangaroo Jack_, which mostly wasn’t about the kangaroo. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/45 "2019-05-22T12:27:34Z")
Both my wife and I were disappointed by _Crazy Rich Asians_. We both had the impression that the movie was about rich Asians who were crazy. Actually it’s about Asians who are crazy rich. It’s an important distinction if you’re looking for a comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/46 "2019-05-22T13:19:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Both my wife and I were disappointed by _Crazy Rich Asians_. We both had the impression that the movie was about rich Asians who were crazy. Actually it’s about Asians who are crazy rich. It’s an important distinction if you’re looking for a comedy. I think it’s a brilliant title for American viewers. Because it’s hard to tell where the culture ends and the eccentric begins. That said, had I’d know it was going to be a Princess fairy tale, I probably would have gave it a hard pass. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/47 "2019-05-22T14:09:17Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > Woody Allen made a movie called _The Purple Rose of Cairo_, and it looks like a lighthearted rom-com. But there’s nothing light or happy about the ending. > > Apparently, Woody considered it a meditation on the power of art. Ah well. His _A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy_ is often assumed to be a sex comedy. Though there are a few amusing bits, it’s mostly a serious musing about relationships and about they are always going to fail, and that a happy ending is literally a fairy story. Blake Edwards’ _The Man Who Loved Woman_ was marketed as a comedy, with trailers focusing on what was the only deliberately funny scene in it. It’s really mostly a drama about someone who has an inability to commit. The original ending was so downbeat that the studio asked for reshots to lighten it just a bit. But it was a pretty serious drama. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/48 "2019-05-22T16:05:31Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Yeah. In the same vein I am not sure who the latest version of Dumbo was for. How about the original Dumbo??!! It was awful, I started watching it with my grandkids and after 15 minutes, shut it off. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/49 "2019-05-22T16:11:53Z")
_The Babadook_. I expected a horror movie. What I got was a character study about a grieving widow with a special-needs kid. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/50 "2019-05-22T16:30:30Z")
One thing I hate is when a studio didn’t know how to make a trailer for a mediocre, independent dramedy. Most of the time there’s little -medy in the drama, so they cram every humorous line into the trailer. It’s deliberately deceptive, and not for a genre-subverting purpose. Memorable examples are _The Five Year Engagement_, _Friends With Kids_, and _This Is Where I Leave You_. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/51 "2019-05-22T16:32:33Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > The 1981 _Pennies from Heaven_. I thought it was going to be Steve Martin’s latest wacky comedy. Dark, sad and even pedophilia. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/52 "2019-05-22T16:40:06Z")
When Cocoon was new, there were two different trailers out at the same time. One was about sad old people like Wilford Brimley and Jessica Tandy nearing death, and one was was about wacky hijinks with Steve Gutenberg having skinless sex with hot alien chicks in a pool. Each was obviously meant to go with a movie targeting a specific audience. Since the movie was actually about both things, I can’t say the trailers were purely deceptive, but it really made me aware of how[a trailer can use only footage from the film and yet completely misrepresent it if it wants to.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5_0AGdFic) I never expected Pennies From Heaven to be a comedy, but for some reason I thought it the fantasy parts were going to be more like Walter Mitty and less like Brazil. And I liked Stardust Memories, but I figure that was because I saw it before many of his “older, funnier” films. I was expecting Manhattan, not Bananas, so it wasn’t such a shock. > [@JohnT](#): > > His point was that the job of the trailer is to get butts in seats, and sometimes they are given a movie which just won’t do it. And he flat out asked me: > > “You went to the film expecting to see a procedural, right? Would you have seen the film if you knew it was about addiction?” And then the movie tanks after the first weekend, because the trailer lied, and word of mouth kept people away. And all the people that would have wanted to see a movie about addiction never see it. But by god the studio made their first weekend money, and the trailer maker got paid. Ain’t America great? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/53 "2019-05-22T16:56:30Z")
_Starship Troopers_…expected mindless sci-fi. Every year my GF and I pick out a Christmas movie to watch so this year we picked _Bad Santa_…its got a sequel I thought! So its got to be funny, right? Oh theres a Directors Cut?? Well thats probably even better, right?? ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/54 "2019-05-22T17:01:14Z")
_Dead Poets Society_ was advertised as a Robin Williams comedy, with the trailer showing the 5 funny lines Robin has in the whole movie. So I rented it expecting to laugh. A great movie to be sure, but definitely not a comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/55 "2019-05-22T17:15:38Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > _Starship Troopers_…expected mindless sci-fi. > > Every year my GF and I pick out a Christmas movie to watch so this year we picked _Bad Santa_…its got a sequel I thought! So its got to be funny, right? Oh theres a Directors Cut?? Well thats probably even better, right?? But Bad Santa **is** funny. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/56 "2019-05-22T17:34:36Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > But Bad Santa **is** funny. So is _Starship Troopers_. Although it’s not supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/57 "2019-05-22T17:36:55Z")
“Trainwreck” with Amy Schumer. Absolutely NO trains whatsoever. What a disappointment! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/58 "2019-05-22T17:37:05Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > _Starship Troopers_…expected mindless sci-fi. > > Every year my GF and I pick out a Christmas movie to watch so this year we picked _Bad Santa_…its got a sequel I thought! So its got to be funny, right? Oh theres a Directors Cut?? Well thats probably even better, right?? You don’t think Bad Santa is funny?? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/59 "2019-05-22T18:19:38Z")
After watching the previews for _ **The Passenger** _ with Jack Nicholson, I was really looking forward to seeing the movie: “Wow, cool! Stolen identity, Third-World revolution, African dictator, international arms smuggling, threat of exposure! Can’t wait for it to come 'round!” The movie was one of the greatest disappointments _ever_. Like _ **Emanuelle** _, it seemed interminably long because **nothing bloody happened!** The \*only \*scene I remember is when Nicholson finds the corpse of the guy whose identity he steals sprawled over the bed in his hotel room, and that’s because you could clearly see his heart was still beating! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/60 "2019-05-22T18:42:38Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > When Cocoon was new, there were two different trailers out at the same time. One was about sad old people like Wilford Brimley and Jessica Tandy nearing death, and one was was about wacky hijinks with Steve Gutenberg having skinless sex with hot alien chicks in a pool. Each was obviously meant to go with a movie targeting a specific audience. > > Since the movie was actually about both things, I can’t say the trailers were purely deceptive, but it really made me aware of how[a trailer can use only footage from the film and yet completely misrepresent it if it wants to.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5_0AGdFic) > > I never expected Pennies From Heaven to be a comedy, but for some reason I thought it the fantasy parts were going to be more like Walter Mitty and less like Brazil. > > And I liked Stardust Memories, but I figure that was because I saw it before many of his “older, funnier” films. I was expecting Manhattan, not Bananas, so it wasn’t such a shock. > > And then the movie tanks after the first weekend, because the trailer lied, and word of mouth kept people away. And all the people that would have wanted to see a movie about addiction never see it. But by god the studio made their first weekend money, and the trailer maker got paid. Ain’t America great? If it were 1942, you may have a point with that last. But it isn’t, so you don’t. And given that a movie which doesn’t have a 40% drop-off rate from 1st weekend to 2nd is, nowadays, a movie with “legs”, the fact of a first-to-second weekend drop off isn’t indicative of anything. > **[Flight - Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1062372865/weekly/)** As the film made $93m in the US, and $162m worldwide on a $38m budget, it seems the marketing people _successfully did their job_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298.md?page=4)