# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/101 "2019-05-24T15:25:53Z")
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. I expected a comedy…with humor and jokes. Even the funny line from the trailer was excised in the final cut. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/102 "2019-05-24T16:21:21Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > The movie you are thinking of is called _ **Towelhead** _. Which is probably why you could not find it… Yep, that’s it. Thanks for correcting me. ---
**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 24, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/103 "2019-05-24T16:33:35Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > OMG!! That was one of the first videos we rented. We didn’t even have a VCR yet. It was a big event in 1989 - Friday night, a trip to the one and only video store in town, rent a VCR and pick out a family movie from about 25 movies that were available. I spotted A Boy & His Dog and thought that’s something we can all watch. (The kids were 4 & 10) Nope! :eek: I can’t even remember what happened that caused me to turn it off. The kids were so disappointed. > > It must not have had a rating and the box description must have looked good. Was the name “Harlan Ellison” on the box? That should have been a dead giveaway right there! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/104 "2019-05-24T16:35:28Z")
From the trailers for **The Savages** I had thought that there would be a lot more of a comedic take on caring for an elder parent. Not so much, it was just grim and depressing and I gave up on it about 45 minutes in. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/105 "2019-05-25T21:01:24Z")
‘Watership Down’. In a good way, which is to say, it was much better than I expected it to be. Contrary to most I guess, I saw the movie _before_ I read the book. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/106 "2019-05-25T21:38:14Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > _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. I saw no ads but I assumed it was a comedy because Williams was the star. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/107 "2019-05-25T22:56:05Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I saw no ads but I assumed it was a comedy because Williams was the star. Robin Williams, the star of _The World According to Garp,_ or Robin Williams, the star of _Moscow on the Hudson_? My point is, \*Dead Poets’s Society \*was hardly Williams’ first prominent dramatic role. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/108 "2019-05-25T23:14:26Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > _On the Beach_ is NOT a Frankie Avalon movie > > Similarly _Miracle Mile_ is not an 80’s rom-com. > > _Gross Anatomy_ is not animal house in a medical examiner school > > _Muriels Wedding_ is just _Over the Mountain_ with ABBA. And even though Nicolas Cage plays the male lead in both films, _Leaving Las Vegas_ is not a sequel to _Honeymoon in Vegas_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/109 "2019-05-25T23:20:13Z")
_Early Man_: The trailers made it look like it was a comedy about cavemen (which it was) while trying to minimize the fact that it was also a sports movie. I think the issue was that the sport was soccer and the marketing people were afraid that this would turn away American viewers. ---
**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 25, 2019, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/110 "2019-05-25T23:32:25Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I saw no ads but I assumed it was a comedy because Williams was the star. Why? I have never seen Robin Williams be funny in a movie. Not really anywhere else either because I was an adult by the time he showed up on Happy Days. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/111 "2019-05-26T04:54:42Z")
Quentin Tarrantino’s\* Inglorious Basterds\*. Based on its advertising, I assumed it was an action movie about Jewish soldiers fighting Nazis. In fact, the movie had virtually no action, and the soldiers in question were almost incidental to the plot, constantly being sidelined in favor of non-Jewish characters. ---
**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 26, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/112 "2019-05-26T05:06:42Z")
Shoshana was Jewish and the story was centered around her. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/113 "2019-05-26T07:18:35Z")
i watched the movie version of less than zero…expecting a watered down version of the book…not even close… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/114 "2019-05-26T07:54:12Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Shoshana was Jewish and the story was centered around her. Her part I was fine with. Unfortunately, the film wasn’t named _Shoshana_. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/115 "2019-05-26T08:05:07Z")
My point is, I was expecting a\* Dirty Dozen/Guns of Navarone/Where Eagles Dare\* men-on-a-mission film and instead I got… I’m not sure what. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/116 "2019-05-26T08:10:35Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > My point is, I was expecting a\* Dirty Dozen/Guns of Navarone/Where Eagles Dare\* men-on-a-mission film and instead I got… I’m not sure what. A horrifying film with a large serving of sadism. Story and plot entirely optional. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/117 "2019-05-26T23:22:48Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Why? I have never seen Robin Williams be funny in a movie. Not really anywhere else either because I was an adult by the time he showed up on Happy Days. Not in Good morning Vietnam? Thenm I am sorry, you are just plain wrong. Other, like Mrs Doubtfire or Aladdin I guess are maybes, but portions of Robins on air schtick in Good Morning are pee your pants funny. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/118 "2019-05-27T00:35:06Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Not in Good morning Vietnam? Thenm I am sorry, you are just plain wrong. Other, like Mrs Doubtfire or Aladdin I guess are maybes, but portions of Robins on air schtick in Good Morning are pee your pants funny. and a lot of the radio broadcasts Williams did in the movie were improvs by him, not based on the script. ---
**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 27, 2019, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/119 "2019-05-27T00:45:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Not in Good morning Vietnam? Thenm I am sorry, you are just plain wrong. Other, like Mrs Doubtfire or Aladdin I guess are maybes, but portions of Robins on air schtick in Good Morning are pee your pants funny. > [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > and a lot of the radio broadcasts Williams did in the movie were improvs by him, not based on the script. I’ll give him some credit for that. But it was an exception in his movie career. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/120 "2019-05-27T00:48:11Z")
yes but he came to fame mostly based on his standup work and Mork and Mindy. And the only movie I saw him in prior to Dead Poets Society was Good Morning Vietnam. One of the funniest movies I have ever seen even now 32 years later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298.md?page=7)