Frustration: Great Movies in Vacant Theaters

So, another cinematic jewel cold-shouldered by moviegoers. That same year?  Transformers: Dark of the Moon grossed over $352 million; the haul for The Hangover Part II approached $254.5 million. Bridesmaids? $169,106,725.

September of 2011 brought  Warrior to  theaters nationwide — theaters, that is, but outrageously sparse audiences..

Nick Nolte snagged a fully-deserved, best-supporting-actor nomination for his roll as the ragged, recovering-alcoholic father of two embittered Mixed-Martial arts champions. Warrior touts themes of redemption, forgiveness, sacrifice. It’s pro-military, potently acted and exciting. Once more, Nolte’s turn is flatly shattering. 

Most people never even knew this film made the rounds.

Shortly after Warrior‘s box-office fizzle, I stumbled across an article suggesting several serendipitous, technical reasons — none diminishing it’s quality as cinematic art — for it’s failure: dreadful, early September release date, not many women and too few men interested, both leads largely unknown at that point, etc.  The analysis, while interesting, brought  meager comfort — Warrior was my favorite film of 2011, and it stinks that it wasn’t the same for lots of others. 

Then, the most recent addition to my exceptional-but-ignored-films tally: The Impossible. Another skillfully rendered, torn-from-the-headlines drama, this one is about a vacationing English family (Spanish in real life) who barely come out of 2004’s Thailand tsunami. Ewan MacGregor is the dad, Naomi Watts the mom (nominated for multiple supporting actress prizes), Tom Holland is compelling as their oldest son; but none of that seemed to matter: this nail-biter was lost like a beach chair in a Southeast Asian tidal wave. Solid performances, a true story, noteworthy special effects, even — spoiler alert — a feel-good ending couldn’t attract eyeballs to this spectacle cum family-survival thriller. 

Unclear is exactly how many  of those film-lovers who dependably kvetch about the hum-drum, low-rent, vacuous state of 21st-century filmmaking sat out any or all of these releases — rather than plunking down ten bucks and investing a couple hours to sit through them. Presumably, a bunch. 

In defense of some awol fans, the studios exhibited scant marketing enthusiasm for these flicks. I recall catching only a handful of television advertisements for Warrior, maybe a couple/three for The Way Back; same for The Road. The others? Not sure how I found out about them.

I trust commentator/film critic Michael Medved is on the mark that it’s not just about the money in Hollywood. But dollars certainly carry significant  juice with the bigshots — dollars and the buzz generated when throngs flock to a film. More of both, then, had better be forthcoming from lovers of edifying cinema when specimens of edifying cinema become available.

Apparently, we need to be on the vigilant lookout for the gems — they won’t always be front-and-center. Watch for them, chase them down, cast our free-market votes by purchasing their tickets and renting them on Netflix, talk them up to friends, family members, colleagues.

Sitting in empty theaters, annoyed and helpless? Not our only option.

Middle Image: Promotional poster, The Road (2009)

Lower Image Right: Promotional poster, Warrior (2011)

Lower Image Left: Promotional poster, The Impossible (2012)