Trailer Link

Release Date:

May 16, 2014

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “On the mean streets of Manhattan, Ewa falls prey to Bruno, a charming but wicked man who takes her in and forces her into prostitution.”

Poster: C- / C- / D+ (3) / C / D

Review: (#1-#7) A less compelling set of posters you will not find. To have so many designs full utterly flat is quite an achievement. The first two, one English, one French, are simple designs meant to evoke elegance, but which suffer from blandness. The subsequent three designs are French character posters with the same visual aesthetic of the first two, but with fewer characters. Follow that up with a different, but cheesy Asian poster and an overly generic Italian poster and you have not a single design really worth celebrating.

Trailer: B+

Review: It’s such a rarity to find a film that highlights genuine, reputable critics in its advertising. These are names that carry some weight among the film criticism community. However, that’s not likely to appeal to middle-of-the-road America, so there’s an excessive amount of focus on Jeremy Renner in the trailer while pushing Joaquin Phoenix largely to the background. That isn’t necessarily a mistake, but more focus on Marion Cotillard would have been preferred, since it’s her story. The background music is a wonderful piece that evokes the period and tragic details inherent in the plot.

Oscar Prospects:

James Gray may not be an Oscar-recognizable name, but Harvey Weintein is. The trailer alone puts forward reputable critics from major and semi-major publications, which suggests the film might actually be terrific. That alongside Harvey’s Oscar machine makes this one of the year’s top shelf contenders.

Revisions:

(May 11, 2014) Original

Additional Posters