Inferno

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This is not a great campaign and it doesn’t make me feel positively about the movie it’s selling. The trailers and TV spots are so clunky and wooden, it’s hard to believe the charming and talented Hanks is involved along with director Ron Howard, who seems to be losing the light, nimble touch he had earlier in his career. Tack that onto the stiff and sometimes downright disturbing posters and you have a campaign that has no soul.

American Pastoral

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As for the movie itself, what’s being sold here is a story that isn’t immediately coherent. If you’ve just watched the trailers or seen the posters you may not be able to get a sense of what has happened and what drives the characters and actions. There’s little here that shows how the daughter is connected to the violence that has upset her family and her town unless you know what to look for. So outside of the visuals and the names involved it may be hard for audiences to find a clear value proposition to latch on to.