Sundance trainwrecks are of particular interest to me. You would think that a film being accepted into Sundance would somehow guarantee that it would be of of a certain quality – yet, sometimes, that “certain” quality just means “bad.” Or, at least in the case of Mark Pellington’s I Melt With You, it means divisive and different.
At this year’s Sundance Film Festival, a few films became infamous almost immediately, thanks to mass walkouts during screenings – the two most publicized examples were The Son of No One and I Melt With You. Pellington’s film reportedly saw a large number of walkouts during its first press screening at the fest (the number bandied about said to include fifty people, and I can vouch for knowing a number of people who did walk out, though not nearly fifty). I didn’t catch the film at Sundance, but our own music guru Allison Loring did, and said of the film, “it’s like a really long, really fucked up music video, just lots of fast cuts – booze, sex, drugs, booze, craziness, drugs, LOUD MUSIC.” The film centers on four middle-aged buds (Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven, Christian McKay, and Rob Lowe) who go on a boys’ weekend at Big Sur to blow off some major steam. But there’s a twist.
Check out the new red band trailer for I Melt With You after the break. Be ready to prove your age (by way of a very sophisticated drop-down menu).
This red band trailer gives a good idea of the sort of film viewers are in for – quick and rough, relying on both shock value and visual stimulation to get its point across. And there’s also a hefty emphasis on the dudes and their friendship, which forms the center of the story (and its twist). Does this look like the sort of film you’d want to see?
I had Ms. Loring check out the red band trailer and reflect on what she’d seen in January. Her response? “That movie is so fucked up. I swear I had PTSD after watching that.” Total drinking game.
I Melt With You will be available on Magnolia On-Demand November 4, followed by a theatrical release on December 9.
