Why did "Paranoia" open so badly? With Gary Oldman, arguably one of our finest actors working today, and Harrison Ford, still a box office draw, and Liam Hemsworth hot off two huge successes, could this go wrong? Oh, yes. I got through the first hundred or so pages of Joseph Finder's novel, and his work has a good reputation, and put it down for violating a fundamental rule of storytelling: show, don't tell. Then there's the director, Robert Luketic, who did "Legally Blond" which surprised on many levels, including the financial take and catapulted Reese Witherspoon to superstardom. Luketic followed with some letdowns in "21," which at least had a good story and potential, "The Ugly Truth," and "Killers," with Ashton Kutcher. These films barely had any wit, and what it had appeared self-absorbed, off in their own little worlds.
The writers, James Dean Hall, has one other credit to his name, some movie called "Spread," an Ashton Kutcher sex comedy. Kutcher, by the way, also faired poorly with "Jobs" this weekend. The other writer on "Paranoia," Barry Levy, wrote "Vantage Point. a decent though largely forgettable thriller. One starts to see a theme here. David Denby of the The New Yorker said a few years back that Hollywood seems to be making what it thinks it can sell versus what people want to see. Or, "Paranoia" simply placed packaging ahead of product. Or, they need to return to fundamentals. Then there's who's behind the camera, who develops, conceives, writes, and directs.
The writers, James Dean Hall, has one other credit to his name, some movie called "Spread," an Ashton Kutcher sex comedy. Kutcher, by the way, also faired poorly with "Jobs" this weekend. The other writer on "Paranoia," Barry Levy, wrote "Vantage Point. a decent though largely forgettable thriller. One starts to see a theme here. David Denby of the The New Yorker said a few years back that Hollywood seems to be making what it thinks it can sell versus what people want to see. Or, "Paranoia" simply placed packaging ahead of product. Or, they need to return to fundamentals. Then there's who's behind the camera, who develops, conceives, writes, and directs.
