Wouldn’t it be nice if film critics could be trusted? How convenient would it be if their opinions actually mattered? Imagine if you could actually take their reviews into consideration. This would all be preferable but unfortunately we live in a world where things are quite different. More often than not, famous film critics, who work for big corporations, don’t actually see the films they are reviewing. Instead, they base the review on an early draft of the script they read, or perhaps an old cut of the film, or sometimes they simply just don’t pay attention during the film and make up their mind ten minutes in, or even before they’ve seen the film.
It happens more often than you would think and I’ve personally picked up on it a few times. Most recently, it has happened with famous film critic Elvis Mitchell and his review on Duncan Jones’ new film Source Code. In his review he said that:
It’s up to Jeffrey Wright, as the administrator supervising the Source Code — the machine that keeps firing Colter back, back, back to the recent past — and his eccentric brio to keep the silliness from piling up like ash from his pipe. That’s how you know this film is science fiction — someone is smoking indoors in the United States — and that Wright is a martinet whose malevolence must be checked.
Now on first glance it looks fine right? Well it’s not, Duncan Jones tweeted the following regarding the review:
Find it odd Movieline choose to complain about Jeffrey Wright smoking a pipe, something in an old draft of the script thats not in the film.
Seems like Mr. Mitchell was caught in the act. Whether he simply didn’t see the film and is just basing his review on an old script, or whether he saw it and just didn’t pay attention is still unknown. Of course Movieline won’t comment on the whole thing but it’s pretty clear that there is something fishy about the review and it’s not completely honest.
This is yet another reason why I don’t trust reviews from any big publications or outlets. I much prefer to read reviews on blogs, I find them to be more honest and you know that the individual has most likely seen the film and given it a fair chance.
What do you think? Be sure to check out all our Source Code coverage.
- Our January interview with Duncan Jones
- Our SXSW interview with Duncan Jones
- Our press day interview with Duncan Jones
- Our SXSW interview with stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan and Vera Farmiga
- Our interview with writer Ben Ripley
- Our Source Code review
- Our press day interview with Jake Gyllenhaal
- Our second opinion Source Code review