Strange Brew Looms Over The Trailer Park Boys
(Toronto) What happened to The Trailer Park Boys? All that hype put out in the press releases from about its miraculous $1.5 million opening weekend. The big story about it being the biggest opening weekend for Canadian film. Porky’s was beaten, they claimed. Now, looking at the box office for this weekend, it’s completely dropped off the map. Examining the stats, it had a pretty good release number for theatres with over 200 here in Canada. It had a lot of publicity, a lot of coverage, a lot of backing. Few Canadian films have ever enjoyed the kind of decent release that Trailer Park Boys: The Movie did. Not that many deserved it, to be honest.
At the moment, only speculation is possible. Naturally it’s disappointing, as it does stand symbolically as a film against the films that Canadians hate so much from Atom Egoyan and Don McKellar and crew. At least it did mop the floor box office-wise with garbage like Where The Truth Lies or the McKellar fiasco Childstar. But then, anything would with a proper release and some publicity like TPB got. And on the critical front, it certainly seemed to score a lot higher than McKellar and Egoyan’s regular piles.
Critics liked it. Or were the critics just being kind? I mean, they were probably just like me, wanting to like it. Wanting to champion a Canadian film which is actually entertaining and interesting. The people who went to go see it, they wanted to like it I bet. I’m sure a few did. However, it couldn’t have been many as initial theatre goers obviously were not recommending it to others.
And here lies a problem. Critics believing they’re standing up for “what’s right” and all the hype and backing in the world, cannot change fundamental truths. Hyping and inflating box office numbers is pointless. And the TV show is a minor success with viewing numbers only a fraction of what is portrayed by Showcase, if we‘re going to be honest. Re-running a show a half dozen times and trying to claim you’re getting all new viewers each run is a ridiculous lie. The audience was small, if loyal, and they obviously went to the theatres but did little to encourage others.
But where the truth really lies with Trailer Park Boys: The Movie is the point which I made a little while ago with the article Trailer Park Boys: The Movie, a Slim Hope on October 6th. The show doesn’t have the beans to be a feature, and the situation is old and recycled from American pop culture. The stories aren’t strong enough. The most likeable characters in the world can’t change those two things (and Trailer Park Boys does have likeable characters).
You can’t stretch a half hour show like that to feature length and hold an audience without learning from those who have done more with less. Like, say, the prototypical uber-Canadian comedy Strange Brew which ended up with over $8.5 million in box office way back in 1983 and many times that in video. With a budget no larger than Trailer Park Boys (estimated at $4 million to TPB’s $5 million), it was an actual success. Why? Because they had everything TPB lacks. They had a story (adapted from Hamlet, no less), they were original in concept (nothing else like it at the time), and they actually had a successful TV show with a substantial “hard number” audience base to get the ball rolling.
But this doesn't mean I don't want to see more Trailer Park Boys. Let me rephrase that, I don't want to see more Trailer Park Boys movies, but like most all Canadians, I want to see more films like TPB as they are moves in the right direction. ie: no Egoyan, McKellar, or McDonald in sight.
At the moment, only speculation is possible. Naturally it’s disappointing, as it does stand symbolically as a film against the films that Canadians hate so much from Atom Egoyan and Don McKellar and crew. At least it did mop the floor box office-wise with garbage like Where The Truth Lies or the McKellar fiasco Childstar. But then, anything would with a proper release and some publicity like TPB got. And on the critical front, it certainly seemed to score a lot higher than McKellar and Egoyan’s regular piles.
Critics liked it. Or were the critics just being kind? I mean, they were probably just like me, wanting to like it. Wanting to champion a Canadian film which is actually entertaining and interesting. The people who went to go see it, they wanted to like it I bet. I’m sure a few did. However, it couldn’t have been many as initial theatre goers obviously were not recommending it to others.
And here lies a problem. Critics believing they’re standing up for “what’s right” and all the hype and backing in the world, cannot change fundamental truths. Hyping and inflating box office numbers is pointless. And the TV show is a minor success with viewing numbers only a fraction of what is portrayed by Showcase, if we‘re going to be honest. Re-running a show a half dozen times and trying to claim you’re getting all new viewers each run is a ridiculous lie. The audience was small, if loyal, and they obviously went to the theatres but did little to encourage others.
But where the truth really lies with Trailer Park Boys: The Movie is the point which I made a little while ago with the article Trailer Park Boys: The Movie, a Slim Hope on October 6th. The show doesn’t have the beans to be a feature, and the situation is old and recycled from American pop culture. The stories aren’t strong enough. The most likeable characters in the world can’t change those two things (and Trailer Park Boys does have likeable characters).
You can’t stretch a half hour show like that to feature length and hold an audience without learning from those who have done more with less. Like, say, the prototypical uber-Canadian comedy Strange Brew which ended up with over $8.5 million in box office way back in 1983 and many times that in video. With a budget no larger than Trailer Park Boys (estimated at $4 million to TPB’s $5 million), it was an actual success. Why? Because they had everything TPB lacks. They had a story (adapted from Hamlet, no less), they were original in concept (nothing else like it at the time), and they actually had a successful TV show with a substantial “hard number” audience base to get the ball rolling.
But this doesn't mean I don't want to see more Trailer Park Boys. Let me rephrase that, I don't want to see more Trailer Park Boys movies, but like most all Canadians, I want to see more films like TPB as they are moves in the right direction. ie: no Egoyan, McKellar, or McDonald in sight.
posted by atom bruce mckellar at Monday, October 16, 2006
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