Independent shouldn’t mean obscure.

In 1983, Ben Kingsley won an Oscar for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi, a pacifist who believed in passive non-aggression and meditative contemplation before action. IFC Films could have his picture hanging on their wall as their patron saint. Gandhi’s that is, not Kingsley’s. Kingsley ought to be mad enough to hang the distribution wizkids at IFC on the wall. How would you feel, having some of the best reviews of your career coming on the heels of your latest movie being released, and then have to hunt for a theater to see it in? When this article was being written, Kingsley’s and IFC Films’ latest release, You Kill Me was playing in, no lie, 35 theaters. That’s a nation wide number not a minor market city. In a summer season when top ten movies are typically playing on several screens in a single multiplex, 35 theaters sounds more like obscure, foreign documentary, art film revival numbers. Take a look at the trailer and the reviews for You Kill Me. Think it fits into any of those categories? Me neither.

So what’s up? Certainly not the ever important first weekend box-office take. And apparently not the workload over at IFC. There are questions, lots of questions, that beg to be asked here. Let’s start.

I first became aware of You Kill Me when I ran across the trailer in my regular perusing of Apple’s Quicktime trailer pages. That was more than a month ago. Here was a movie that looked promising. Kingsley’s no slouch. My last experience of being floored by one of his performances was his role as gangster Don Logan in 2001’s Sexy Beast. Téa Leoni has been an actress to watch for years, and like only a handful of others, seems to be perpetually bubbling under an Oscar level breakout. She’s eminently likable, engaging and unique; a little of both Hepburns, Audrey and Katherine, wrapped up in the same space with a little Carole Lombard thrown into a very appealing mix. Then there’s You Kill Me’s plot line: an alcoholic hit-man muffs a gig, the bosses send him to AA to dry out so he can get back on the job, but while getting sober he falls in love. Like the job isn’t the problem here. If you’ve been a regular reader at Moviedozer, you know that I’m a complete sucker for great taglines. You Kill Me’s tag is “Love is always worth another shot.”  I’m sold, where’s it playing?

Movie, movie, who’s got the movie?

There needs to be a new phrase to describe this method of marketing. Maybe “ticket tease”? Maybe it should just be called what it is, stupid. Someone, now I’m just guessing here, went through a lot of time, money and trouble to make a movie they thought audiences would enjoy SEEING. I seriously doubt that director John Dahl thought it would be fun to spend a few months hanging out with Ben and Téa just for laughs, bringing along the rest of the cast and crew just to keep everyone employed for awhile. Why bother loading film in the cameras? By the looks of the trailer, making the film was, indeed, likely to have been fun, but wouldn’t it be nice if IFC Films let us in on the frivolity by actually making the finished product available?

So let’s talk limited releases and slow rollouts. And while we’re at it, missed opportunities. Anyone at IFC ever hear the phrase “strike while the iron is hot”? Building “heat” on a project is tough enough. When you’re so lucky as to have a great project sitting in the wings, a pretty nifty advertising campaign cranking up and then get blessed with great reviews, two thumbs up and all of that, you jump on it. It feels like IFC Films heard the news, got together over a glass of wine, smiled and joked, and then went home early. When they got back to their cubicles the next morning, they added another five theaters to their distribution list and then went and made a fresh pot of coffee. I know it’s “Independent Film”, anti big Hollywood, yada yada, but guys, you could have a hit on your hands. Get busy.

So is it about the money? Is it about screen space? Is it about being caught unaware? If it’s about any of these things, someone is seriously asleep at the switch. Maybe it’s just bad planning? Or is it the underachieving concept of the “slow rollout”?

The idea of methodically creeping exposure, through “select” markets to build “word of mouth”, perhaps seems like an idea that has it’s place. It certainly seems more suited to those quirky, difficult to categorize films, the experimental, the uncomfortable, the very specific small ideas that have unique appeal and generate narrow interest. Oh, say like documentaries about people flinging themselves off of the Golden Gate Bridge (The Bridge, released by IFC FIlms earlier this year). These are the typical films IFC Films is used to. Here’s how IMDB.com reports the plot outline of IFC Films’ Protagonist: “Jessica Yu’s documentary explores the relationship between human life and Euripidean dramatic structure by weaving together the stories of four men: German terrorist, a bank robber, an “ex-gay” evangelist, and a martial arts student.” Bring on the slow roll-out, limited release schedules! Target the demographics that seem promising and let the potential momentum build from the audience’s perspective. Who is it at IFC Films, that sat in a screening room and saw You Kill Me before setting distribution, and thought it was that kind of movie?

Is the independent film industry so blinded by their own sensibilities that they no longer recognize broad market appeal and mainstream box-office potential? Are they just so filled with the notion their cause has some mystical nobility and rebellious righteousness that they shun flat out commercial success? Who are these people, Greenpeace? Is it just that the executives of IFC Films, the decision makers, don’t have the guts to take a risk? To me it seems they’re taking the extraordinary risk of turning a box-office success into a straight-to-DVD release, one that may get relegated to the “never-heard-of-it-so-how-good-could-it-be” bin. You’ve done this. How many times have you run across a movie where you buy DVDs, or cruising through movie stats on the internet, or scanning the new flicks coming on HBO this month and say something like: “Hey honey, what’s this movie with Ben Kingsley? You ever hear of You Kill Me? Must suck. Wanna watch “Deal or No Deal” tonight?” Why inhibit the success of a product you hold a financial stake in? My conclusion weighs heavily in favor of simple incompetence.

If it’s straight to DVD then say so.

I, for one, am overly tired of the label “independent film”. The fact that the film is not in some way affiliated with a major studio means what exactly to the audience? If the only way to get the movie made was to go outside of the mainstream studio system, congrats to the writers and the filmmakers on getting the thing made. I really don’t care. You got it made, you convinced me with some marketing that I want to see it, so put it in a damn theater and let me fork over my debit card. “Independent” is a production label that should stop being used as a marketing buzzword. Particularly when it means that the distribution isn’t up to the task of marketing a mainstream concept. Don’t tell me how great it is, put critic’s quotes all over your posters and then tell me I should work a little to find it or wait an extra month after it’s released, just because I don’t see my movies at some bookish, artsy cinema in metropolitan America. Hey, I see movies in a local multiplex next to a strip mall in the middle of NJ. So what, I just wouldn’t “get” “indie” films? Get this: you have a potential mainstream hit. Embrace some capitalism and service the market demand. Get the movie out there!

I would venture this. You Kill Me would have been far better off as a major studio release. I can’t speak for the experience of the filmmakers, actors and creative types who brought the idea from thought to final print. Working with any part of corporations and big business can be throughly unpleasant no matter what business is involved. But once a product is understood, it should be assessed. Intelligent and competent business people should be making intelligent and competent business decisions. There is no excuse for leaning on established processes or predetermined strategies. If any business demands a fluid and proactive approach to marketing a product, it is the movie business. For You Kill Me, the independent film release paradigm should have been exploded and a broad market, nation-wide release substituted to take full advantage of the positive critical response and very commercially marketable concept of the film. Terrific idea, bankable stars and a welcome departure from the usual summer fare. How does this not seem blatantly obvious?

In the top ten films at the box-office on the weekend that You Kill Me snuck into American theaters, the number ten film earned only 4 million dollars. The number one film, a comedy sequel, made only 31 million. Not a bad week to find your movie entering the market. It’s easy to envision You Kill Me getting into the top three, with a take that would likely do much to relieve it’s production costs. But frankly, that’s for the studios and the distributors and the bean counters to think about. I hope they’re all realizing this week that with a more adventurous and yes, mainstream attitude, they may have been sitting on quite a stack of money today. Perhaps they still will. Some day. Likely a long time from now.

We don’t review films at Moviedozer and no one here wants to play critic. If you do see You Kill Me and you have a great time, drop an email to the filmmakers or to IFC Films and let them know that you would appreciate wider distribution of their products (well at least products like this one). How can any company not want to hear that kind of feedback?

Promotional images from You Kill Me courtesy of IFC FIlms and IFC Films.com. A very special thanks once again to IMBD.com for providing such an excellent research resource.

You Kill Me was directed by John Dahl, written by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely and released by IFC Films. Along with Ben Kingsley and Téa Leoni, it’s stars include veteran actors Dennis Farina, Philip Baker Hall, Bill Pullman and Luke Wilson. 2001’s Sexy Beast was released by Fox Searchlight Pictures. Gandhi was a 1982 Columbia Pictures release that garnered 8 Academy Award wins including Best Picture, Best Director (Richard Attenborough) and Best Actor in a Leading role for Ben Kingsley.

Friday, June 29, 2007