Tuesday’s Top Trailer: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Tuesday's Top Trailer. One of my favorite parts about going to see movies is the series of trailers that airs beforehand and, more often than not, the trailer is far better than the actual film. Each week, I'll be sharing a trailer I've recently seen. Please chime in with comments on what you think of the trailer and how you think the movie is going to be.

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger – Opening September 22, 2010



After a look at Woody Allen’s best movie of the most recent decade yesterday, it’s only fitting that I happened to catch the trailer for Allen’s next film online. The trailer feels so much like an Allen film, with the somewhat awkward, matter-of-fact narration and the massive heaps of infidelity being hinted at if not outlined outright. What’s interesting about this film is that Allen doesn’t appear to be working with any of his regular players, amassing a new troupe including experienced veterans, like Anthony Hopkins and Naomi Watts, and newcomers like Freida Pinto, in her first role since making her film debut as Latika in “Slumdog Millionaire” two years ago. Like many of Allen’s past features, the characters are multi-generational, even if it’s a man of an older generation trying to (and likely succeeding in) wooing a younger woman. I particularly love the casting of Pinto as one man’s temptress and Antonio Banderas as another tempter. It’s nice to see the usually serious Watts loosen up (it was a blast in “I Heart Huckabees”) and also keep her native accent for once. Josh Brolin can also be found in the cast as a frazzled, down on his luck husband. It seems like a capable enough ensemble to handle Allen’s sharp writing, and while it’s a worthwhile debate as to whether Allen can actually create new stories after pretty much penning a new take on the same general ideas time after time, he usually adds enough new flavor to make it worthwhile. The important distinction about this film which separates it from recent disappointments like “Whatever Works” and “Scoop” is that it follows a whole cast of characters without necessarily pinpointing any sole protagonist. If one story isn’t great, maybe another can make up for it. At least one is bound to be truly enjoyable, and it’s likely that a few others, if not all of them, will be as well.