How bad is "The Benchwarmers"?
I wasn't expecting much from "The Benchwarmers" - after all, it's a Rob Schneider movie co-starring David Spade, produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions. An Oscar contender, it's not.
The movie is, as they say in the game, "not screened for critics." Nothing unusual there - in fact, as I noted in this blog yesterday and in my March 11 column, the practice is getting more and more common.
But the lengths that the movie's corporate backer, Sony, is going to hide it from critics has now reached the ridiculous.
A few weeks ago, I had been told there would be a screening this week, either Monday or Tuesday night. Last week, my regional Sony rep told me there were no screenings - no reason given (which is refreshing, since sometimes studios trot out some silly excuse like, "they're still finishing the sound mix" or something).
On Wednesday, I discovered there was a screening set for Thursday (tonight). I found this out because my own paper is sponsoring said screening, and there was an ad in the Tribune. The ad didn't say where the screening was, but did say which Verizon Wireless stores were giving away tickets.
So I called up my regional Sony rep and asked if I could tag along to the Thursday night screening. This is a request studio reps have agreed to in the past, as long as I promised not to rush back to the paper and file a review (an easy promise to make, since deadline for the Friday entertainment section passes long before the screening's end). The review would run Saturday, whether I saw it Thursday night or bought a ticket for a Friday matinee - so what's the harm in letting me in to the promo screening?
No way, said the Sony rep. I would not be allowed in if I showed up at the theater. Not only that, the rep wouldn't even tell me in which theater the movie is playing tonight. (I found out, through other channels, it's Jordan Commons.)
But my brush with Sony stupidity pales next to that experienced by my counterpart at the Orlando Sentinel, Roger Moore.
As he recounts on his blog, Moore actually got into a Monday-night screening of "The Benchwarmers," and is by my count the only critic to get a review filed onto the major news wires.
This apparently drew the ire of Sony, whose people called the Sentinel and papers planning to use Moore's review - and saying all kinds of nasty and untrue things about him. (Robert W. Butler, the critic at The Kansas City Star, wrote up this account of the incident, and Dan Webster of The Spokesman-Review in my hometown of Spokane, Wash., opined in his blog.)
The Sentinel's brass backed up Moore with a statement, sent out of the Knight-Ridder/Tribune news wire to newspaper editors around the country:
All of this could mean one of two things: "The Benchwarmers" is either the worst movie in history, or it's so good Sony fears the overwhelming laughter would send all of us poor critics into cardiac arrest. Yeah, I bet it's that second one.
The movie is, as they say in the game, "not screened for critics." Nothing unusual there - in fact, as I noted in this blog yesterday and in my March 11 column, the practice is getting more and more common.
But the lengths that the movie's corporate backer, Sony, is going to hide it from critics has now reached the ridiculous.
A few weeks ago, I had been told there would be a screening this week, either Monday or Tuesday night. Last week, my regional Sony rep told me there were no screenings - no reason given (which is refreshing, since sometimes studios trot out some silly excuse like, "they're still finishing the sound mix" or something).
On Wednesday, I discovered there was a screening set for Thursday (tonight). I found this out because my own paper is sponsoring said screening, and there was an ad in the Tribune. The ad didn't say where the screening was, but did say which Verizon Wireless stores were giving away tickets.
So I called up my regional Sony rep and asked if I could tag along to the Thursday night screening. This is a request studio reps have agreed to in the past, as long as I promised not to rush back to the paper and file a review (an easy promise to make, since deadline for the Friday entertainment section passes long before the screening's end). The review would run Saturday, whether I saw it Thursday night or bought a ticket for a Friday matinee - so what's the harm in letting me in to the promo screening?
No way, said the Sony rep. I would not be allowed in if I showed up at the theater. Not only that, the rep wouldn't even tell me in which theater the movie is playing tonight. (I found out, through other channels, it's Jordan Commons.)
But my brush with Sony stupidity pales next to that experienced by my counterpart at the Orlando Sentinel, Roger Moore.
As he recounts on his blog, Moore actually got into a Monday-night screening of "The Benchwarmers," and is by my count the only critic to get a review filed onto the major news wires.
This apparently drew the ire of Sony, whose people called the Sentinel and papers planning to use Moore's review - and saying all kinds of nasty and untrue things about him. (Robert W. Butler, the critic at The Kansas City Star, wrote up this account of the incident, and Dan Webster of The Spokesman-Review in my hometown of Spokane, Wash., opined in his blog.)
The Sentinel's brass backed up Moore with a statement, sent out of the Knight-Ridder/Tribune news wire to newspaper editors around the country:
EDITORS: Yesterday we sent you a movie review of "The Benchwarmers," by Roger Moore of The Orlando Sentinel.
We understand that Sony, the studio distributing the film, is trying to discredit Moore's review in an attempt to dissuade newspapers from printing it. Apparently the movie was mistakenly screened for Orlando media; Sony did not want it seen by critics in advance of its Friday opening.
The Orlando Sentinel is attempting to clear up the misunderstanding, but in the meantime, we want you to know that Knight Ridder/Tribune stands by Roger Moore's work. This is a legitimate review by a nationally respected film critic.
All of this could mean one of two things: "The Benchwarmers" is either the worst movie in history, or it's so good Sony fears the overwhelming laughter would send all of us poor critics into cardiac arrest. Yeah, I bet it's that second one.
9:15 AM
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