Okay, I'm all for the avant-garde films that expand your mind and aren't your average formulaic movie, and this was rather thought provoking in places. I'm not discrediting the humor that is there; a lot of parts made me laugh (Tony Shaloub getting hit, etc.), but it was much more serious for the rest of it. I just don't know how they could have billed this as a comedy.
Someone explain. Or debate. Something. Tell me how.
I would consider the film a dark or black comedy. This would explain the label. IMDB doesn't seem to always distinguish between what kind of comedy a film is. Hope this helps.
shareThis may have been called a "comedy" by someone into Greek theatre of 3000 years ago in which a play was either a "tragedy" (everyone dies at the end), or a "comedy" (no one dies). But goldengirlfanatic is certainly right to complain about it and whoever used that word should be sent to English as a Second Language class since the person is clearly not familiar with English as it is generally spoken. It's a drama. Drama. D-R-A-M-A, whoever you are.
I think this flick should be seen in a theatre, where you're forced to pay rapt attention, or else if issued as a DVD (which is how I saw it) should be packaged with a program and plot synopsis so that you can tell the players apart. With a relatively slow-paced and true-to-life drama such as this, at home, it's way to easy to pick up a magazine or otherwise avert your attention, and before you know it you've lost the thread. However, the thread is easily picked up again, and this is a very good movie, I think.
yes, well when i rented the dvd, all i saw was "a brilliant new comedy." on the cover, in bold, nonetheless... this was a little too dark to be even a dark comedy.
because the same guy directed harold and kumar... and dude where's my car?, i should categorize great new wonderful under comedy? i don't know what to call this mess.
On the run from Johnny Law... ain't no trip to Cleveland.
I heartily agree - this is a drama, which has been mislabeled and mismarketed as a comedy (a post-9/11 comedy?!). A Great New Wonderful does not have the tone, pace or script of a comedy - not even a dark comedy if one uses as a benchmark such films as Dr. Strangelove, The Devil's Advocate and -- more recently -- American Beauty. AGNW is an interesting and thoughtful examination of lives post 9/11, but must be watched with no distractions as it is slow-paced and has the feeling of a play.
shareI totally agree with golden... I would have been more likely to enjoy the film and find it interesting if I hadn't sat down to watch a comedy, as its own DVD cover proclaims. This is NOT what you want to see when you're in the mood to laugh, although I appreciated the few chuckles here and there.
sharei contemplated all situations in life, then confided in my lamp while watching this... all the while, smoking a cigarette in dismay. f this film.
On the run from Johnny Law... ain't no trip to Cleveland.
Black comedy. My favorite...
I like the scene where Maggie insults and fires her employee, and then finds out she won the cake account in spite of his insensitive comment.
Well, first of all, there's a fine line between comedy and tragedy. Most of the things we laugh at are inherently tragic.
However, I feel that the movie was sold as a comedy for marketing purposes. It was released around the same time as World Trade Center. Think about that movie - it's very serious and epic. People didn't necessarily go see it to be entertained; they went to understand a part of history. (A rather recent history.)
If you look at The Great New Wonderful, it's nothing like WTC. It touches on 9/11, but it's really more about the lives of several ordinary New Yorkers. I don't think it would have been possible to downplay the 9/11 aspect, since it's still so fresh in people's minds, and there's still a lot of interest in it. So, I think if they had sold it as a drama, it would have failed miserably. People would have compared it to WTC, not just because of similar subject matter, but also because of the timing of the release.
"However, I feel that the movie was sold as a comedy for marketing purposes"
Whenever they do this it never works though. People who are interested in one thing see it as what it is, which is something else, and it negatively affects the box office. People end up feeling like they were tricked or else the real audience that would've liked to see it for what it was don't show and the audience that was looking for something else don't like the movie and the movie gets bad review when it doesn't deserve it. I didn't even see this movie as a black comedy (although there was some black comedy). It seemed mostly like a drama to me.
Grrrrrr!!Aaargh!!
It definitely should have been billed as Drama. I didn't think it was even close to a Dark/Black Comedy. Maybe at the time, comedies were king...so they thought to market it that way (how lame). Of course the film makers don't have much to do with that part of it....
Bueller...Bueller...
There's something about American films, critics and studios, that makes them lose their language skills when it comes to description or categorization. They just can't describe. They don't seem to know what categories mean. And they don't seem to care.
shareWell, first of all, there's a fine line between comedy and tragedy. Most of the things we laugh at are inherently tragic.
WELL. I thought this movie was hilarious. It's dark humor. It's not going to just put flatout jokes in it.
and alot of adult humor.
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This movie was by far the absolute WORST movie i have EVER seen in my ENTIRE life. I need that hour and 25 minutes of my life back.
share"I need that hour and 25 minutes of my life back."
How original.
It's sad that a nice little film like this has been raped by a marketing scheme. Philistines watch it expecting something similar to Leiner's previous work and come out saying "WORST movie i have EVER seen in my ENTIRE life". Or perhaps they expect some sort of chick-flick based on the cover art that predominantly displays both Maggie G and Edie Falco with big warm smiles, not at all an accurate thematic representation of the film.
I feel lucky to have seen The Great New Wonderful, it being merely a curiosity that found its way to the top of my Netflix queue. I wonder what would have happened had this film had been marketed toward the correct audiences.
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