Friday, November 1, 2013

QftWo 10/28-11/3: Imposters #14 - Last Vegas

I'm conflicted on today's entry, the poster for Last Vegas, a picture targeting the nostalgia factor behind seeing several of Hollywood's most long-lived leading men. In case you don't know, this wide-screen-style image is on an advertising space directly above an entrance to NYC's subway system.

Really, the large print says it all: De Niro, Douglas, Freeman, and Kline. The CVs of these collected stars are pretty much awe-inspiring. This advertisement, then, is pretty much just promoting the facts of (a) these four present day old school thespians are in a movie together, and (b) they're in Vegas, for some significant event. Whether or not the event depicted therein are worthy of attention is presumably based on the fact that it involves these men.


It's an odd "in repose" type of image that works because it's a bit different and the actors are so generally likeable. The well-dressed gents all look happy and like they're having fun. Douglas seems to either be relating a story or agreeing comically with what someone just said. Here's the plot synopsis from IMDb:
Three sixty-something friends take a break from their day-to-day lives to throw a bachelor party in Las Vegas for their last remaining single pal.
Which works for the poster, actually. The only problem, then, is the tagline "It's Going to be Legendary," which sounds like we should expect something like The Wedding Crashers or possibly The Hangover. The only alternative is equally-corny: that the "legendary" part is just playing off of the profile of each of the leading thespians.

4 comments:

  1. I actually really like this design, particularly the typography (even though the use of Vegas's sunset colors on the names of aging star actors is a bit much--it's basically a visual pun). I really like that the picture of the stars tells a little story rather than just being four disconnected headshots that say "Remember this guy? He's in our movie!"

    The advertising for this makes it fairly clear that the pitch for this was "Grumpy Old Men meets the Hangover." I hope the movie aims higher than the assorted incontinence and Viagra jokes that implies. With that cast, a studio should be able to make a film that's funny and moving. Not holding my breath on that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm right there with you, DJ! The font is nice, and the colors balance nicely with the rest of the image, though you're right that the "sunset" allusion is heavy-handed. And I like that they're listed in alphabetical order.

      I also agree that this doesn't look like something I'm gonna make any effort to see, which is a shame given the assembled talent. Actually, on that score, Last Vegas is coming up again here for Monday's entry, so get ready for some follow-up...

      Delete
    2. It's almost alpha order, but Douglas gets top billing over De Niro.

      Delete
    3. Zing! Good point. I figured maybe they made that weird variation on alpha order for the whole "D name that has a space in it" thing...

      Delete

Chime in!