How Roadside Attractions has sold a story about rekindling romance
Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver reunite in this week’s new release The Good House. Directed by the pair of Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky – who also wrote the script with Thomas Bezucha – the story follows Hildy Good (Weaver) as she leads a comfortable life as a New England realtor. Things take a turn, though, when her old flame Frank Getchell (Kline) comes back into her life. As the two of them become closer, Hildy is also faced with the changing relationship between her and her daughters along with everyone else.
The movie, based on Ann Leary’s 2013 novel of the same name, also stars Morena Baccarin, Beverly D’Angelo, Rob Delaney and others as the people in Hildy’s circle.
Let’s dive into how Roadside has sold it to the public.
announcement and casting
The movie was announced – and filmed – in late 2019, but sat around for a while until it finally debuted at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. While there Weaver was interviewed about the unique nature of her character, working with Kline for the third time and more.
Universal Pictures initially planned to release the movie but pulled it from its calendar. Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions then partnered to acquire the film in June 2022. A September release date was announced at that time.
the marketing campaign
Roadside released the trailer (1.5m YouTube views) in early August. Hildy is giving some clients (and therefore us) her background and credentials before addressing the camera directly to admit that things haven’t turned out like she planned. After a few scenes explaining the issues she has with her family – and which they have with her – she and Frank reconnect. That relationship has some unintended positive consequences as she has some uncomfortably honest conversations with her daughters and herself about what she wants, what they want and how they can all move forward.
The poster came out later in August and offers a very simple value proposition to the audience. Namely, the opportunity to watch Kline and Weaver be adorable and talented together in a movie filled with cute houses along the beach. I’ve yet to find a message that’s more personally attractive this year.
Hildy shares some of her problems with her friend Rebecca (Baccarin) in a short clip released in mid-September.
Commercials like this that started running around that same time offer glimpses of the story, mostly by just cutting down things already seen in the trailer but occasionally adding to them to emphasize some aspect of Hildy’s personality.
Another clip shared by Fandango shows an extended look at the intervention Hildy walks into as her family confronts her about her drinking. It also acts as a more thorough introduction to some of the supporting characters. HIldy and Frank share a dinner in yet another clip.
Weaver promoted the film in an appearance on “Good Morning America” as well as in a handful of other interviews, some of which also featured Kline.
Most of the cast and crew came out for the premiere event that took place as part of the Tribeca Film Festival.
overall
As I said above, the idea of two actors like Weaver and Kline having a good time with each other and reminding the world what “chemistry” looks like is one I can enthusiastically get behind. So the campaign works for me based on that alone and only gets stronger by adding someone like Morena Baccarin, who’s so tragically underused by Hollywood, to the mix.
You pretty much know what you’re getting with a marketing push like this, but that’s all good since there are enough campaigns out there concerned with spoilers as they set up high-concept stories. This is as low-key and comfortable as they come and is the better for it.
Martin Freeman is, of course, no stranger to comedies, having starred in several over the years. Morena Baccarin has been funny in a number of roles, but hasn’t had the chance to do much straight comedy. That changes in this week’s romantic comedy Ode to Joy.
Cinematic Slant 