I included The Son of No-One, a picture written and directed by Dito Montiel in OWF's 52 Must See Films of 2011 partly because I thought the cop returning to his old neighbourhood premise sounded gritty and intriguing from a director with an interesting and earthy visual style. Add to that the film stars Juliette Binoche, an astounding actress who has always made a great example of the famous Robert De Niro quote that the "talent is in the choices." Early signs for the film however are not at all promising. The Hollywood Reporter announced yesterday evening that the film led by Channing Tatum and co-starring Binoche, Al Pacino, Katie Holmes, Tracy Morgan and Ray Liotta caused a number of major company representatives to leave long before the end credits during the film's initial screening for press and industry at the Sundance Film Festival:
"Though the theater wasnt full, the room was crowded with acquisitions execs wanting an early look at the film. Reps from Samuel Goldwyn, Paramount, Summit, the Weinstein Co., Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group, IFC Films, Morgan Creek, Screen Media, Miramax and Relativity made it into the theater by the films opening credits.Some of them, however, were gone well before the end credits. In addition, enough regular audience members left early for one observer to describe it as an exodus.
Jeff Sneider writing for The Wrap attended the press screening and says that the film is a "narrative mess" centered around "a fairly predictable central mystery." He also claims that many people in attendance mockingly laughed at the underwritten performance of Katie Holmes who plays lead star Channing Tatum's love interest in the film. What this means is that The Son Of No-One will now face an uphill battle as they attempt to market the film in the build up to its release date. There is no way that a picture with this much star power won't find a buyer to help target an audience in the marketplace but historically speaking its never a good sign when a film causes such an initial negative response. The night also no doubt tainted Dito Montiel's fond memories of the Sundance Film Festival as an event which in 2006 treated his impressive debut film A Guide to Recognising your Saints to both the Directing Award and Special Jury Prize. Further plot details make me even more surprised about the negative reaction The Son of No-One has received because on paper this sounds like a really solid film. Tatum plays the role of Jonathan White, a cop who has a dark past that saw him kill him two men during incidents that don't quite qualify as self-defence. His best friend managed to cover his tracks and whilst fellow cop Detective Stanford (Pacino) always suspected his partner he had the case closed as he sees the boy as family. However an anxious citizen's letters written to a reporter (played by Binoche) threaten to unravel the truth behind the killings. The film is scheduled for release later this year and you can catch the trailer below: