False Advertising in Ewan McGregor Movies

Soooo.... The wife went on a minor Ewan McGregor kick this week and got three of his lesser-known movies from the library. Now, I like McGregor as much as the next guy, but I warned her that his UK movies are a load of Turkish Delight. (That's rhyming slang, not an allusion to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.)

The two UK movies, Brassed Off and Little Voice, proved me correct. Both billed as comedies; total number of laffs between them: -1.6. They shared the same writer/director, a number of the same actors, and the same coarse, depressing view of working class British life in the 80s (It was Margaret Bloody Thatcher's fault! Why oh why didn't God strike her down! Instead he took John Lennon! [I'm paraphrasing, but just barely] It's enough to make a clown go hang himself.)

As Mrs. Chaka pointed out, the advertising copy on the back of Brassed Off's case had nothing to do with the actual movie contained therein. I've taken the liberty of graying out the inaccurate parts:

This delightfully entertaining comedy treat features hot screen stars Ewan McGregor and sexy Tara Fitzgerald. It's the critically acclaimed story about two old friends -- and ex-lovers -- whose surprise reunion turns their lives... and the lives of everyone else in town... hilariously upside down!

I hate to break it to you, kids, but the movie is about coal miners. Coal miners and their coal miners' band, and their coal miners' coal pit that gets shut down by the eeeevil Tory party. The romance is a sub-plot. But, you try to sell a movie about coal miners and brass bands, and you don't sell any movies.

Of Little Voice, let nothing be said.

A much better movie, with a much smaller dose of cover falsification, was Miss Potter. Mrs. Chaka insists that this movie be praised for it's good, clean story, for which it does deserve credit. Renee Zellweger at her least annoying. The Great Scot was great, as usual. However, there was a slight discrepancy between Ewan McGregor as pictured on the cover (see above) and how he actually appeared in the film:


Hmmm.... Something is missing from that cover picture, but what, what? He looks ... younger somehow on the cover, and less ... prickly.

Has it come to this? Are the fine mustaches of the Edwardian period to be hushed up, airbrushed out, for fear of driving away young female movie-goers in terror? As a member of the mustache-American community, I object to this censorship.

What does a bushy mustache say to you? Creepy loser, or gallant young gentleman? British imperialist pig or Zapatista? Nietzsche or Lew Wallace?

P.S.: This made me think of Pirate Jimmy, though I don't know if he's into Tool.