Recently Roger Ebert gave the movie Tru Loved a one-star review in the Chicago Sun-Times. That in itself is not so unusual, although it’s more unusual than it used to be; on the “still playing” sidebar on Ebert’s main page, the only other movie to receive one star is Hell Ride. As far as I can tell, however, Ebert watched all of Hell Ride. He only watched eight minutes of Tru Loved.
After listing the gay indie’s faults – including complaints about the line readings, body language and a cameo from Bruce Vilanch – Ebrt’s original version of the review concludes thusly: “Full disclosure. I lifted the words ‘San Francisco to conservative suburbia with her lesbian mothers’ straight from the plot summary on IMDb.com, because I stopped watching the movie at the 00:08.05 point. IMDb is also where I found out about Bruce Vilanch's dual role. I never did see the lesbian mothers or my friend Bruce. For Tru Loved, the handwriting was on the wall. The returns were in. The case was closed. You know I'm right. Or tell me I'm wrong.”
Ebert has been reviewing movies for four decades now, and it’s a little hard to believe that he managed to resist the urge to pull this stunt for all that time. Think of all the movies he’s actually managed to sit through. He made it all the way to the end of BAPS, Boat Trip, Corky Romano and Ghost Dad, but it took Tru Loved to break him? Full disclosure: I have not seen Tru Loved, not even eight minutes of it. Maybe it is that bad, but it’s currently pulling 56% at Rotten Tomatoes. Nathan Lee of the New York Times says it has “heart” and Anna King of Time Out New York finds “a surprising elan.” Roger Ebert, you’ve had half your face surgically removed and can no longer speak. And it took this movie to break you? For real?
Not too surprisingly, Ebert has since had second thoughts. In an Oct. 16 journal entry, he reprints an email from his editor: “Just got down to the part where you mention that you watched ONLY eight minutes of this movie. I don't blame you but do you really want to open that door? I fear your admission will start people wondering whether this is a regular practice. Of course it's not but you don't want to raise those suspicions. The alternative: take out those grafs. Or I could kill the review and we could try to find a substitute. Your original review is clever and well-written but I think morally dishonest because you conceal your MO until the very end.” Ebert defended his decision at the time. “I hope the review truthfully records the process I went through.”
On Oct. 21, Ebert changed his mind. “It sent a wrong message. If I had seen the entire film, a review, however negative, would have been appropriate. But in reviewing the first eight minutes, I was guilty of too much affection for my prose… I wish I hadn't published the review.”
Ebert has now watched Tru Loved in its entirety, appending an update to the end of his original review. He’s still only giving it one star, though.
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