I haven't seen this movie, so I can't speak directly to it. But your thoughts did conjure several intersecting ideas — shifts in tone, and selling audience expectations.

Recently, I finally watched Class, that 1983 romp with Jacqueline Bisset, Rob Lowe, and Andy McCarthy. It started out as a comedy but did shift into intriguing drama that never got properly explored/fleshed out.

Then there was From the Hip, 1987, with Judd Nelson, Elizabeth Perkins, and John Hurt. Again, starts off lighthearted and funny, but then shifts way serious. This one worked much better, both funnier up front and the characters themselves explored the gravity of the situation more satisfyingly (to me, anyway).

From your post, it would appear

a) this movie, The Girl from Monaco, got the balance right for you;

b) there is appetite for shift-in-tone movies as they aren't uncommon; so

c) people who slammed this or any other movie for a shift in tone may be deciding whether or not they like a movie with a shift in tone for reasons beyond the shift in tone.

Life, 1999, with Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence, is a whole different level. It too has comedic elements (I mean, it's Murphy and Lawrence), but it's a serious drama that got generally panned because, ostensibly, it wasn't funny enough, whereas I'm more inclined to believe that it made viewers uncomfortable because it dramatized a neat summary of the rise of prison slavery as a wink-wink application of the 14th Amendment, showing how slavery was not repealed by this amendment, it was merely repackaged and drove the widespread incarcertation of people (mostly of color) under the pretense of punishment for crimes most of them did not commit.

So, the shift in tone itself is not the crime, and those citing this as a reason to slam a film may be being either disingenuous or just not honest with themselves.

Moving on to the idea of selling to audience expectations. Yeah, they probably thought they could lure more butts into seats if the tagged "comedy" onto it. But, for those expecting lots of laughs and nothing too serious, it would have been a disappointment.

Have you ever noticed how Netflix categorizes movies? Almost any movie can show up in almost any category. It's ridiculous. Netflix has sold its soul to the devil of capitalist commoditization. It's just pushing product, shoving supply into every nook and cranny it can, whatever. It's like one of these warehouses where returned online shopping products are just heaped in bins. Whereas they were once shiny and new and in demand, they are now just piles of junk at bargain basement prices. I hate the idea of selling broad expectations to attract wider audiences. A drama that has some humor need not have a comedy tag added to it. Fans of the Bond franchise (particularly the Moore era) look for the humor, but a Bond movie never gets the comedy tag. Go figure.

Very cool thoughts, yes tying in with our Bond discussion. It would be marketing suicide to stamp a 007 movie "comedy" even though that was a large chunk of its charm. And on the flip side, the Netflix marketers are eager to stamp stuff with anything to entice watchers. At a certain point the whole genre tagging thing becomes as meaningless as calling a box of detergent "America's favorite".

I haven't seen the Eddie Murphy movie you mentioned but it sounds like a situation that has dogged many typecast comedians. When they decide to hit a heavy subject, the producers & marketing execs are usually trying their best to fool audiences into expecting the old formula. What you said reminds me of Robin Williams' breakout in Good Morning Vietnam which, incredibly, hit the right note to bridge his hyper comedy with some very serious themes. But most crossovers aren't that lucky.

Wow, I think you're spot on with point (c), that negative criticism probably stems from something deeper. This movie has some challenging sexual themes; the brainless party girl gradually reveals that she's a strong-willed puppet master, dominating and emasculating the man. I bet that didn't fly with conservative critics. And since they couldn't openly fault a film for having a strong female character, maybe they seized on a generic complaint: the shift in tone.

I'm amazed that you solved the mystery of the hating critics, even though you haven't even seen the movie!

And you're right, there are actually lots of successful films, even Hollywood ones, that use comedy to pull us into a more serious subject. I haven't seen Class or From the Hip, but I'll keep an eye out because I enjoy those 80s flicks with strong ensemble casts. A lot of them fit the comedy-shift-to-drama niche we're talking about.

@rooprect said:

Very cool thoughts, yes tying in with our Bond discussion. It would be marketing suicide to stamp a 007 movie "comedy" even though that was a large chunk of its charm. And on the flip side, the Netflix marketers are eager to stamp stuff with anything to entice watchers. At a certain point the whole genre tagging thing becomes as meaningless as calling a box of detergent "America's favorite".

Yep!

I haven't seen the Eddie Murphy movie you mentioned but it sounds like a situation that has dogged many typecast comedians. When they decide to hit a heavy subject, the producers & marketing execs are usually trying their best to fool audiences into expecting the old formula. What you said reminds me of Robin Williams' breakout in Good Morning Vietnam which, incredibly, hit the right note to bridge his hyper comedy with some very serious themes. But most crossovers aren't that lucky.

GMV was excellent — thanks again for the bang-on recommendation, I was missing out!

Wow, I think you're spot on with point (c), that negative criticism probably stems from something deeper. This movie has some challenging sexual themes; the brainless party girl gradually reveals that she's a strong-willed puppet master, dominating and emasculating the man. I bet that didn't fly with conservative critics. And since they couldn't openly fault a film for having a strong female character, maybe they seized on a generic complaint: the shift in tone.

And there it is. Quelle surprise.

I'm amazed that you solved the mystery of the hating critics, even though you haven't even seen the movie!

We may not have had all the pieces of the puzzle, but we certainly had enough for the bigger picture to emerge, didn't we?!

And you're right, there are actually lots of successful films, even Hollywood ones, that use comedy to pull us into a more serious subject. I haven't seen Class or From the Hip, but I'll keep an eye out because I enjoy those 80s flicks with strong ensemble casts. A lot of them fit the comedy-shift-to-drama niche we're talking about.

;-)