Why Is Everyone Afraid of ‘Elephant in the Room?’
Bipartisan rom-com tries to heal divided nation ... but there's a problem
It’s the movie we need now … more than ever.
Or do we?
“The Elephant in the Room” asks a very 21st-century question. Can a couple find love if they don’t vote the same way?
The rom-com stars Alyssa Limperis and Sean Kleier as potential lovers who clash over their political beliefs. She’s a rock-ribbed progressive, and he voted for Donald Trump.
Twice.
Can this courtship be saved? It appears to be the first rom-com of its kind. The conflict is provocative enough to grab people’s attention, right?
Right?
Tell that to film critics. At Rotten Tomatoes, there’s only one official review of the film – Hollywood in Toto. Sometimes, the critical community looks the other way when faced with a movie that doesn’t align with their worldview.
Some pro-Israel documentaries have struggled on that front in recent years. Said critics didn’t want to give those projects oxygen.
The media blackout behind “The Elephant in the Room” gets more complicated.
Look at the audience scores for “Elephant” at Rotten Tomatoes. Keep looking. Squint all you want, but you won’t find any.
Zero. Point. Zero. Is that even possible?
View this post on Instagram
Perhaps most moviegoers saw the synopsis and said, “Thanks, but no thanks.” Deep down, have we become addicted to political infighting? Are both sides so distrustful of a project like this that they fear it can’t be fair and balanced enough?
The irony? “Elephant” is shockingly balanced, given the incendiary subject matter. Both protagonists are charming and likable, and each is given a chance to articulate their views. Hollywood films often short-change conservatives in on-screen ideological scraps.
Not here.
In fact, Limperis’ character comes off slightly worse, if only because she appears to be more intractable about her political beliefs.
This reporter contributes to The Blaze, and that site has posted two articles on the film – one is an interview with writer/director Erik Bork. The other is an op-ed by Bork about the project.
Otherwise, the film has faced bipartisan rejection. Hard-Left sites like The Hollywood Reporter and Variety have ignored it. So have Breitbart News, The Federalist and The Daily Wire.
Maybe we can’t all get along after all.
It’s not surprising hard left sites have ignored the film. Unfortunately The Daily Wire doesn’t have a full-time movie critic or TV critic. While The Federalist reviews movies, they don’t have a full-time critic either and there reviews are usually lag a bit after it is released. I’ve saved the movie in my favorites on Prime but like many, I am waiting for it to stream for free. There just aren’t enough conservatives reviewing movies these days.
Andrew Klavan often talks about movies on his show and sometimes does separate videos on Youtube reviewing movies. Would be nice to see him give this movie some attention.
I’ve seen a few of Klavan’s reviews although they are often reviews of movies from years past. If he is doing current movies, it would be nice if they were mentioned in his description of the episode. Has he recommended any movies or shows recently?
Completely agree… will drop him a note.