Trailer Tuesday: Opening Night, 25 Years Later

I can’t remember the last time I felt excited about a new film release. In the days before the internet you rarely saw trailers outside of the movie theatre, so as someone who used to eat, sleep and breathe Michelle Pfeiffer the tantalizing prospect of a new Pfeiffer pfilm was enough to have me hyperventilating.The summer of 1997 was a veritable Pfeifferpalooza with the release of One Fine Day. Watching the trailer now, it is entertaining in a typical-rom-com-we’ve-seen-it-all-before way. It’s mainly a 2 and a half minute showcase for Michelle, all eye rolls, pratfalls and oversized phone.I saw One Fine Day on opening night, the 4th of July at The Palace cinema in Stalybridge. By happy coincidence Addicted to Love was featured in the pre-film trailers. Getting a taste of Meg, as a cross between Catwoman and Edie Sedgwick, as a prelude to the Pfeiffer pflick was like a gift from the movie gods.The trailer shifts the chronology of the film to show Ryan’s über babe Maggie as soon as possible, the marketing department clearly playing on Ryan’s bankability. This is The Meg Ryan Show and she’s obviously relishing her spurned woman gone loco role. You can get a bead from these 90 seconds that Meg’s going to spend two hours flirting with the camera. The girl can’t help it.This film was a flop at the box office, so you could say audiences weren’t ready to see America’s Sweetheart cast as a villain. I do think Addicted to Love could have been a monster hit if La Pfeiffer and Clooney had played opposite Meg and Matthew Broderick in this four-way formula. Although two hours of Meg and Michelle on the same giant screen may have been too much for my heart to bear!