The Cannes Film Festival opened not with a bang, but with a whimper.
Or maybe a shrug.
The festival had its official kickoff Wednesday night with an out-of-competition screening of Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood,” which occupied the usual opening-night slot that Cannes gives to a big studio movie that’ll fill the red carpet with stars, even if it’s nothing like the movies that actually compete at the festival.
And according to reports from those in attendance, while the hugely expensive movie was met not with rousing cheers, nor was it met with the boos and catcalls that sometimes greet Cannes premieres.
Instead, most people agreed that it was … okay. As the L.A. Times’ Steven Zeitchik wrote on Twitter, “fine but not overwhelming.”
indieWIRE’s Eric Kohn described the atmosphere: “Excitement in the room is … not detectable.”
That lukewarm reaction might echo many people’s response to the entire line-up of films that’ll be on display at Cannes this year – but the fest, at least, did open with the usual pomp and circumstance and star power.
“Robin Hood” stars Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett were in attendance at the Palais screening, along with Helen Mirren and Taylor Hackford, Eva Longoria, Salma Hayek and Cannes jurors Tim Burton, Benicio del Toro and Kate Beckinsale. (Photo of Blanchett, Brian Grazer, Chau-Giang Thi Nguyen, Danielle Spencer and Crowe by Ian Gavan/Getty Images.)
Scott himself is recuperating from knee surgery, and did not attend.
The screening was preceded by a ceremony hosted by actress Kristin Scott-Thomas, and followed by a variety of parties.
In the days leading up to its screening, questions swirled about the film’s possible reception by what can be a testy, vocal audience. The film was considered a possible target for nationalistic boo-birds because the French are among the movie’s chief antagonists: Crowe’s Robin Hood begins the movie ransacking a French castle alongside King Richard, and ends it fighting off an invading French army that has crossed the channel intent on conquering a divided England.
If the fears turned out to be groundless, “Robin Hood” producer Brian Grazer knows more than most that a stormy Cannes reception is hardly the kiss of death. He brought “The DaVinci Code” to open Cannes in 2006, and experienced a barrage of negative reviews. But Grazer said the raucous Cannes reception may have helped stir up interest in that film, which grossed more than $200 million in the United States and more than $750 million worldwide.
So he knows as well as anyone that his expensive production’s true test will come not at Cannes, but at the U.S. boxoffice, beginning this weekend.
Earlier in the day at Cannes, a press screening of “Robin Hood” drew the same kind of reaction as the Palais premiere. “The movie played okay … ” wrote Anne Thompson. “No seat slapping, booing, or cheering. Judging from early reviews and the folks I’ve spoken to, it’s one of those good-not-great reactions.”
Roger Ebert, meanwhile, gave the film two stars and called it “a high-tech and well made violent action picture using the name of Robin Hood for no better reason than that it’s an established brand not protected by copyright.”
At the same time as the “Robin Hood” screening, incidentally, another theater hosted the first official screening of a film in competition at the festival: “Tournee” (“On Tour”), a comedy from French actor-turned-director Mathieu Amalric. With that film, you could say that the serious side of Cannes began.
And just as it was for “Robin Hood,” reaction to “Tournee” was lukewarm.
