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Woman Sues FilmDistrict Because 'Drive' is Not Like 'Fast and Furious'
by James Wallace
October 10, 2011
Source: MCN, Movies.com
People have attempted to sue (and at times have even won) over all kinds of ridiculous things. Hollywood is no stranger to these frivolous lawsuits, like in 1996 when the family of a woman attempted to sue Oliver Stone and Warner Bros. after she was shot in a robbery they claimed was perpetrated as a direct result of Stone's Natural Born Killers (as you can imagine, that case was dismissed, but not until 2001). But this latest case, picked up from Movie City News (via Movies.com) involving a Detroit woman and Drive, may have sped to the top of the list of "Silliest Movie-Related Lawsuits of All Time." Read all the details below!
According to moviegoer Sarah Deming, Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive did not meet the expectations she had for the film which she felt were set by the trailer, leading her to believe Drive was akin to more action-packed, blockbuster car heist films like The Fast and the Furious franchise (the woman would have likely enjoyed the once-planned version of Drive starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Neil Marshall). She was so disappointed by her unmet expectations that she lawyered up with Martin Leaf and filed a lawsuit against Drive's distributor, FilmDistrict, under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.
To quote the woman's official complaint, FilmDistrict "promoted the film Drive as very similar to the Fast and Furious, or similar, series of movies." In Deming's opinion, "Drive bore very little similarity to a chase or race action film… having very little driving in the motion picture." You know, besides the fact that the whole film centers around a guy that is a stunt driver by day/getaway driver by night, works on cars in his spare time, is in line to become a race car driver, and in his free time drives around L.A. listening to pop music, who we see in or around cars more than we do otherwise. Oh, and did I mention he's called "The Driver?" But besides that, I guess she's right.
To add to that, since that's certainly not all, the women was offended by what she perceived as the film's demeaning portrayal of members of the Jewish faith. "Drive was a motion picture that substantially contained extreme gratuitous defamatory dehumanizing racism directed against members of the Jewish faith, and thereby promoted criminal violence against members of the Jewish faith." So apparently, she thought Drive would have less Jewish stereotypes in it and more Asian, Hispanic, and African-American stereotypes. You know, like in her beloved Fast and the Furious movies?
So what does she want out of it? Just that; out of it. Wait, that's not right. No, her demands are far more ridiculous. Other than having FilmDistrict refund her money, Deming wants to stop misleading movie trailers so much so that she soon intends to take this from an individual lawsuit to a class action lawsuit.
Rumor is that she will next set her sights on other October releases, including The Three Musketeers for actually having four guys who fight together, along with the film's malicious portrayal of mustaches. Word also has it that she may even be aiming for Anonymous for using Radiohead in its trailer and thus insinuating that William Shakespeare also took credit for penning the song "Everything in Its Right Place" and Puss In Boots for not having as much puss or boots as the title implies. If I were Clint Eastwood, I'd be worried that Deming may come after J. Edgar in November, for leading audiences to believe that J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI, was actually a time traveling Leonardo DiCaprio in disguise, not to mention for the film's gratuitous defamatory dehumanizing racism directed against Northern accents.
38 Comments
1
First off, this is just ludicrous. Misleading trailers can be a pisser, sure, but you can ALWAYS walk out of a movie within like the first ten to fifteen minutes and get your money back if you don't like what you're watching. I'm always flabberghasted when I hear people whining about a movie offending them when they have the option to just leave and get a refund. This isn't A Clockwork Orange, folks, exercise your free will and walk away if you don't like a movie. Secondly, I love this article, but I honestly can't tell if that final paragraph is a joke or not. And that's just awesome.
Gill on Oct 10, 2011
2
Why doesn't she also sue Sony Pictures for their senseless portrayal of mother nature in "2012" while she's at it? Stupid woman. Get a job if you're so desperate for money...
Icefilm on Oct 10, 2011
3
That one still has another year or so to come true.
Lucid003 on Oct 11, 2011
4
I'd like to sue her for having offensively awful taste.
Lindsey on Oct 10, 2011
5
she is the next Jack Thompson but, for movies.
A Villa88 on Oct 12, 2011
6
She should be sued and then get the death penalty for being fucking stupid
Barnaby Barrilla on Oct 10, 2011
8
Small things amuse small minds.
Charlie Nobody on Oct 11, 2011
10
He probably just read that somewhere and couldn't wait to use it. ;^)
Btodd on Oct 12, 2011
11
FilmDistrict should sue that woman for being mentally incapable to understand the poetic nature of "Drive."
Jon on Oct 10, 2011
12
Hahaha..."she will next set her sights on other October releases, including The Three Musketeers for actually having four guys who fight together, along with the film's malicious portrayal of mustaches". It goes without saying that this law suit is beyond ridiculous but you made my day with that line. Cheers!
Anonymous on Oct 10, 2011
13
i recommend a counter lawsuit for wasting everyone's time. put that woman in the streets for gross abuse of the judicial system.
Nick S. on Oct 10, 2011
15
My head hurts from the stupidity of this.
norm on Oct 10, 2011
16
Can we ban people who sue for stupid things, tar and feather them as well so they remember to think before acting. Doesn't she know that Drive is a movie, its fiction you idiot.
andrew on Oct 10, 2011
17
Epic fail.
Ron on Oct 10, 2011
19
This is why I hate people.
Brandon on Oct 10, 2011
20
*facepalm*
Armeetapus16 on Oct 10, 2011
21
This definitely feels like another "March on Washington" or "Occupy Wall Street" protest. Except in this scenario the protesters would be THIS woman, a blind person, and a dog: Three things that didn't get the trailer's message.
Quanah on Oct 10, 2011
22
Words can't describe how much i enjoyed this article. It's morons like this woman that make me feel like an incredible person.
Danimal on Oct 10, 2011
23
I couldn't finish the article, too much facepalm >.<
Clarebear on Oct 10, 2011
26
sure drive wasn't the best movie ever made but it was entertaining and WAY better than any of the fast and furious movies. the fast and furious are just terrible
scuba steve on Oct 11, 2011
28
This article would have been great had it been used on April Fools Day! It's a shame that it's real though...
jah p on Oct 11, 2011
29
Words cannot describe the laughter I had at the last paragraph.
Anonymous on Oct 11, 2011
30
Shes also sueing Michael bay for using fake robots in transformers,apparently it was all Cgi,she felt mislead.
tir na nog on Oct 11, 2011
31
That reminds me of the trailer for "The bridges to Terabithia" that had all the CGI scenes of the whole movie cramped into the 2-minute trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SvqEIKP4t8), making it feel like a Narnia movie (at the same time the Narnia movies were making it big at the box office). So I never felt so cheated and stabbed in the back going to a movie after seeing the trailer when I realized it was far from the truth, that there was very few CGI (all of which I saw in the trailer) and adventure entertainment compared to Narnia, and that it was in fact a sad dramatic movie. IMDB lists it as Adventure/Drama/Family, while I agree with Drama and Family, I don't see how it can be listed as Adventure. The trailer being so misleading, I would love to see this class action lawsuit gain some traction and set the movie studios straight.
Anon on Oct 11, 2011
32
I agree wholeheartedly with this woman's case. The movie was alright, yet entirely misrepresented. Instead of letting this become another Cracked article, we have the chance to set it right; to stop Hollywood from putting the best 3 minutes of a movie into a trailer and filling the rest with slow scenes and useless dialogue. We must act now to start a trailer revolution that will last the ages.
Bltroy90 on Oct 11, 2011
33
I'm also one of those who walked out of this movie very disappointed, because I too felt the trailer, let alone the title of the film, were very misleading. Between the title and trailer I was expecting lots of high energy driving, chases, etc. A real action movie based on car chases. It of course had hardly any of this. It was misleading, and I was sorry I had gone to this film instead of one of the other new releases. It just wasn't what it was represented to be in the trailer. So I completely empathize with this lady. Having said this, I think the idea of a law suit wrong, and pointless, and it won't do a thing to stop this from happening again. It is what it is. You shouldn't be able to sue for anything, just because you got your feathers ruffled. Still, she's at least brought attention to this. If she and I felt this way, surely thousands of other movie-goers did too. Was this deceptive marketing intentional...I would guess so. They probably knew that not nearly as many people would have gone if the trailer was honest about the movie's true nature.
Me on Oct 12, 2011
34
Next she's going to sue her car company because her car cannot go back in time
Sandman401 on Oct 13, 2011
35
Here's some more options for her to sue. Finding Nemo- She can't find Nemo Jurassic Park- False portrayal that dinosaurs coexisted with humans Unbreakable- Misleading title as one of the characters was very breakable Black Sheep- Falsely portraying sheep as bloodthirsty animals
Sandman401 on Oct 13, 2011
36
I agree with Gill, but I, as very many others feel as well and maybe as much as 90%, it was VERY misleading and one of the most stupid movies I have seen in over a decade. Had the trailer represented the actual movie, not talking about giving us all the best parts, I might have seen it for what it was. Like, I expected Serenity to be an over glorified SYFY episode in which case it went beyond my expectations. The DRIVE trailer truly did not represent the movie At All.
Lance on Oct 13, 2011
37
This story is so funny it has to be a hoax. Sue for having 4 musketeers in the 3 musketeers? This is muppet stuff.
Anonymous on Oct 15, 2011
38
Amazing write-up! This could aid plenty of people find out more about this particular issue. Are you keen to integrate video clips coupled with these? It would absolutely help out. Your conclusion was spot on and thanks to you; I probably won’t have to describe everything to my pals. I can simply direct them here!
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