Free Republic

DreamWorks and Universal/Comcast Corp.’s Thank You for Your Service is struggling this weekend, despite solid reviews and an alleged hunger for serious adult dramas about worthwhile subject matter. The film made $1.505 million yesterday for a likely $4.1m debut weekend. The Miles Teller drama, about a group of marines returning home from Iraq, is suffering the same fate that greeted the likes of The Lucky Ones, Lambs for Lions, Valley of Elah and Rendition a decade ago. Hollywood made a go at confronting the post-9/11 realities a decade ago, but nobody showed up. Sure, it’s easier to get audiences of...

Even if terrible reviews and the exploding scandal around Harvey Weinstein were not an issue, past as prologue informs us that director George Clooney’s Suburbicon would still be in trouble. While the Hollywood bubble, which includes the lackey entertainment media, likes to pretend Clooney is a Big Star, moviegoers disagree, most especially when it comes to the films he directs. Other than the forgettable mess that was Monuments Men, which squeaked over $75 million (and probably still lost money), American audiences have expressed a startling indifference towards everything Clooney’s directed. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) grossed just $16 million,...