Right from the maverick movies to the romantic chick flicks every Entertainment Industry has a set of cliches that form the base of the industry making it what it is in the present. Produced by Charlie Brooker and hosted by Rob Lowe, Attack of the Hollywood Cliches is a documentary by Netflix that dives into cinematic cliches and how they have changed over time. Right from a woman running with stilettos to men stalking girls for the sake of wooing them, the documentary covers all the possible cliches in nearly one hour.
Ranging from meet-cutes to mavericks to white man saviours, Lowe along with a series of talented actors, producers, screenwriters keep mocking at the plethora of cliches of Hollywood.
Hosting Done Right
Rob puts a finger in his mouth when introducing the famous “meet-cute,” which does look a bit cringy but the works because of the actor’s undying reputation as a sex symbol among Gen-Xers.
While referring to the meet-cute movies (the way soulmates meet in cheesy rom-coms like Notting Hill or Maid in Manhattan) or discussing the maverick cop who cares only about his gun and badge, Rob’s flippant delivery keeps the documentary titled towards the lighter note while engaging the audience at the same time. His timing of transitioning from one trope to another while making jokes is worth mentioning.
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A Blend Of Lame Cliches as Well as Serious Ones
While scenes like the dramatic meeting of the female and male protagonists or the erotic scenes where sex is depicted by a storm or a fire prove to be quite harmless and funny at times there are cliches that need attention. For Eg:- The “White Saviour” showcasing the impact of racism on our society, the “Meet and Cute” ones (Twilight, The Graduate, There is Something About Mary) stalking a woman against her will lead to her falling in love with the guy raises some serious concerns.
While the documentary tries to capture as many tropes as possible here it feels as if the audience is left asking for more, somewhere. Probably the answer to how the cliches came into existence in the first place.
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With a wonderful host and a series of guest appearances, the casting for Attack On Hollywood Cliches was done beautifully but the scattered and haphazard documentation points towards a lack of research at many levels.
Overall, Attack of the Hollywood Cliches looks like a half-baked cake straight out of the oven.
Attack of the Hollywood Cliches is streaming on Netflix.
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