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Karma? Trump-hating filmmaker Rob Reiner in ‘Shock and Awe’ when film brutally tanks at box office

July 16, 2018 | | Print Article

Filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner was just served a generous plate of karma.

His new film about journalists during the Iraq War, “Shock and Awe,” opened over the weekend to abysmal numbers.

Image: screengrab

The movie is “based on the true events of Knight Ridder journalists who were the only ones who ‘got it right’ in the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq War when they questioned the true nature of the Bush White House’s justification for the conflict,” according to  Rotten Tomatoes,

The film opened in limited release on July 13th, but what was even more limited were the ticket sales – and not by design. According to  Box Office Mojo, for the weekend of July 13-15th, Shock and Awe grossed only $41,000.

Sony Animation’s “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation,” meanwhile, raked in over $40 million over the weekend.

Reiner has been a vocal critic of President Trump’s and is happy to share his political ‘expertise’ with fellow liberals in regular television appearances where he rants about the latest in conspiracy theories or just name calling. The leftist attacked Trump as a “pathological liar” who is “mentally unstable” and even warned about a “cancerous presidency” during an interview last year.

The left-wing Hollywood director warned MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”about the very survival of democracy under Trump, declaring that “state-run TV” networks have “aligned” themselves with the president.

The Trump-hating filmmaker also suggested the president is guilty of treason for not standing up to Russia – though he was interestingly quiet when former President Barack Obama stayed silent when faced with the same challenges.

It seems the karma has come around for Reiner now, with his film bombing at the boxoffice with only 35 percent of moviegoers giving it a positive review on Rotten Tomatoes.

“For all that, Shock and Awe (which was made available on demand prior to its theatrical release) is a slim, at-times too-obvious portrayal of an important story, as well as the fundamental calling of journalism when it comes to holding the powerful to account,” Bryan Lowry wrote for CNN.

Image: screengrab

“The title is a misnomer,” Rolling Stone’s David Fear wrote.

“Reiner’s Meathead (aka Mike Stivic) was an inspired comic creation, but then, ‘All in the Family’ was groundbreaking all the way around. Regrettably, the same cannot be said for Reiner’s ‘Shock and Awe,'” Simi Horwitz wrote for Film Journal, calling it a “plodding film with ill-placed, klutzy exposition and credibility-defying and/or colorless characters that are spokespersons for various predictable viewpoints.”

A collective snicker was heard on Twitter over the film’s disappointing opening.

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Frieda Powers
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