There’s an art to launching a trailer during Oscar season, and the first look at Cameron Crowe’s new film Aloha shows how to do it right. While the trailer doesn’t necessarily give the sense of a future Oscar contender, it does feature some highly buzzed-about names: Best Actor nominee Bradley Cooper and Best Supporting Actress nominee Emma Stone star in the story of a military contractor whose return to Hawaii forces him to rethink his past and put his life back together.
The trailer frontloads its star power: Alec Baldwin, Bradley Cooper, Danny McBride, and Bill Murray appear in rapid succession in just the opening moments, soon followed by Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, and John Krasinski. There are alternating moments of humor and sentimentality set against lush Hawaiian landscapes, but there’s also the added pleasure of watching Cooper and McAdams play off each other in a way very different from how they did in Wedding Crashers.
The film looks to follow a familiar formula: down-and-out hero contends with his demons while trying to rebuild his life, and must choose between multiple love interests representing different paths forward. But if Aloha builds on the strength of its star-studded cast, it may be able to turn this genre movie into a refreshing return to form for Crowe. The film is scheduled for release in May.
