Changes

==David Manning Controversy==

==David Manning Controversy==

This film was one of five films that were involved in a scandal by its parent company, Sony Pictures, involving being "reviewed" by a fictitious critic named David Manning in an attempt to increase marketability, the others including ''Hollow Man'', ''The Animal'', ''A Knight's Tale'', and ''Vertical Limit''.

This film was one of five films that were involved in a scandal by its parent company, Sony Pictures, involving being "reviewed" by a fictitious critic named David Manning in an attempt to increase marketability, the others including ''Hollow Man'', ''The Animal'', ''A Knight's Tale'', and ''Vertical Limit''.{{cite web |url=//www.msnbc.com/news/581770.asp?cp1=1 |title=The Reviewer Who Wasn't There |last1=Horn |first1=John |date=June 2, 2001 |website=[[MSNBC]] |publisher=[[Newsweek]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010609225327/http://www.msnbc.com/news/581770.asp?cp1=1 |archive-date=June 9, 2001 |accessdate=October 3, 2014 |deadurl=yes |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="leShow20010610">{{cite web | url=http://media.harryshearer.com/?ProgramID=128 | last=Shearer | first=Harry | title=le Show | publisher=HarryShearer.com | date=June 10, 2001 | accessdate=January 5, 2009 | deadurl=yes | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530051629/http://media.harryshearer.com/?ProgramID=128 | archivedate=May 30, 2008 | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name=IENews>[http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=42&si=1445650&issue_id=12832 "Sony to pay $1.5m for film hoax]," ''[[Irish Independent]]'', August 5, 2005.</ref>

 

A highly positive review was purportedly written by a critic named [[David Manning (fictitious writer)|David Manning]], who was credited to ''[[The Ridgefield Press]]'', a small [[Connecticut]] weekly news publication. During an investigation into Manning's quotes, ''[[Newsweek]]'' reporter John Horn discovered that the newspaper had never heard of him.<ref name="Newsweek 2001-06-02">{{cite web |url=//www.msnbc.com/news/581770.asp?cp1=1 |title=The Reviewer Who Wasn't There |last1=Horn |first1=John |date=June 2, 2001 |website=[[MSNBC]] |publisher=[[Newsweek]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010609225327/http://www.msnbc.com/news/581770.asp?cp1=1 |archive-date=June 9, 2001 |accessdate=October 3, 2014 |deadurl=yes |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The story emerged at around the same time as an announcement that Sony had used employees posing as moviegoers in television commercials to praise the film. These occurrences, in tandem, raised questions and controversy about ethics in [[Film promotion|movie marketing]] practices.

 

On June 10, 2001, the episode of ''[[Le Show]]'', host [[Harry Shearer]] conducted an in-studio interview with Manning, whose "review" of the film was positive. The voice of Manning was provided by a computer [[voice synthesizer]].<ref name="leShow20010610">{{cite web | url=http://media.harryshearer.com/?ProgramID=128 | last=Shearer | first=Harry | title=le Show | publisher=HarryShearer.com | date=June 10, 2001 | accessdate=January 5, 2009 | deadurl=yes | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530051629/http://media.harryshearer.com/?ProgramID=128 | archivedate=May 30, 2008 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

 

On August 3, 2005, Sony made an out-of-court settlement and agreed to refund $5 each to dissatisfied customers who saw this and four other films in American theatres, as a result of Manning's reviews.<ref name=IENews>[http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=42&si=1445650&issue_id=12832 "Sony to pay $1.5m for film hoax]," ''[[Irish Independent]]'', August 5, 2005.</ref>

==See also==

==See also==