Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold Blu-ray Movie Review

The question is: will you buy a movie constructed completely around advertising?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 23, 2011

Someone's trying to sell you something.

Advertising is a joke anymore. The same commercials play endlessly on a loop on the same stations over and over and over, advertising anything from beer to class action lawsuits. Billboards are becoming ever more risque, companies are spamming e-mail and text messages, and movies, oh movies, yes, Hollywood isn't immune to the almighty advertising dollar. Sony -- this film's home video distributor -- is one of the great champions of the cross-promotional platform; look at the computers in most any Sony movie and notice they all say "VAIO" on them, while cell phones all say "Sony Ericsson." At least in Sony's case, it's intra-company promotion; why give free advertising to Dell, Apple, or Samsung when there's an in-house option? That's understandable from an end consumer perspective (assuming audiences know which studio is backing the film), but when Will Smith starts pimping Converse footwear in the middle of a movie for no good reason whatsoever, that's when audiences take notice. But they don't revolt. They buy. Converse probably sold more shoes because of that movie and that pitchman than they could have ever dreamed, and more power to them. While I, Robot might be the grossly obvious example, movies anymore manage to squeeze in any number of well-placed products that either subtly remind audiences why they want that Coke or whack them over the head with a reason to buy that specific brand of laptop (and hey, Apple computers are capable of bringing down alien motherships! And oh yes, Fox and Apple made sure that wasn't lost on anybody.

Truth in advertising.

But wouldn't it be cool if the movies and the advertisers were at least up front and honest about the gimmick? Wouldn't it be refreshing if Drive Angry was "brought to you by the Ford Bronco" or if Demolition Man was "sponsored by Taco Bell?" Honesty in paid advertising in cinema is exactly what Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock set out to accomplish with The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, or more precisely, Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. With the proliferation of "brand integration" and partnerships between corporate entities for mutual benefit in cinema, Spurlock quests to create a movie about the phenomena paid for exclusively by the brands he convinces to help fund the project. In essence, they're paying for the right to be featured in a movie about product placement in film. It sounds like circular logic, but it's not. Spurlock promises his would-be sponsors that their brand -- Ban deodorant, Sheetz convenience stores, JetBlue airlines, Hyatt hotels, Amy's food products, and of course Pom Wonderful beverages and any number of other sponsors that appear in the picture -- will be "married to the film in perpetuity forever" and guaranteeing long-lasting revenue streams, so long as the movie sells and remains on store shelves, of course. Unfortunately, getting a company to plop their name and their product into a movie isn't as easy as it sounds, even for a filmmaker with a mega cult-like hit to his credit in Super Size Me. Though he seeks out companies that supposedly share "personalities" similar to his own, Spurlock must not only make the pitch but deal with all of the complications, maneuvering, handshake promises, legalese, and other hurdles that threaten not only the collaboration between filmmaker and sponsor, but the fate of the film as well.

Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold isn't just a movie, it's an adventure. OK, so there's no rolling boulders, bad guys to shoot, or treasure maps to follow, but it is an engaging quest in search of partnerships and mutually beneficial business arrangements. Sounds dull, but it's not. Morgan Spurlock's picture is incredibly funny; it's hard to believe it's all real and not populated by actors and derived from a script. There's so much off-the-cuff humor, bare-knuckle sincerity, and honest debate about both the picture's viability and the state of in-film advertising that every frame is packed with something that's almost beyond fascinating. For the hardcore lover of film, it's a (admittedly edited and cut very short) glimpse into the raw corporate side of filmmaking that's never seen -- at least until that specific brand winds up in a character's hand -- even in home video special features. Granted, Spurlock plays for the camera to give the pitch meetings and discussions some vibrancy that's probably not there in the average stiff boardroom, but Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold does a fantastic job of assembling an experience quite unlike anything else. Who knew sales pitches, phone calls, chats with lawyers, and sit-downs with juice and convenience store moguls could be so much fun -- and informative?

Indeed, Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is like a crash course in corporate advertisement. What companies look for, how they conduct business, and the personalities that run them make for fascinating and educational watches in and of themselves, even separate from the rest of the spectacle. It's not like audiences will immediately leave the theater, walk into Cinemark's offices, and land themselves a juicy five- or six-figure sponsorship for their basement woodworking project, but the picture at least imparts a modicum of insider knowledge on its audiences, which is worth the few dollars cost of admission. Ultimately, however, the main question riding on the movie centers around how effective it is. Will audiences crave Pom Wonderful after the movie, run out to buy some Ban deodorant, or book their next flight on JetBlue? The problem is that the deluge of advertising wears thin after awhile. The picture remains incredibly entertaining and smartly conceived and executed, but it's a little too much, even within the context that it's all to make a point more than it is, necessarily, to sell products. Before it loses its charm and posters of a nearly-naked Morgan Spurlock start creeping into the movie, though, the film's intoxicating novelty magically pushes audiences into wanting to try some Ban deodorant, for instance, the first product to be spotlighted with any length and consistency in the film. It'll certainly be finding its way into a few shopping carts in the coming weeks.

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold features a stable but not particularly handsome 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. It's evident from the outset that the picture was shot with less than top-grade equipment; definition is only fair, and fuzziness and softness are prevalent. Fine detail rarely excels; there are a handful of very bright, very crisp images, but facial textures, for instance, often exhibit a slightly muddled appearance. Colors, too, come up lacking. They're somewhat bland compared to the finest HD video presentations, and while the best-lit scenes exhibit strong color reproduction, the palette appears a touch sloppy but never excessively dull. There's a little bit of blockiness, banding, and a hint of aliasing, but none to any sort of detrimental level. However, noise runs rampant in places. Blacks sometimes appear a touch washed out, and flesh tones aren't wholly consistent. On the whole, this is a fair but problematic image, though many of the issues seem inherent to the source and not a problem with Sony's transfer.

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

It's a Documentary about product placement, not a Michael Bay movie, so it should come as no surprise that Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold's DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack is kind of vanilla. There's almost nothing here but music, dialogue, and a few sound effects. As for the music, it features suitably crisp notes and good accuracy, but limited spacing. It's not as pronounced as listeners might expect, and it doesn't naturally spread around to the point that it becomes almost transparent. Instead, it struggles to find the ends of the soundstage on either front side, and surround support is virtually nonexistent. However, the back channels do carry a slight bit of atmosphere as well as a couple of scattered effects, such as 360-degree, deliberately-confused human speech in chapter two and a heavy jet flyover (complete with a nice rattle of bass) later in the picture. Dialogue remains grounded in the center and plays with plenty of clarity. That's about all there is to this one. It's not going to rock the sound system, but Sony's track gets the job done.

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold arrives on Blu-ray with a strong selection of supplements, including a quality commentary track and a lengthy selection of deleted scenes.

• Audio Commentary: Director Morgan Spurlock, Producer Jeremy Chilnick, Cinematographer Daniel Marracino, and Editor Thomas M. Vogt offer a solid and enjoyable technical commentary track. They discuss almost the entire process: collecting fair use examples of product placement and corporate sponsorships, the original idea for the film, the difficulties in working with ad agencies and corporations, shooting and creating various parts of the film, the extensive behind-the-scenes work and creation of photo shoots for various products, corporate and audience reaction, and much more. It's a shame there's not a track with representatives of some of the corporate sponsors -- even if it was edited together after the fact -- but as it is this is a strong, entertaining track that fans will definitely want to spend 80-some minutes with.
• At the Sundance Film Festival (1080p, 14:39): Clips from the film, interviews with Morgan Spurlock and others, and a fan Q&A session make up the bulk of this feature.
• Workin' Nine to Five (AM): Pom Behind-the-Scenes (1080p, 3:42): A look at the making of the Pom Wonderful in-film commercial.
• Shooting for Perfection: Hyatt & JetBlue Behind-the-Scenes (1080p, 4:52): Another piece that shares some of the secrets behind the making of the film's commercials.
• Commercials (1080p, 3:51): Alternate Pom Wonderful Commercial, Jet Blue Commercial, The Greatest Airline You'll Ever Fly: JetBlue in-Flight, Hyatt Commercial, and The Greatest Hotel You'll Ever Experience: Hyatt Welcome.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 48:57): The Greatest Vacation Destination: Aruba, Farris Yakob's "Phased" Approach, No Ad New York, Meeting of the Minds: Extended Brand Summit, Who Owns the News: Dan Rather, My Favorite Commercial: Montage, Softer is Louder: Frank Luntz, Buying Self-Confidence: Alternative Marketing, Ralph Nader: Words of Wisdom, Norm Product Places Morgan, A Diamond is Forever (A Burden): Sut Jhally, and Delving into the Consumer Unconscious: Zmet Extended.
• Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 2:26).
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.
• BD-Live.

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is an extraordinarily funny picture that grows a bit long in the tooth near the end but is nevertheless a novelty movie done right. It might be the most honest film ever made, Documentary or otherwise. It's charming and timely, a journey into the inner-workings of the marriage between corporate advertising and filmmaking, albeit on a smaller level on both sides. Still, there's an appeal here that will have audiences grinning from ear to ear throughout, not only for the consistent humor but for the originality that's never lost from beginning to end. Sony's Blu-ray release of Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold features stable video and audio to go along with a decent assortment of extras. Recommended.