News > Another Set-Back for Uwe Boll and "Postal"

Some time ago, Dr. Uwe Boll, much-maligned director and unapologetic showman, threw down the gauntlet against Steven Spielberg, saying:

On the Indiana Jones weekend - May 23 - we will go out and destroy Indiana Jones in the Box Office [with "Postal" - DM]! We all know that Harrison Ford is older as my grandpa and his time is up - would Michael Moore say!

Our top linguists are still trying to figure out what that last bit means, but the challenge remains obvious and intact. Well, his nefarious plan has hit a snag. Though "Postal" had originally been expecting release in 1,500 theaters, it seems that number is going to have to be reduced - by 99%.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that "Postal" will open in only "13-15 locations, with distribution limited to New York, Los Angeles and a half-dozen or so other markets."

Boll told the press:

This is for me very disappointing, to be honest. They don't like the political content. This is my personal feeling after trying for four or five weeks to get the distributors to book it. It's a ruthless comedy and makes jokes about Sept. 11 and all kinds of stuff, but at the same time I feel like it's my best-received movie so far.

People were laughing their asses off [in test screenings]. It works very well for the young male audience. It's a Monty Python kind of comedy, and I think that kind of product is missing right now because of political correctness.

Here THR makes a journalistic decision that I would like to contest: They argue with Uwe Boll. See for yourself:

Actual reviews of the film are quite another matter, however, with RottenTomatoes.com listing the film with just 33% positive reviews to date.

This is sloppy reporting. As of this writing, there have only been 12 reviews of "Postal" on RT, with a rating of 25% fresh. 12 reviews (or fewer, when THR published their findings) are not enough to accurately judge the critical reception of a film. Furthermore, even if 12 reviews were enough to go on, 33% fresh would be a major critical success for Boll, whose numbers rarely rise out of single digits.

Speaking of digits, if you're wondering how the nearly-forgotten anti- and pro-Boll petitions are doing, Anti-Boll has 280,826 signatures, to Pro-Boll's 2,337. From the apparent lack of growth on the former petition, I guess nobody needed the free Stride gum that badly.

-David Morgan