John Travolta had quite a day in Cannes.
He arrived wearing a toupee and a weird half-beard that was probably hiding something. Let’s not speculate.
Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux surprised Travolta on stage with an honorary Palme d’or, which ticked a lot of people off. But really, with “Saturday Night Fever,” “Pulp Fiction,” and a few other films outweighing his crap resume, Travolta deserved it. Why not?
And then they screened Travolta’s hour long movie debuting on Apple TV this month even though Cannes doesn’t allow streaming films. It’s called “Propeller One Way Night Coach,” based on some children’s book the actor wrote years ago.
The reviews are like walking into a propeller. The Wrap said: “it feels like it may have actually been directed by an alien discovering human interaction for the first time.”
On RogerEbert.com: “It’s a gift that Travolta made for himself and family, something he likely wanted to leave as a part of his legacy. That doesn’t make it a good movie.”
From BBC.com: “John Travolta’s new film is a dud. It shows why great actors can be bad directors”
The Guardian: “A sweet, odd diversion – more eccentric, maybe, than Travolta intended.”
Screen Daily: “an authentic and genuine oddity of a project.”
So how did this all come about, Travolta bringing a bad one hour kid’s movie made for streaming to the elite Cannes Film Festival? We can only surmise the backstage horse trading. But without Travolta, there wouldn’t have been much to write about from Week 1.
