Can you trust a movie ad quote?

The case of the conjoined movie quote appears to be resolved.

Miramax, the studio behind “Doubt,” combined two quotes from New York Post writers to fashion one whiz-bang movie blurb:

“This is what movies used to be and should be. ‘Doubt’ is heart-stopping. A feast of great acting.”

The quote was mashed together from comments by New York Post film critic Lou Lumenick (who gave the film a mildly positive review) and the paper’s gossip guru Cindy Adams.

Miramax is no longer publicizing the film with that quote, according to LA Times film blogger Patrick Goldstein. Lumenick told WWTW that the studio “appears to have stopped using the ads with the mashed-up quote,” though he isn‘t sure if this was due to his complaint or the fact that the ad cycle had run its course.

But is such chicanery common practice? WWTW asked a number of noted film critics for their take on the matter.

Most said film studios do a solid job of lifting quotes for their ad campaigns. But a few have had issues with the practice and fear the recent “Doubt” imbroglio could become more commonplace.

The Denver Post’s Lisa Kennedy says movie publicists know they have to check with her before approving a quote.

“I often shoot ‘em down,” Kennedy says, adding she figured film studios would be on their best behavior following a 2001 incident in which Sony’s publicity team made up quotes to accompany several of their film’s ad campaigns.

Kennedy suspects the latest quote-gate could “reflect an erosion to come,” she says, since most anything goes when it comes to an Oscar season without a clear frontrunner.

St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall says he’s never had a problem with being misquoted. Dan Webster, film critic with The Spokesman-Review, offers the same response.

The Oregonian‘s Shawn Levy contends his quotes may have been finessed over the years, but nothing more.

But it wouldn’t surprise Levy if it happened to him or a peer.

Joe Leydon, a veteran film critic who writes for Variety and MovieMaker magazine, got his first misquote at the tender age of 16.

Leydon was a high school student reviewing films for The Clarion Herald, a weekly Catholic newspaper in New Orleans. He gave a “mixed-to-negative” review of “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,” saying Alan Arkin and Sondra Locke gave “Oscar-caliber performances.”

“Imagine my surprise when I picked up The Times-Picayune a few days later and saw myself quoted in a movie ad for the very first time: “Oscar-caliber performances!” – Joseph P. Leydon, The Clarion Herald. I got an early introduction to the method by which even unfavorable reviews can be cherry-picked for blurbs. I’ve remained deeply cynical about the process ever since.”

Some critics, like The New York Post’s Kyle Smith, say their reviews don’t lend themselves to movie ads.

“I think the publicists have given up trying to find anything blurbable in my reviews,” he says, although the folks behind “Step Brothers“ begged to differ. They used his “funniest film I’ve seen this year” line in some of their ad campaigns.

Goldstein says since he’s not an official film critic he rarely lets studios quote his material. But occasionally they do just that, although they’ve always done so fairly, without misquotes, he says.

Newsday film critic Rafer Guzman says he’s had to put his foot down to make sure one of his quotes aren’t used inappropriately.

“Mostly the publicists want to replace the occasional pronoun (like “she”) with a proper noun (say, Marisa Tomei) so it reads better in the ad, and I’m generally okay with that. I’m even fairly lax with ellipses, though again I’m pretty sure I’ve insisted on them once or twice,” Guzman says.

So the next time a film ad blares, “I laughed, I cried …” you can believe it. Just make sure to check out the source … carefully.

Larry King is not a movie critic.

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