New Video: John Cusack, THE RAVEN Details Revealed

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There’s no telling whether The Raven will ride the wave of popularity enjoyed – for whatever reason – by Victorian action-adventure. What is certain is that the hype campaign has been huge. Whoever the project’s publicist is, Disney should have hired them for John Carter, rather than letting it simply circle the bowl.

First it was a battery of trailers a full nine months in advance. Next came another salvo of trailers and articles.

Now the team responsible for getting The Raven flying high come premiere time has released a sit-down with John Cusack.

Nothing against Cusack, but I found the interview to be like dry toast. Yeah, it’ll fill you up and keep you going, but there’s not much flavor to it. Cusack is a smart guy getting asked bland questions, and the result scans like a post-grad seminar on the piece.

Wow, now that I have you all psyched up, check it out:

See what I’m saying? He uses the words “vigilant” and “idiom” in the first minute of the interview. We ain’t exactly dealing with a raving mad man here.

But as far as the pith of this interview about The Raven, John Cusack avows the verisimilitude of the piece.

See, I can use five-dollar words too, John.

His point is that their accuracy is dead on: Both with the setting and the character of Poe. The language is authentic, the style of behavior and dress suit the period, and the attitudes are in line.

As for the character of Poe, Cusack calls him “a glorious mess.” That sounds about accurate given what I know of Edgar Allan. I haven’t spoken with him in a while, but as Cusack points out, he was a drug addict who died early and wrote schlock genre fiction. Speaking as one who knows, those are dramatic people.

Snarky commentary about their high-falutin’ comments aside, I’m enthused for the piece. As both Cusack and the interviewer point out, there’s a solid director behind The Raven. James McTeigue has does some exciting films. Yes, worked on some trash, but “hit and miss” still has the word “hit” in it.

Besides, Cusack swears McTeigue nailed the aesthetics.