False Advertising

Here's the cover for the recent direct-to-DVD movie Hardwired. As near as I can tell, it's a futuristic sci-fi thriller about unwitting spies with brain implants, or some such thing.

Note that the cover features Cuba Gooding Jr.* and a skillfully done Photoshop painting of Val Kilmer. Mr. Kilmer appears here on the cover looking not unlike he did in his Top Gun days.

Here's how Val Kilmer actually appears in the movie:

Now THAT'S what I call false advertising!

C'mon, studio! There's no shame in the fact that your star's over 50 and bursting out of his jacket like Chris Farley. Happens to us all sooner or later. Would it have killed you to put an accurate representation of Val Kilmer on the cover of your DVD, rather than his high school yearbook photo? You may be afraid that putting the real Val on the cover might hurt sales, but this bait-and-switch tactic isn't going to help. It's just going to teach consumers to avoid your product in the future.

By the way, I don't know if this new floppy-haired look was the director's idea or if it was Val Kilmer's, but he's starting to look more than a little like Steven Cojo.

*Cuba, what happened, dude? You won a freakin' Oscar for Best Supporting Actor! So how'd you end up doing direct-to-DVD movies like this? Please explain.