A tweet from Luke Whiston is doing the rounds, accusing poor Richard Curtis (by proxy) of faking reviews:
The twitter users quoted in the #AboutTime poster are duff accounts: https://t.co/TuGEMOoUyW, https://t.co/DxJTkwhX5V pic.twitter.com/ikorbUJuDe
— Luke Whiston (@LukeWhiston) September 4, 2013
The advert in question, which appeared on page 4 of today’s Telegraph, does indeed quote two accounts which have never tweeted anything about the film. Or, in fact, anything legible at all.
tdjtdj
— Sam Bradley (@SamBradley) August 14, 2008
But never ascribe to malice what can be explained with incompetence. The About Time team have actually been very thorough at tracking down real audiences – who saw the film at the Edinburgh Festival – and asking them permission to put their praise on posters.
@VictoriaWardman Hi! Can you please follow us so we can DM you a question? Thanks!
— AboutTimeUK (@AboutTimeUK) August 19, 2013
@Emily_Weekes Hi Emily – can you follow us please so we can ask you a question via direct message? Thanks!
— AboutTimeUK (@AboutTimeUK) August 20, 2013
(And so on) So all it takes is a quick scroll down the film’s full feed to find out where the problems came. Because while @tracyann28 might not have liked the film, @traceyann28 did:
#abouttime fantastic film, great story, heart jerker, makes you stop and think,about enjoying each day of ones life. Must see!
— Traceyann (@Traceyann28) August 18, 2013
And @sambradley tweets gibberish, but @sammbradley tweets lavish praise for Richard Curtis:
That was the best Richard Curtis film in years. If I had time travel I’d probably just go and watch it again #abouttime
— Sam Bradley (@sammbradley) June 27, 2013
See! Richard doesn’t have to make up fans. He’s got plenty.