James R | On 25, Sep 2015

Cameron Crowe’s Aloha is available to watch online in the UK from today.

The Oscar-winning director’s latest film, which stars Bradley Cooper, Rachel McAdams, Emma Stone and Bill Murray, has the kind of talent behind the camera that you would expect to demand a full-blown theatrical release. While the movie was originally slated to appear in cinemas this month, though, on the same date as the digital release, 20th Century Fox have decided to scrap the big screen in favour of the small screen.

Aloha follows former Air Force officer turned defense contractor Brian (Bradley Cooper), who returns to Honolulu to work for billionaire Carson Welch (Bill Murray) – only to reconnect with his ex-wife (Rachel McAdams) and fall for the fighter pilot assigned to look after him (Emma Stone).

The film joins a line of increasingly high-profile titles premiering straight to VOD in the UK, from The Spectacular Now and Jodorowsky’s Dune to Beyond the Lights. Crowe’s movie, though, has not had the critical acclaim that swept the latter to several festival screenings on British shores: the film currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 19 per cent.

Indeed, the movie flopped somewhat in the US, despite a supporting cast that includes other big names, such as Danny McBride, John Krasinski and Alec Baldwin.

The release courted controversy among audiences, who complained about Crowe’s decision to cast Emma Stone as Captain Allison Ng, a character of mixed Hawaiian and Asian descent.

Director Cameron Crowe apologised on his website earlier this year, writing: “I have heard your words and your disappointment, and I offer you a heart-felt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice…. As far back as 2007 [she] was written to be a super-proud ¼ Hawaiian who was frustrated that, by all outward appearances, she looked nothing like one.”

The Hollywood Reporter estimated that Aloha had made a loss of around $65 million as of its summer release in the US. The film arrives in the UK today on pay-per-view services Virgin Movies On Demand, TalkTalk Box Office, Eir Movies, blinkbox, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Wuaki.tv and Google Play.

Watch this space for our review.

Add to Watchlist