James Franco and Nick Jonas Frat It Up in ‘Goat’ Red Band Trailer
If you thought the green band trailer for Goat seemed a little too inoffensive considering the subject matter, then you were, obviously, correct. The red band trailer for the Sundance hit has arrived, and it’s filled with all the profanity and boozing and nudity and cautionary fraternizing you might expect from a film about the perils of hazing. It also proves that it doesn’t take much to convince us that James Franco is incredibly punchable.
Based on Brad Land’s memoir of the same name, Goat follows the author (Warcraft’s Ben Schnetzer) as a 19-year-old who joins Phi Sigma Mu, the same fraternity that houses his older brother, played by Nick Jonas. Unfortunately, it’s not long before Brad realizes that frat life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and in order to enjoy the perks and status afforded to members, he’ll have to endure some hellish hazing rituals. Franco plays one of those former frat bros still stuck in his college “glory days” — basically, it’s like 90 percent of Franco’s roles in other recent films.
David Gordon Green co-wrote the screenplay for Goat, which was directed by Andrew Neel (King Kelly):
Reeling from a terrifying assault over the summer 19-year-old Brad Land (Ben Schnetzer) starts college determined to get his life back to normal. His brother Brett (Nick Jonas) is already established on campus and with a fraternity that allures Brad with its promise of protection popularity and life-long friendships. Brad is desperate to belong but as he sets out to join the fraternity his brother exhibits reservations a sentiment that threatens to divide them. As the pledging ritual moves into hell week a rite that promises to usher these unproven boys into manhood the stakes violently increase with a series of torturous and humiliating events. What occurs in the name of ‘brotherhood’ tests both boys and their relationship in brutal ways.
Goat hits theaters and VOD on September 23.