Sometimes you just need a little chatty, whimsical Cameron Crowe romantic comedy in your life. The first trailer for Crowe's new movie, "Aloha," certainly demonstrates that.



Originally called "Deep Tiki," the film was ready to go a few years ago with a much different cast (led by Ben Stiller), before being reassembled with Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone in the primary roles. The film concerns a disgraced defense contractor who is sent to Hawaii to supervise a satellite array and, while there, true to form, falls in love. The ridiculously starry cast also includes Rachel McAdams, Alec Baldwin, Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride and Jay Baruchel. There will also, presumably, be well-known pop songs expertly placed for maximum emotional devastation.



What's interesting about the film, which at one point also went by the name "Volcano Romance," is that there was, at least initially, an element of magic and mysticism which has either a) been cut from the film entirely or b) proved too hard to introduce in an initial trailer meant to get everyone (including soccer moms and guidance counselors) excited about the movie. Hopefully the Polynesian mysticism and talking computer made the final cut. Without these elements, the trailer makes it seem almost too conventionally Cameron Crowe-y. But we will see...



Not to temper the enthusiasm but this is the first movie Crowe has written and directed since 2005 "Elizabethtown," an embarrassing debacle that he hasn't completely atoned for. (2011's "We Bought a Zoo," Crowe's last film, saw him working from another writer's screenplay.) Here's hoping that he's communed with the island gods adn reconnected with his creative mojo.