I remember going to see The Patriot with my best friend five years ago, and getting yelled at by some old guy because we snickered non-stop through the movie. Apparently I can get my $5 back now.

BBC News reports that Sony Pictures Entertainment will pay $1.5 million to filmgoers, settling a lawsuit begun in 2001.

The movie studio reached an out-of-court settlement last year, according to a court notice, but has only just been approved by the Los Angeles Superior Court. The lawsuit was brought by angry moviegoers who accused Sony’s Columbia Tristar unit of using a fake critic to trick them into seeing its movies. Under the deal, Sony admitted no liability but agreed to settle the suit. In return, the members of the class-action suit will release their claims against Sony.

Moviegoers who saw the films Vertical Limit, A Knight’s Tale, The Animal, Hollow Man or The Patriot (sadly) during their original theatre runs can file a claim to be eligible for a $5 ticket reimbursement.

Lawyer Norman Blumenthal, who represents the group of filmgoers who sued Sony, said that any money remaining after claims are satisfied would go to charity.

In 2001, ads for the abovementioned films featured glowing quotes from fictional reviews allegedly written by a non-existent critic named David Manning.

In one ad, Manning declared Heath Ledger of A Knight’s Tale “this year’s hottest new star!” He also called The Animal “another winner” and Hollow Man “one hell of a scary ride.”

Manning supposedly wrote for The Ridgefield Press, a small weekly newspaper in Connecticut, but Marty Hersam, managing partner of the paper, had only this to say: “There has never been a David Manning who works for us. We’re as surprised as anybody.”

Vowing to monitor its publicity and advertising more closely, Sony conducted an internal investigation and suspended two executives.

Why studio publicists couldn’t come up with somebody real to praise their movies, I have no idea. Most people don’t read the name of the critic, anyway. The fake quotes were apparently spotted by an observant Newsweek reporter. I hope that person got a raise.






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