John Huston once said: “”There is a willful lemming-like persistence in remaking past successes time after time. They can’t make them as good as they are in our memories, but they go on doing them and each time it’s a disaster. Why don’t we remake some of our bad pictures … and make them good?” This Distracted Globe recycles itself and examines the best and worst remakes.

By Joe Valdez

Ex-con John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) phones his daughter Stella (Charlize Theron) after purchasing a diamond necklace for her. He’s in Venice, Italy, and though he admits to breaking parole, promises her that after this he’s “through.” Bridger participates in an ingenious heist of $35 million in gold from a safe, a job masterminded by his protege Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg).

With wheel man Handsome Rob (Jason Statham), demolitions expert Left Ear (Mos Def), computer genius Lyle (Seth Green) and the arrogant Steve (Edward Norton), the crew make their escape through the Swiss Alps. But Steve double crosses the others, snatching the gold and killing Bridger. He believes the rest of the crew dead when their vehicle plunges into the ice.

One year later, Charlie surfaces in Philadelphia. He goes to see Stella, an expert safecracker who runs a legit lock company. He tells her that he’s tracked Steve down to Los Angeles, where he’s selling off their gold. Charlie needs her help breaking into his safe. Stella refuses, but the opportunity to crush the ego of her father’s killer proves impossible to resist. She joins the others for revenge.

Traffic in L.A. proves a challenge, but Lyle creates an algorithm to subvert the traffic grid, while the others plan to drive modified Mini Coopers into Steve’s mansion to make off with the gold. Stella lures Steve out on a date, but he catches on to who she is and the crew’s plan is blown. Steve transports the gold out of his mansion by armored convoy, but Charlie uses the traffic algorithm, high explosives, the subway, and the Mini Coopers to intercept it.

Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing and producer Donald De Line had made it a priority to produce a remake of The Italian Job, a caper distributed by the studio in 1969. Written by Troy Kennedy-Martin, the original starred Michael Caine as Charlie Croker, a British ex-con who plots to steal a shipment of gold from the city of Turin, Italy using a traffic jam and Mini Coopers.

Neal Purvis & Robert Wade wrote a draft that took place in Italy and remained faithful to the original. Their script was rejected, and the studio hired Donna Powers & Wayne Powers next. The Powers liked the idea of a traffic jam, gold bars, Mini Coopers and the lack of guns from the original, and wrote a completely new screenplay around those ideas. Their version was also less comedic in tone. F. Gary Gray signed on to direct it.

Gray – who also directed Friday and Set It Off – still strikes me as a filmmaker who doesn’t embrace the grandeur of film. That said, the remake of The Italian Job is an exceptionally good movie from start to finish. The script is terrific, the casting far stronger than it had to be, and while nothing about the film is profound, neither was the original. This version surpasses it in quality.

The Powers spent two years and 18 drafts writing the screenplay, and the finished film cleanly reflects this. While the original featured a mess of thieves completely indistinguishable from each other, the remake is far more sophisticated, assigning each of its characters strong motivations and breezy quirks. Their chemistry together is a joy, and the dialogue witty. The heists that open and close the film are both spectacular.

The casting is perfect, almost. Edward Norton took the villain role as part of a contractual obligation with Paramount. He did not want to do the movie, and I could sort of sense that in his performance, which has no relish to it and feels alien to the rest of the film. The decision to have Wahlberg, Theron and Statham do much of their own stunt driving lends the picture what every great heist movie needs: exhilaration. This is a fun flick.

“In this transparently rated-for-the-masses movie, everything old is new again; but at least it’s a damn sight more interesting than some of the flicks that have been hoisted upon us lately. Molto buono!” writes Rose “Bams” Cooper at 3BlackChicks Review.

Dan Mancini at DVD Verdict says, “F. Gary Gray and his cast and crew have made a blast of a flick. Give it a chance.”

“Fans of the original film may not feel the remake is better, but those who enjoyed the fun that was 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven, The Italian Job steals the formula like the best of the pros,” writes Vince Leo at QWipster’s Movie Reviews.

John Huston once said: “”There is a willful lemming-like persistence in remaking past successes time after time. They can’t make them as good as they are in our memories, but they go on doing them and each time it’s a disaster. Why don’t we remake some of our bad pictures … and make them good?” This Distracted Globe recycles itself and examines the best and worst remakes.

By Joe Valdez

Porter (Mel Gibson) shuffles through an unspecified metropolis. After stealing change from a bum and a wallet off a citizen, he buys himself a new suit, a .44 Magnum, and pays a visit to Mrs. Porter (Deborah Kara Unger), a junkie. She’s surprised that he’s still alive, and after he smacks her around, expresses remorse for her what she’s done. In spite of his attempts to get her clean, she overdoses.

Flashbacks reveal that Porter took part in a job with his old buddy Val (Gregg Henry), heisting cash from Chinese couriers. Val is desperate to work off a $150,000 debt to “The Outfit” and get back in their good graces. When the haul comes up short, Mrs. Porter shot her husband in the back and Val took off with her, having been tricked into believing Porter had been unfaithful.

Porter sets out to recover $70,000 owed him, find Val and kill anybody who gets in his way. A bookie (David Paymer), a rambunctious call girl (Lucy Liu), a crooked cop (Bill Duke), a mid-level manager for the Outfit (William Devane) and a dapper executive (James Coburn) fall into that category. Porter’s only help comes from Rosie (Maria Bello), a classy call girl he left the Outfit for when he fell in love with her.

Mel Gibson and his Icon Productions had been developing an adaptation of The Hunter, a 1962 crime thriller written by Donald Westlake under the pseudonym “Richard Stark.” The novel had already been made into a movie in 1967 titled Point Blank. The bare knuckled plot concerned a criminal (Lee Marvin) who’s shot by his partner (John Vernon), but survives to go on a rampage of revenge and to get his money.

Brian Helgeland adapted a script. Gibson was looking for a project with a fall start, and asked the screenwriter if he could be ready to shoot in twelve weeks. It would be Helgeland’s first feature film as director. When completed, Gibson took a rough cut to his distributors, Paramount and Warner Bros. They had been expecting a crowd pleasing action movie, like Lethal Weapon.

Helgeland saw Payback in the tradition of the cynical, morally ambiguous crime films of the late ’60s and ’70s. The studios wanted to change Helgeland’s ending, which sent Porter off without his money and without reassuring the audience that he survives. Gibson decided that the film needed an entirely new third act and brought in Terry Hayes to write it. Helgeland didn’t feel comfortable shooting it, and was let go.

Ten days of reshoots under Gibson’s supervision commenced in June 1998. Kris Krisofferson was cast as the main villain. The new third act revolved around his son being abducted by Porter and Rosie from a boxing match. A new prologue set up Porter’s mission. Voice-over narration was added to guide the audience through the story. And the ending was happy. Payback became a modest hit when released in February 1999.

Six years later, Gibson gave Helgeland and editor Kevin Stitt the opportunity to do a director’s cut. They discovered that their original Avid tapes had disappeared and they’d have to recut the movie on film. With no release date, they took their time, fashioning a 90 minute version of Payback which was much leaner and more serious than even Helgeland’s original cut. It was released on DVD in April 2007.

The drama behind Payback is far more involving than what ended up in either version of the film. The director’s cut is less jokey than the theatrical release, but oddly, feels like reshoots and reedits are forthcoming. There are moments of unflinching violence where the film comes alive, but it’s mostly drab and boring. The remake is far more intelligible than John Boorman’s 1967 original, but that really isn’t paying this a compliment.

Chuck O’Leary at Fulvue Drive-In says, “I think the film works better with Kristofferson, and Porter’s intermittent narration in the theatrical cut is a plus.”

“Ironically, Gibson’s version of the finale is far tougher and more graphic. Helgeland’s shows the same ironic, creative flair that he brought to his L.A. Confidential script,” writes Joel Pearce at DVD Verdict.

In his open letter to Paramount, Harry Knowles at Ain’t It Cool News says, “This is a radically different film. Better music, better editing, better storytelling and just flat out a great film.”

John Huston once said: “”There is a willful lemming-like persistence in remaking past successes time after time. They can’t make them as good as they are in our memories, but they go on doing them and each time it’s a disaster. Why don’t we remake some of our bad pictures … and make them good?” This Distracted Globe recycles itself and examines the best and worst remakes.

By Joe Valdez

Will Dormer (Al Pacino) and his partner Hap (Martin Donovan) arrive by seaplane in “Nightmute, Alaska.” The LAPD has sent them to aid the investigation of a murdered 17-year-old girl. In reality, the LAPD is trying to cool an Internal Affairs investigation hinged on the men. Hap notifies Dormer that he’s decided to cut a deal. Dormer fears that will involve his partner informing against him, and the killers he’s persecuted will go free.

Dormer takes an eager young detective named Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank) under his wing. The sun doesn’t set in Nightmute this time of year, and he finds he can’t sleep. The detective uses the victim’s backpack to lure her killer out, but their suspect escapes through a mine tunnel. Dormer gets lost in the mist chasing him, and shoots Hap, who dies believing Dormer meant to kill him.

The detective tampers with evidence to make it appear their suspect shot Hap. He closes in on paperback writer Walter Finch (Robin Williams) who had a relationship with the girl, but Finch reveals to Dormer that he saw him shoot his partner. The writer feels a special kinship with the cop, and offers to help him, if Dormer does the same in return. Meanwhile, Ellie becomes suspicious of her mentor.

In 2000, a filmmaker no one had heard of named Christopher Nolan went after a writing assignment for Warner Brothers, an adaptation of the 1997 Norwegian film Insomnia. The psychological thriller involved a cop from Sweden (Stellan Skarsgård) who arrives in a town where the sun doesn’t set, to investigate the murder of a teenage girl. He shoots his partner by mistake, and conspires with the girl’s killer to cover up both crimes.

Nolan discovered the studio had already hired Hillary Seitz to adapt the film. He turned his attention to directing a low budget film noir he had written with his brother called Memento. Director Jonathan Demme circled Insomnia, with Harrison Ford in talks to play Dormer. Demme ultimately passed. Producer Steven Soderbergh heard that Nolan was still interested and encouraged the studio to take a look at Memento.

Nolan saw Insomnia in the tradition of the great American cop movies the studios made fifty years ago, but one that would subvert audience expectations. Al Pacino became his ideal choice to play Dormer. Nolan revered the original film, though the remake lightened some of its darker elements. The dog Dormer shoots is already dead in the new version, for example, and his relationship with a hotel clerk (Maura Tierney) remains platonic.

Insomnia isn’t a perfect police procedural, but it’s as perfect a remake as could have been done. From the opening credits, it evokes a beguiling, bleary eyed mood that puts us not only in an Alaskan town, but inside a murder investigation, while operating under increasingly less coherence. The lighting, editing, music and optical effects are orchestrated exceptionally well to build that atmosphere.

The screenplay is more sophisticated than the original, exploring the relationships between the characters, and unfolding the murder investigation in a much sharper and more absorbing way. The remake utilizes location better as well; I thought a foot chase between Dormer and Finch across a channel of timber was particularly novel.

In a change of pace, Al Pacino dials himself down until he’s practically a zombie by the end of the picture. Robin Williams is miscast; I kept waiting for him to do Robin Williams. Everyone else – notably Hilary Swank – is perfect. An hour and fifteen minutes in, the movie starts to weigh a bit heavy and drag, but that was probably unavoidable given the story. Overall, this is one of the better crafted cop movies of the ’00s.

“The film doesn’t break much new ground … but it is interesting and very well made. One of the best dramatic thrillers in recent memory,” says Mike at The Film Judge.

Rose “Bams” Cooper at 3BlackChicks Review writes, “Separated into its individual bits, the performances in Insomnia will definitely keep you awake; but a closer inspection of the thin threads on which some of the story hangs may make you wish you had nodded off for a wee bit.”

“Those who feel the need to compare versions will find the 1997 original far superior … But on its own merits, this version of Insomnia is still better than the average Hollywood thriller,” says Brian Webster at Apollo Movie Guide.

John Huston once said: “”There is a willful lemming-like persistence in remaking past successes time after time. They can’t make them as good as they are in our memories, but they go on doing them and each time it’s a disaster. Why don’t we remake some of our bad pictures … and make them good?” This Distracted Globe recycles itself and examines the best and worst remakes.

By Joe Valdez

In Baltimore, 1980, Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) throws a dinner party. FBI special agent Will Graham (Edward Norton) visits to consult with the psychiatrist on a serial murder investigation. Graham has the ability to assume the emotional point of view of criminals, and confides in Lecter that he believes their killer ate missing body parts from their victims. Lecter buries a stiletto into Graham, but the FBI agent wounds Lecter before he finishes him off.

Several years later, FBI agent Jack Crawford (Harvey Keitel) visits Graham at his home in Florida. Two families – one in Birmingham, one in Atlanta – have been killed a month apart in their homes. The killer, dubbed The Tooth Fairy, smashes mirrors and uses the pieces to kill his victims. Graham agrees to go to Atlanta to look at the murder scene, to the distress of his wife (Mary-Louise Parker).

Graham deduces that the Tooth Fairy took off his gloves to touch the eyelids of his female victims, and the FBI get a thumb print. This fails to identify the killer, so Crawford convinces Graham to consult the imprisoned Lecter for help. Lecter advises Graham to “see the family living.” As Graham picks up more clues, Lecter learns the address of his family’s home in Florida.

Meanwhile, a solitary film lab technician named Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes) strikes up a romance with a blind co-worker (Emily Watson). When a note found in Lecter’s cell reveals that he’s using the personal ads of a tabloid to communicate with the Tooth Fairy, Graham uses sleazy journalist Freddy Lounds (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to try to lure the killer out. Lecter contacts his protege, Dolarhyde, and gives him Graham’s address.

With the box office success of Hannibal, Universal Pictures and producer Dino De Laurentiis moved to bring Thomas Harris‘ 1981 novel Red Dragon to the big screen. It had already been made into a movie in 1986, by writer-director Michael Mann under the title Manhunter. William Petersen had starred as the tortured Will Graham in the cult classic, while Brian Cox appeared as “Hannibal Lecktor.”

Screenwriter Ted Tally, who won an Oscar adapting The Silence of the Lambs, turned in a highly regarded script. Universal’s original choice to play Graham was Nicolas Cage. To direct, they wanted Michael Bay. Bay turned the project down, but the studio’s second choice, Brett Ratner, said yes. Ed Norton agreed to star as Graham, while Sean Penn was in negotiations to play Dolarhyde. Ralph Fiennes ultimately took the part.

While Manhunter remains one of the most evocative police procedurals ever made – a B-movie that becomes much more – Ratner wanted Red Dragon to be a classy psychological thriller in the Hitchcock mode. He almost pulls it off. The movie is bookended by sensational beginning and ending sequences. Everything in between ranges from okay to mediocre.

Lecter’s introduction and his attack on Graham, and Dolarhyde’s visit to Graham’s family at the end are both improvements over how Mann opened and closed his version. Tally’s script is top notch, with a clever credits sequence that takes us through Lecter’s trial. It’s a testament to how faithful Tally adhered to Thomas Harris’ acclaimed book that Ratner was able to assemble this terrific cast.

Lecter is more menacing here than any of the other films, and Ratner deserves some credit for casting Anthony Heald and Frankie Faison from Silence of the Lambs, bridging that film to this one. But Red Dragon doesn’t hold a candle to Manhunter in terms of energy, sophistication, or apprehension. Instead of plunging the viewer into the heart of darkness, Ratner is content to go through the motions of a popcorn thriller.

“Nothing is horrifying about it – intentionaly or otherwise – and nothing is really great or all that memorable. A very middle of the road movie on all accounts,” writes Jonny Lieberman at Ruthless Reviews.

Vince Leo at QWipster’s Movie Reviews calls Red Dragon, “a mostly commercial venture that really contributes nothing new or exciting to the series. If you do happen to see it and are entertained enough, I would highly recommend seeking out Manhunter … as it is infinitely more substantial and better executed.”

“I’ll stick to Manhunter for my appointment with the Tooth Fairy thank you very much,” says The Arrow, aka John Fallon, at Arrow In The Head.