The 1986 version of the Hitcher is still among my favorite road movies and in this case yet another misguided attempt at a remake. Both movies feature John Rider fishing for a ride and torturing the feature characters through and intricate series of frame-ups. The major elements from the '86 original are all still in tact here from (SPOILER---STOP HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE ORIGINAL FILMSPOILER) picking up the Hitcher, kicking him out the door, killing an innocent family, killing cops, and tearing a featured character in half with a semi-truck. Really the only change is in the Jim Halsey character (Zachary Knighton for 2007 and C. Thomas Howell for the '86 version) with Jim driving out with his girlfriend for spring break rather than driving someone else's car from Chicago to San Diego. This may seem like a minor change but in fact changes the film quite a bit and not for the better.
With many remakes it becomes quite clear the filmmakers don't really understand the depth of the original material and would rather just regurgitate plot for the sake of a quick buck. In both films Jim is a highly moral character and it is the stature of his character that originally motivates him to pick up the Hitcher. Grace (Sophia Bush) acts as a little devil on Jim's shoulder; she's not a bad character, just selfish and fearful. One wonders in a world more controlled or motivated by fear if she wasn't the more easily associated to character rather than highly moral character like Jim. This may be why there is the major shift at the end of the film with (ANOTHER SPOILER YOU'VE BEEN WARNED) death of Jim in the Semi truck scene.
This dramatic shift also takes away from John Rider's character and motivations. In the original (MORE SPOILERS IN FACT CONSIDER THIS HOLE REVIEW A SPOILER AND SAVE SOME TIME) Jim inadvertently draws Nash (Jennifer Jason Leigh) into John's machinations and gets romantically involved with her along his arduous journey and meets her demise in the semi truck scene. Every intricate puzzle piece is laid by the Hitcher to darken Jim's character. To make Jim just like him theoretically so that he can leave a bit of himself behind and finally die. The motivations of John Rider may never been known but it was the depth of Rutger Hauer's pathos that drove the Hitcher character making him seem far more complex than it probably appeared on paper. Credit is due Robert Harmon for his direction in the 1986 version. Unfortunately this complexity is lacking in Sean Bean's version of the character who seems to be doing it for kicks more than anything else. Sure he has a death wish but he doesn't seem to be to broken up about it. In fact he seems to want to have his fun before he goes and hopes Grace will see it his way when she finally kills him. He only seems upset when she doesn't. There are no major turns to Grace's character as there were to Jim's in the original and you really just want to slap her most of the time for being such a selfish bitch. Oh well, who needs emotional character building or deconstructing anyway? The film itself just rushes from one remake version of an old scene to the next without really showing us anything new. It is just bigger and shinier. There are some editing glitches at the beginning and the old magically repairing window that plagues so many other movies. We could sure save a lot on window repairs or replacements if we had those movie versions. Scrapes, cracks, smashes and even bullet holes magically disappear, it is only when the entire window is smashed away that its done for. Please put these magic windows on the market if nothing else to save us paying our deductible and having our insurance payments go up. Magic window aside there are a few nice nods to the original with some of the old vehicles showing up in the new version, come on you got to love the old black T-Bird.
All in all this is an OK film, but with everything that made the first film work missing, the audience really doesn't have anything to latch on to or care about. I think a complete rethinking of the original concept would have been worth it rather than a close remake and Sean Bean's natural accent probably would have added to the mystique of John Rider. Never ever have an actor cover up his accent; it just gives him more to act through. With the small amount of dialog you wonder why they even bothered to have him cover it up. On the upside the trailer for Simon Pegg's new film Hot Fuzz ran with the film and looks just as funny as Shaun of the Dead. There's your silver lining, but silver really isn't all that expensive so take it for what it's worth.
---RG
With many remakes it becomes quite clear the filmmakers don't really understand the depth of the original material and would rather just regurgitate plot for the sake of a quick buck. In both films Jim is a highly moral character and it is the stature of his character that originally motivates him to pick up the Hitcher. Grace (Sophia Bush) acts as a little devil on Jim's shoulder; she's not a bad character, just selfish and fearful. One wonders in a world more controlled or motivated by fear if she wasn't the more easily associated to character rather than highly moral character like Jim. This may be why there is the major shift at the end of the film with (ANOTHER SPOILER YOU'VE BEEN WARNED) death of Jim in the Semi truck scene.
This dramatic shift also takes away from John Rider's character and motivations. In the original (MORE SPOILERS IN FACT CONSIDER THIS HOLE REVIEW A SPOILER AND SAVE SOME TIME) Jim inadvertently draws Nash (Jennifer Jason Leigh) into John's machinations and gets romantically involved with her along his arduous journey and meets her demise in the semi truck scene. Every intricate puzzle piece is laid by the Hitcher to darken Jim's character. To make Jim just like him theoretically so that he can leave a bit of himself behind and finally die. The motivations of John Rider may never been known but it was the depth of Rutger Hauer's pathos that drove the Hitcher character making him seem far more complex than it probably appeared on paper. Credit is due Robert Harmon for his direction in the 1986 version. Unfortunately this complexity is lacking in Sean Bean's version of the character who seems to be doing it for kicks more than anything else. Sure he has a death wish but he doesn't seem to be to broken up about it. In fact he seems to want to have his fun before he goes and hopes Grace will see it his way when she finally kills him. He only seems upset when she doesn't. There are no major turns to Grace's character as there were to Jim's in the original and you really just want to slap her most of the time for being such a selfish bitch. Oh well, who needs emotional character building or deconstructing anyway? The film itself just rushes from one remake version of an old scene to the next without really showing us anything new. It is just bigger and shinier. There are some editing glitches at the beginning and the old magically repairing window that plagues so many other movies. We could sure save a lot on window repairs or replacements if we had those movie versions. Scrapes, cracks, smashes and even bullet holes magically disappear, it is only when the entire window is smashed away that its done for. Please put these magic windows on the market if nothing else to save us paying our deductible and having our insurance payments go up. Magic window aside there are a few nice nods to the original with some of the old vehicles showing up in the new version, come on you got to love the old black T-Bird.
All in all this is an OK film, but with everything that made the first film work missing, the audience really doesn't have anything to latch on to or care about. I think a complete rethinking of the original concept would have been worth it rather than a close remake and Sean Bean's natural accent probably would have added to the mystique of John Rider. Never ever have an actor cover up his accent; it just gives him more to act through. With the small amount of dialog you wonder why they even bothered to have him cover it up. On the upside the trailer for Simon Pegg's new film Hot Fuzz ran with the film and looks just as funny as Shaun of the Dead. There's your silver lining, but silver really isn't all that expensive so take it for what it's worth.
---RG