It is a brave move to remake such a classic George Cukor comedy film, and this was a challenge to see if the makers could create the near same enjoyment that I remember from the original. It follows the same premise, Billie Dawn (Melanie Griffith) is the girlfriend of construction planner and corrupt crook Harry Brock (John Goodman), and she is not all that intelligent about certain things, and is causing embarrassment. So Harry pays $5000 to Paul Verrall (Don Johnson) for him to teach Billie things she should know to make her look more acceptable and intelligent. As she learns more and more, Billie doesn't seem to be so thick after all, and it is obvious the teaching from Paul is turning into something more passionate. Billie is soon intelligent to know that Harry is bribing senators, and making her sign documents that make her owner of his illegal matters, and she plucks up the courage to refuse. In the end, Billie hands in the incriminating evidence to Paul to give to the press to finish Harry, and she says she will only give back small portions of his empire back as long as he leaves them alone. Also starring Ri¢hie Ri¢h's Edward Herrmann as Ed Devery, Max Perlich as JJ, Michael Ensign as Phillipe, Benjamin C. Bradlee as Sect. of the Navy Alex Duffee, Sally Quinn as Beatrice Duffee, William Frankfather as Sen. Kelley, Fred Dalton Thompson as Sen. Hedges and William Forward as Sen. Duker. Griffith is quite likable as the ditsy-turned-smarter bimbo, but she doesn't have lacks the comic timing of Oscar-winning Judy Holliday, in fact, she was nominated a Razzie? However, Goodman is a great and nasty as Broderick Crawford was, and the highlight for me was the 27 Constitutional Amendments song, to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas, a pretty good comedy remake. Worth watching!
Review of Born Yesterday
