OK, first, I have to admit, I was always going to be prejudiced against this film from the start as I am such a huge fan of the Alec Guinness original, but decided to give it a try as I am also a big fan of Tom Hanks.
So, how can I put this politely...This is poor, a bad film and a cheap remake that is not up to the usual Coen Brothers standard. And that's me being nice.
While the plot is based on the original and the characters have been lifted to a new setting and updated, as you would expect from a remake, they just don't work. The supporting players have none of the charm or menace of the originals, played by the likes of Herbert Lom or Peter Sellars, and are cheap fits to the remake mould. The roles have been rehashed into stereotypes that are played out for cheap laughs, such as the character "Pancake", as played by the hugely talented JK Simmons, having an irritable bowel so they squeeze in some cheap fart jokes. The whole thing just didn't seem to fit with any class and the characters didn't go together, which was a fundamental behind the idea of the gang being a musical group as a cover for their criminal activity.
But the recasting of the sweet and innocent "Old Lady" as played by Katie Johnston in the 1955 version is a disaster. The whole premise of the original film is that the criminal gang are incapable of "bumping off" the lovable old dear, who defeats them by accident and charms everyone along the way. In contrast, I sympathised with the gang and wanted to kill Ms Munson, who you got the impression was the sharpest character in the film and one step ahead all the time. This is such a shame, as Irma Hall is not to blame and has some fine acting credentials, but the writers who shaped her character have given her nothing redeemable to work with and the film collapses around this central character.
The acting of Hanks, who does well as southern gentleman-come-criminal Professor Dorr, was the only real highlight in a film that fell very short of my admittedly limited expectations.
But then, as stated before, I was going to be biased from the start...
So, how can I put this politely...This is poor, a bad film and a cheap remake that is not up to the usual Coen Brothers standard. And that's me being nice.
While the plot is based on the original and the characters have been lifted to a new setting and updated, as you would expect from a remake, they just don't work. The supporting players have none of the charm or menace of the originals, played by the likes of Herbert Lom or Peter Sellars, and are cheap fits to the remake mould. The roles have been rehashed into stereotypes that are played out for cheap laughs, such as the character "Pancake", as played by the hugely talented JK Simmons, having an irritable bowel so they squeeze in some cheap fart jokes. The whole thing just didn't seem to fit with any class and the characters didn't go together, which was a fundamental behind the idea of the gang being a musical group as a cover for their criminal activity.
But the recasting of the sweet and innocent "Old Lady" as played by Katie Johnston in the 1955 version is a disaster. The whole premise of the original film is that the criminal gang are incapable of "bumping off" the lovable old dear, who defeats them by accident and charms everyone along the way. In contrast, I sympathised with the gang and wanted to kill Ms Munson, who you got the impression was the sharpest character in the film and one step ahead all the time. This is such a shame, as Irma Hall is not to blame and has some fine acting credentials, but the writers who shaped her character have given her nothing redeemable to work with and the film collapses around this central character.
The acting of Hanks, who does well as southern gentleman-come-criminal Professor Dorr, was the only real highlight in a film that fell very short of my admittedly limited expectations.
But then, as stated before, I was going to be biased from the start...