If any director would take seriously the theory one should only remake bad movies, this would have to go on the shortlist for production. The premise is sublime, but the execution is botched. You take these talented actors and you make them look like side characters in soap operas. Ashley Judd looks like she was fed her lines 40 seconds before the take. Her prison mates are NPCs designed solely to feed her information. Tommy Lee Jones is made to look clownish, which is not what we want from him. And then the plot, which abandons any pretence of suspension of disbelief pretty early on and devolves into a series of goofy chases. It’s pretty demoralising when a film seems to just give up, especially when there’s an hour and 10 minutes left to go.
If any director would take seriously the theory one should only remake bad movies, this would have to go on the shortlist for production. The premise is sublime, but the execution is botched. You take these talented actors and you make them look like side characters in soap operas. Ashley Judd looks like she was fed her lines 40 seconds before the take. Her prison mates are NPCs designed solely to feed her information. Tommy Lee Jones is made to look clownish, which is not what we want from him. And then the plot, which abandons any pretence of suspension of disbelief pretty early on and devolves into a series of goofy chases. It’s pretty demoralising when a film seems to just give up, especially when there’s an hour and 10 minutes left to go.
