It’s distaff remake time again as we look at the latest
attempt to give female actors a chance to shine by reviving an old favourite,
in this case being the Frank Oz classic Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, itself a
remake of the 60’s Marlon Brando vehicle Bedtime Story. Between how well
previous distaff remakes have turned out, like the still-enjoyable Ocean’s 8,
and last year’s major success at a legacy remake with A Star Is Born, there’s a
certain chance that this film could turn out alright. However, while I hesitate
to call this film outright bad, I also hesitate to call this film… well, worth
existing.
Before getting too heavily into the negatives, let’s be fair
and look at what is done right here. While utilizing the same script as both
Scoundrels and Bedtime Story, we also have some punch-ups done by Captain Marvel co-writer Jac Schaeffer. To her credit, the new quips in this version
land more times than not, and even when they don’t land, it rarely devolves
into sheer pain like a lot of bad comedies tend to do. Add to that Anne
Hathaway doing nicely as the upper-class swindler and Rebel Wilson and her
frequent ad-libs as the small-time con artist, and you have a good foundation
for some madcap antics. Bonus points for Wilson’s work IRL, using her legal
education to keep this film from getting a rather bewildering R rating in the
states.
But for as much as I could discuss the new elements here,
not to mention director Chris Addison giving a solid first impression as a
feature filmmaker, this is still wielding a script that has been around for
over 50 years and the major points, namely the narrative, are pretty much beat-for-beat
what they were at the start. As a result, any real props I can give to the new
dialogue ends up overshadowed by how this is ultimately a matter of delivery:
How does this film hold up to previous incarnations? And honestly, it’s all
over the place.
Both Bedtime Story and Scoundrels treated the con game in
much the same way that Ocean’s Eleven treated its own, presenting it as a
battle of wits and charm where respect is paid to those who can do it well.
That’s not what we get here. For every moment of grace and good sportsmanship
that existed in either previous films, there’s a moment here that brings out
hysterics in the patronising, ‘we used to use this as psychiatric gaslighting’
sense, always coming across like they’re entitled to not playing fair.
That on its own makes engaging with them at work a bit
tricky, but then we get to the swindles themselves and… *sigh* While claiming
to be European royalty probably doesn’t work as a grift anymore, the ‘Lord Of
The Rings’ gambit here might be one of the dumbest cons I’ve ever seen on the
big screen. I know that the script has its wacky moments, but it didn’t strain
credibility this badly.
And then there’s the major sticking point: The ending, which
is basically the exact same as Scoundrels. Now, if I had to guess, I wouldn’t
be surprised if this remake’s entire existence was predicated on just that
ending, considering it made for a deliciously subversive moment of the two
professionals getting played at their own game. It even featured fake
Australian accents, which sound a lot better coming out of Caine’s mouth than
Afrikaans does out of Wilson’s.
But more than that, the fact that the ending is this
xeroxed, but still keeping the gender-swap, robs it of any efficacy. It takes
what was a pretty cool moment of showing the supposed victim becoming the
victor into something that only serves to reinforce the film’s own
preconceptions. Pretty weird when you’re trying to subvert what came before and
end up missing the point of the whole affair.
All of this results in a film that is mildly funny,
technically sound and even outdoes what it’s remaking (albeit in superficial
areas, like the opening credits), but just doesn’t hold a candle to past
material. Even Bedtime Story, as dated as it is, left a better impression than
this does. What’s more, even though it sticks closely to the original script,
it somehow manages to miss the very point that could have given this remake some agency and even a bit of
subversion in its own right. It’s a remake that feels like it completely missed
the point of why it’s even being remade, which considering the current
remake-heavy climate, is thoroughly disappointing.
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