Disturbing news item in The Guardian (no, not the stuff about the economy or Obama failing to pull ahead of McCain).
Robert De Niro has walked out of the shoot for Mel Gibson's return to acting, thriller Edge of Darkness, after less than a week due to "creative differences".
I'm not opposed to remakes but the list of good remakes is very very short and the list of bad remakes is very long and the list of terrible remakes is also very long.
Get Carter, The Italian Job, Point Blank (I won't go on)
And Edge of Darkness remains exceptional - a fantastic thriller, evocative of its time but with themes which still matter and with acting which is classy from the central parts (Bob Peck) to the bit parts (Tim McInnerny).
There is a great book about the background to EoD by scriptwriter Troy Kennedy Martin. (He also had a hand in one of the original films mentioned above, do you know which one?). If you can get hold of it, it's well-worth a read. Amazon's details on it are here.
Directing the remake is Martin Campbell who was also behind Casino Royale. OK, so that Bond film was far better than the David Niven original.
But with star power such as Mel 'Blame it on the Jews' Gibson I fear a flashy but hollow and ultimately unnecessary movie.
Grumpy comments like 'it was better in my day' are rubbish - but does anyone think the BBC's recent eco-drama Burn Up, with roughly similar ideas, could hold a candle to Edge of Darkness?
No, so leave the jewel so alone and just make better new stuff.
Update: As Matthew, the ever-reliable fount of film knowledge, points out - Campbell directed the original series so there's hope for this one. And we must cling to that hope. Seems odd, though, that there isn't an obsure language or strained accent for Gibson in this role....
Martin Campbell was also the director of the original TV series, so maybe Gibson walking is a good thing...
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0132709/
Posted by: Matthew Turner | Sunday, September 07, 2008 at 19:33