Mitchum v DeNiro/Peck v Nolte
Okay...I've been on a kick for this movie lately. First things first, I've always loved Gregory Peck (To Kill A Mockingbird being my favorite performance of his...but that is another post for another day). I never got a chance to see Mitchum in many movies but I absolutely love him in this movie. Sooner or later, every movie in the world will have a re-make because of the lack of new ideas. I got the original and re-make in a two pack for a good price so I might as well watch both of them :)
I've always found that an undercurrent of terror is far more terrorizing then the blatant crude horrors that can be found in other movies. The original is far more...suspenseful then the remake. First off...because it has not been dulled down by the many years span. What I mean by this...this was a fresh idea back then. The idea of a cold blooded man stalking a family had not been brought up much if at all...this movie would almost seem taboo back then. While in today's society...it is an every day occurrence in the film industry...so much so that it has become downright boring...So the filmmakeers find that they have to make things more exciting by adding excessive violence to what could have been a wonderful tribute to a great film. One point I think that bothered me more then most was Juliette Lewis...while a good actress...did not play the daughter quite as I would have imagined...I suppose I will give props to the idea of Cady luring the daughter to the school...it shows his downright calculating ways. But...it was when she KNEW who he was that made my stomach churn. Then she kisses him...it was this action that made her much less of a victim in my eyes...It skewed the lines of black and white to a shade of gray where I feel that, in a movie like this...is a great distinction. It is the innocence of the original that makes things so much more...disturbing.
Now...DeNiro...he is a very good actor as well...but I found he overacted the part...I found the character obnoxious more then dark and foreboding. It is that dark and foreboding feeling that makes Cady as large a menace as he is.
Onto something that bothers me far more annoying to me then DeNiro...it is in the form of..Nolte. Robert DeNiro is a terrific actor that had potential...but..how can one think that Gregory Peck can be replaced by...Nick Nolte...of anyone...He isn't an actor's actor...I don't even consider him an actor...how can one compare Gregory Peck...with Nick Nolte...and as far as Jessica Lange and Polly Bergan...both do well...but Polly Bergan isn't quite as much of a...how does one say...bitch...
If you want a movie to play in the background of things you do...then watch the re-make...if you want a true thriller...watch the original..