Criminal (2004)
This is a remake of Nueve reinas (2000) that was produced by Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney. Soderbergh also wrote part of the screenplay under the name Sam Lowry (which is the name of the lead character in Terry Gilliam’s Brazil).
Criminal (2004) is directed by Gregory Jacobs. It’s weird because at times I felt like I was watching Out of Sight or Traffic. I wasn’t surprised when I learned that Jacobs has been the first assistant director on every film directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Criminal is a pretty good film. It stars John C. Reilly who is great in his role as a con artist. The whole story had me fooled several times, right up until the end. Worth a rental.
Stumble It!Posted in DVD Reviews at 10:59 AM
Comments
Jason, I think you missed the first line of my review.
It’s funny, Ebert felt that Criminal was a decent movie but if you saw the original (Nine Queens) then you probably wouldn’t care for Criminal. Let me know what you think.
Posted by: Jay on August 4, 2005 3:19 PM
I LOVE the 9 Queens. Awesome movie. Why a remake?
Posted by: david on August 4, 2005 5:25 PM
Why a remake? My guess is that mainstream US audiences never saw the original.
With the lack of creativity in Hollywood these days and desperate producers looking for new ideas that are sure hits, a remake of Nine Queens was a safe bet.
The same thing happened with a Norwegian film called Insomnia (1997) starring Stellan Skarsgård. I saw it on DVD (Criterion Collection) and thought it was great.
Shortly after I saw it, George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh announced that their film company, Section 8, was doing a remake of Insomnia with Al Pacino and Robin Williams.
I suppose it is easier to take a foreign film and “Americanize” instead of coming up with an original screenplay.
Posted by: Jay on August 5, 2005 10:24 AM
