Well, I'm certainly not enough of a Coen fan to make lists of their movies. But this movie peeves me, and makes me feel sorry for millions of people, because the original is such a finely crafted and perfectly paced caper flick.
A movie which is both a caper movie and a comedy depends on the plot being unfolded before your eyes just so. The original, with its magnificent pace and great direction, does a fine job of that. If you watch this remake, then you have all the spoilers in the world dumped in your lap, and you can't watch the original without knowing where it's going. That's a terrible pity.
Poll people who watched this one first, and most say they're both okay movies. Poll people who watched the original first, and most people say the first was fantastic and this one sucked. This makes me very glad I watched the original long before this piece of inferiority came out. If this spoiled the original for you, you can still watch it and enjoy it somewhat. If the original spoiled this one for you, this one sucks. What does that say about the relative merits of the two?
If I were someone who saw this remake first, I'd be pissed that the outstanding original was forever spoiled for me. The Coen Brothers should have had enough sense to let alone what they could not possibly improve upon--or even match. To do something that deprives millions of people of most of the pleasure of watching one of the great caper comedies of all time is just plain rude.
I can't say why everyone who hates this movie does so. But that's why I do. It makes me feel sorry for everyone who saw this, and hadn't already seen the original. All it does is spoil a GOOD movie.
Like another poster said in a different thread, how brilliant do you have to be to improve on one of the all time greats? And if you really are that brilliant, why wouldn't you do something original--or remake a good plot which has never been made into a good movie before?
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