1). Agreed. Spot-on for the time era.
2). AGREED TWICE! I too believe that Burstyn and Dye are the saving grace of this film. Heather's Corrine was too ditzy to be perceived as conniving and hateful. Corrine spells out early on that Cathy is aggressive and determined, but I never saw Kiernan's Cathy as such. She came off as more bratty than strong-willed and headstrong. She lacked the fire that defined Cathy in the books and even in the 80s version. The twins were just... there. They're annoying for the most part of the film and the only time I felt compassion other than indifference for them was when Carrie was told that her twin died and, in subsequent scenes, she's depressed (though the film incredulously skims over this). We never get to see how the twins adjust in their situation or how they cope with the infrequent visits of their mother. The original film didn't really create whole subplots on this but at least, through simple camerawork or small lines etc etc we are shown to the twins' understanding of the situation they're into. Oh and Cory's death is much more heartwrenching and dark in 80s version.
3). Uuurghh... yeah. I don't consider female or male eye candy to be redeeming qualities in films, even if they film's really bad.
My three (make it four) gripes for this film is that:
(1) The grandmother was watered down. She's almost constantly struggling to contain her confused emotions/regret, unlike the book grandmother in which her moments of humanity were there, but they were extremely brief and she was always stone-cold, indifferent, spiteful and reserved. Plus, Burstyn is over 80 years old, she's old and frail and doesn't fully convince as a cruel warden. If she were a little more cruel and not that conversational/interactive with her grandchildren she might have been extremely believable, even more than Louise Fletcher.
(2) I can't see Heather Graham as the villain. Like I said, she's too ditzy/silly and feather-headed, unlike Victoria Tennant who was truly hateful as Corrine. Heather has one or two very good scenes (when she confronts the kids after the Christmas party and when she breaks the news to the kids about Cory's death - great inner conflict!). However, the rest of her performance was a mess. She was much MUCH better in the sequel. She was actually enjoyable to watch! She was villainy and conniving. I was delighted when I learned she'd be in 'Thorns'.
(3) Kiernan wasn't Cathy for me (explained above). Sorry. Kristy Swanson will always be Cathy for me.
(4) The overall film was too watered down. It wasn't given the rough, gritty and dark treatment such material deserves. The incest was more cutesy romance and exploitative in the vein of "The Cement Garden" rather than both shocking and understandable. The grandmother's punishments didn't look severe enough: Corrine's back? Nah. The kids' two-week starvation? Shown probably less than 1 minute! The tar? It kinda worked, but I wanted it to be more icky. Plus, the grandmother had drugged Cathy but here it's never shown. Grandmother whipping Chris? In the book she was extremely aggressive and violent in this scene and berated at the kids for what their parents did, and also she whipped Cathy as well (and Cathy gives a terrific revenge speech which is TOTALLY ABSENT!!!). She beats Cathy until the switch breaks, then snatches a brush with a long handle and starts beating her all over again until she knocks her unconscious. AGAIN: FAIL.
Overall...I do like this remake. I'm glad it was filmed after so many years. We had been waiting for too much long. It could've been better, but I'm satisfied with what we've got.
reply
share