52 Films by Women Vol 6. 8. CODA (Director: Siân Heder)
American remakes of French language feel-good hits usually lose something in translation. The Upside , director Neil Burger’s 2017 remake of the 2011 film The Intouchables , couldn’t reproduce the audience-pleasing relationship between characters played by Omar Sy and François Cluzot – as carer and quadriplegic respectively – because racial dynamics in France are different from those in the US. It is hard to watch Kevin Hart (Sy’s substitute) in a subservient role, especially given that Hollywood has finally allowed African American actors to flourish. Bryan Cranston (filling in for Cluzot) has also had his best years on screen, so we don’t feel his character’s loss so acutely. At any rate, Burger and his screenwriter John Hartmere did themselves a disservice by sticking slavishly to director Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache’s original and relegating Nicole Kidman to a thankless supporting role. Similarly, The Next Three Days doesn’t pack the punch of the French thriller, Anythin...