How to Make a Proper Remake: True Grit (1969 and 2010)

There are very few good movies out there. When you talk about good remakes, there are even fewer. Examining Mark Wahlberg's career gives you somewhat of an idea of how dire the situation for remakes is. For every The Italian Job, there are far more Planet of the Apes and The Truth About Charlie's (the latter is a remake of the Cary Grant/Audrey Hepburn film Charade, in case you were unaware). It is difficult to remake a film and have it actually be good, but if you're willing to try it, there are a few rules to follow. The Coen brothers True Grit outlines these rules in a wonderful way. So, without further ado, how to make a good remake:

1. Take a film with a good concept that has room for improvement.
Granted, all films can use some improvement, but I'm speaking only about those with significant room for improvement. If you have a film that has a good concept, but may not have been put together completely well, this is one you can remake. 1969's True Grit was a film that, frankly, bored me. The acting was poor and the writing was mediocre. However, the story was intriguing: A young girl hires a gruff policeman to find the man who killed her father. Which is why, when the Coen brothers decided to do the film, I thought it could be spectacular...and I was right. They wrote an outstanding script that did not dumb anything down for the audience (some of the dialogue in the first is just plain stupid) and hired outstanding actors who did marvelously (I will happily take Jeff Bridges over John Wayne any day of the week). They improved upon the film, and thus the remake was good.

2. Wait at least twenty years before remaking a movie.
I don't know about you, but I hate it when I see foreign films being remade only a few years after the original was released. Really, USA? Do we hate reading subtitles or hearing British accents that much? New York, I Love You was far worse than Paris, je T'Aime and I am not looking forward to the American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Also, could you really not handle hearing British accents in Death at a Funeral? Soon we have to realize that we aren't the greatest country in the world and we don't have the best films. Open up your mind and gain a little culture and try watching something that was not made in the USA. You're already willing to do it with household items...

3. Make sure you can bring something unique to the film.
If you're just taking one film and redoing it shot by shot, it's going to be terrible (see Psycho). There's no point. We've already seen this movie once, so why should we watch it again with different people involved? Even plays try and bring a unique point of view, an example being with many Shakespeare productions being set in different time periods. For True Grit, the Coen brothers have a very unique directional style. Everything is grittier and it's all incredibly beautiful as well. Other films have kept a similar theme, but changed the location (an example being The Italian Job).

4. When in doubt, go by the book.
There are a lot of films that are based by books that change several things. This is true today, but it was very true years ago. When Tim Burton made Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he did not consider it a remake, but considered it a film based on a book. Similarly, the Coen brothers wrote True Grit not off of the 1969 film, but from the book. This may make sense of certain changes that people have continuously overlooked from this film. I have continuously read people stating that the two are basically the same, but they are not. Mattie Ross in the 1969 film talked a great game, but didn't really do much. In the book, however, you really see how Mattie Ross is a strong and fiery young girl as she participates in things with Rooster Cogburn. This is how the 2010 version sees things and this allows Mattie Ross to be the main character, which is how it should be.

To be fair, I recommend never remaking movies. They usually turn out poorly and we here at Firestones on Film celebrate creativity. But if you're dying to remake something, make sure you appeal by these rules before I pay 7.50 to watch your movie...