Caffeinated Clint
Really? Why?
You’re kidding me, right?
They’re remaking “All of Me” now?
So I take it the kids that are working shoeless in the studio archives have made it to 1984? It didn’t take them very long to work their way through 1983 – nothing of use to them there? They didn’t care to remake “D.C Cab”?
So anyway, the ‘remake’ dogs have completed their mission of sourcing and duplicating early 80s horror films… and now they’ve made it to butt crack middle of the Reagan era; a period, I believe, was a golden horseshoe for films. It really was. We had everything from “The Terminator” to “Sixteen Candles” and “Ghostbusters” in 1984 and 1985. Oh, and yes, we had ‘good’ comedies – comedies that starred the likes of Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy (“Beverly Hills Cop” came out in ’84, too) and the-one-and-only Steve Martin.
One of Martin’s finest hours – still, one of his finest hours – at the time was “All Of Me” an imaginative little comedy that teamed him with the leading lady of laughs, at the time, Ms Lily Tomlin. The original, directed by Carl Reiner (for our younger viewers, he’s the old guy from the “Ocean’s Eleven” films), starred Tomlin as a dying heiress whose soul inhabits the body of a successful attorney, played by Martin.
It wasn’t a knockout by any means, but boy, it was definitely funny in spots. Most of all, it was fresh… it was different. It came a whole three years before all those ‘body swapping’ comedies that invaded the late 80s – like “Vice Versa”, “Like Father, Like Son” and “Big” (I guess you’d consider that, kinda, in the same category).
A remake though? It may be OK, but one thing’s for sure, it probably won’t be “fresh”.
According to Variety, Queen Latifah – who recently actually shared a marquee with Steve Martin in “Bringing Down the House” – will have the lead part.
Adam Shankman, who worked with Latifah on the abovementioned “House”, will produce.
According to the trade, New Line has been looking to remake “All of Me” for a couple of years now, hiring Brent Goldberg and David Wagner to write a modern take on the story. At one stage, Wanda Sykes was set to play the Tomlin role.
So who’ll be playing the male lead? Geez I hope Steve Martin’s got his phone off-the-hook.
All these 80s comedies – starring ex-“SNL” stars – will soon be getting the remake treatment. Just a couple of months ago they announced that the Dan Ayrkoyd/Chevy Chase effort “Spies Like Us” (1985) was being redone. Surely “Doctor Detroit”; “Summer Rental” and “The Golden Child” are just around the corner?
Sad state of affairs.
