The remake of a movie is an art that is difficult to control. If you change too much, you will be criticized for being unrecognizable. If you change too little, you will be criticized for nothing new. How to handle it is a test of the director's skills. Because of this, there are many movies that were originally very popular. After the remake, it turned into a bad movie. But the American version of "Unreachable" is an exception. While keeping the original story framework and important plot unchanged, the film has made breakthroughs in "change" and incorporated new elements.
Compared with the original work, the American version adds a family line and a description of Dell's interpersonal relationships, so he is no longer a lonely, slightly monotonous and abrupt character, but a flesh and blood, with a wife and children, love. A righteous, straightforward black man, but at the same time he is a prisoner who has been imprisoned many times for stealing and involving guns. It should be said that he is fuller in terms of characterization.
Like the original, Dell's way of getting along based on respect rather than sympathy and compassion gradually entered Philip's heart, so that he was no longer imprisoned by a life like a backwater. But the US version also emphasized Philip's obsession with his deceased wife, which also subtly affected Dell. He paid his monthly salary to his wife, and gave his start-up capital to his wife and children to buy a house. One has an unbearable past and one faces a hopeless future. The two of them race cars together and watch operas together. Although there have been quarrels, they have become indispensable friends of each other. At the end of the film, Philip and Dell let themselves free and enjoy themselves. The moment they soared in the air, they finally completed each other's redemption, as Dell said, the past experience can't be erased, but that doesn't matter, because we should look forward.
Finally, if it's just embarrassing sensationalism, I'm afraid it's not enough to win the love of the audience. Fortunately, as a comedy, this film has many laughs, especially the part of Dell's shower, which is guaranteed to make you laugh.
View more about The Upside reviews
