More remakes are on the way! This time it's O.C. co-creator Josh Schwartz in charge, and he's out to regurgitate the eighties for your viewing displeasure, starting with Endless Love.
There are two must-have requirements before a movie remake should even be considered. First, was the original bad enough to warrant a do-over? Second, is the team working on the remake capable of improving the final product?
Anyone who has seen the original Endless Love with Brooke Shields can probably agree it's a creepy five car pile-up (excepting the now classic Ross/Richie duet), so requirement one is met without a problem. But is the guy who co-created dramatic television train wrecks like The O.C. and Gossip Girl capable of doing any better?
New York Magazine's announcement of Schwartz's plans also included a comment from Scott Spencer, author of the novel on which the movie is based, observing that the problem with the first movie was that it ended up a "teenage make-out movie that was too tasteful". Given Schwartz' past it seems his remake would likely end up with a lot more make-out, but without any taste at all.
If Schwartz just wanted to remake a story that involved young teenagers in the throes of hormonal obsession, he should have gone for something classic like Romeo and Juliet. He still gets all that irrational passion, but with sword fights!
At least Schwartz is good at casting pretty twenty-somethings who can sort of pretend to be melodramatic teenagers. The trailers and posters for the movie are bound to look appetizing.
