Year of Release: 2007Country of Origin: USA, Australia
Director: Scott Hicks
Cast: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin
Plot outline: The life of a top chef changes when she becomes the guardian of her young niece (IMDb).
No Reservations is Hollywood remake of Mostly Martha (Bella Martha). One thing I don't understand about Hollywood is: Why does Hollywood have the need to remake a movie - in this case, a foreign movie - that's already so good, so perfect? Why would they do that, knowing that people will always compare the remake with the original one and they know that it's virtually impossible to top the original one? And not only that, Hollywood has always had a tendency to make everything a little bit over the top. Catherine Zeta-Jones seems too comfortable with her sexuality as a cold, perfectionist Kate. Aaron Eckhart, who plays the part of Kate's opposite Nick, therefore doesn't have the charm as warm as Mario's in the original version. While Abigail Breslin is too grownup for an 8-year-old girl Zoe:
Kate: "You know, I was thinking the other day, I know so little about you. I mean, we're family, but I don't even know what your favourite colour is."
Zoe: "Red."
Kate: "Red? See, I didn't know that. I love red. Red's a great colour. What's your favourite number? "
Zoe: "You know, you don't have to do this."
Kate: "Do what? "
Zoe: "Try so hard."
Do you think an 8-year-old child would be able to deduce like that? Everything that's a little bit over the top finally adds up to something that at the end spoils all the things that make the original version so delightful. Not to mention the ending that's so typical Hollywood ending.
My judgement: *1/2 out of 4 stars
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