What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Some films are such classics that remakes are doomed to failure before a word is spoken. This is one of them. In its favour, Lynn Redgrave seems to have enjoyed herself and her version of Jane was a lot less cruel than David's. Vanessa Redgrave seemed to be sleepwalking through the entire film. For me, trying to modernise it while also attempting to keep to the original film just didn't work. This is a picky point but the Redgrave sisters are very tall and watching Lynn trying to run about like a child was probably unintentionally hilarious. I'd say just watch the original.

There goes 90 minutes I'll never get back. I've seen the original too many times to count. I like the Redgrave sisters and was hoping for a good remake. No such luck. This loosely followed the Davis/Crawford original, but updating the movie was a bad idea and made it lose it's appeal.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1991)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Remake of the 1962 cult classic has Lynn Redgrave taking over the role of Jane Hudson from Betty Davis while Vanessa Redgrave takes over the role of Blanche, originally played by Joan Crawford.

There's really no point in going through the plot description because I'm pretty sure you already know if if you've seen the original. If you haven't seen the original then I'd recommend you stop reading this and go do so. While I found the original film to be flawed in certain aspects, there's no question that it was a classic thanks in large part to the wonderful lead performances. I'm very much pro-remakes as I think they can often be quite interesting in the new things they bring to something that is familiar.

With that said, this remake just doesn't work for a number of reasons. The biggest problem I had with the film was the fact that it was incredibly dull. I mean, there wasn't a single ounce of life to be found in this thing as the movie gets off to a very slow start and it just becomes more and more dull as it moves along. Director David Greene doesn't bring any sort of life, tension or atmosphere to the picture and I'd argue that everything that worked in the original film is pretty much watered down here.

Another major issue is the fact that there's just no tension between the sisters. There's not a single frame where you really feel for the Blanche character because her torments just aren't all that shocking and they contain minimum impact. It doesn't help that both characters are extremely dull here and that's especially true for Baby Jane. Trying to match what Davis did would be impossible but Redgrave just doesn't do anything with the part.

I enjoy made-for-television films but this one here falls into some pretty bland traps through. In case you've missed it, I've used the word bland and dull throughout this review. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? has a couple interesting changes including the reason behind Jane's mental breakdown throughout the film. I also liked some of the updated stuff including Blache becoming "known" again thanks to VHS. With that said, turning Jane into a pop star was just painfully bad.

Watchable but unnecessary remake. A vanity project I assume. And a chance for the Redgrave sisters to work together. Missing the suspense of the original.

There is a great deal of pathos about the original movie with Davis and Crawford. It is difficult to determine exactly how you should feel about the remake. It is so superficial, suburban and character-deficit. The former child star character has the infantilism of Edina on Absolutely Fabulous, except she isn't funny. Just kind of dreary and pathetic.