My main problem with this trailer is that I saw the original German movie (Mostly Martha) and I’m having a hard time not comparing the performance of Catherine Zeta-Jones to that of Martina Gedeck, who played the same character on the original. This is exacerbated because the trailer shows some scenes which were taken directly from Mostly Martha.
Love Zeta-Jones, wish she worked more. But I don’t think she will pull off this character. She is too charismatic, too easily lovable, and not hard edged enough. And the character calls for some one who seems, at first, cold, distant and uptight. That is what makes the transformations the character goes thorough in the movie meaningful and affecting. And Martina was great in this role, so the bar is raised higher for me.
I’m also a little worried because the film looks like a watered down version of the original. That is bad because Mostly Martha wasn’t some gritty drama, but a generally light comedy/drama. It worked very well like that, and there was no need to make it lighter for American consumption.
David Poland from www.thehotbutton.com said a couple of years ago, back when the casting for the film was first announced, that the only way this film would work was if they switched around the parts of Aaron Eckhart and Zeta-Jones. So, Aaron would play the uptight main character and Zeta-Jones would play the charming, seductive and wise new chef that brings some love to Aaron’s life. This would lose some of the meaning of the original movie, since the fact that the the main character is a woman in a position of control is relevant, but I think it would make for a much more interesting remake. Sadly, we will never know for sure.