Spike Lee's 'Oldboy' remake flopped -- and that's a shame because it's good

Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Fim District
Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen star in Spike Lee’s reinterpretation of OLDBOY.

Despite its popular source material and the presence of Josh Brolin, Spike Lee's remake of Oldboy was pretty much dead on arrival at theaters over Thanksgiving weekend: little promotion or visibility, not enough screens, barely over $1 million at the box office. The movie needed wildly positive reviews to make a dent, and it didn't get them.

I take no pleasure in the movie's failure. As a fan of Park Chan-wook's original, about a Korean businessman locked in a private cell for 15 years then released to seek revenge, I expected reheated hash from the remake when i went to see it Saturday night. I was surprised to find a pulpy and great-looking re-imagining that fleshed out some material from the first movie - particularly the anti-hero's alcoholism and jagged path toward amends - without altering the spirit of the idea. (For what it's worth I also prefer the new ending, which I won't spoil here in case you take my advice and decide to seek out the remake).

Now there's an odd controversy over stealing a graphic artist's design for the poster, and  variations on a common question: Is Spike Lee his own worst enemy? There have been murmurs of tension between Lee and Oldboy's distributor, FilmDistrict. He likes to complain about the movies he can't get financed and go after fellow filmmakers (Tyler Perry, Quentin Tarantino) in the press. Even his recent Kickstarter campaign is taking heat.

None of which changes the truth, Ruth: He's still a damn good filmmaker with a distinctive visual style and a vital, iconoclastic voice. You'd think a remake gig might work as a compromise effort leading to more personal projects. Sadly, this time, that's not the case.

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