Bill Simmons of ESPN doesn’t like The Longest Yard remake very much:
Imagine that Al Pacino’s career was going 10 times worse than it was right now, mainly because he had gotten too much plastic surgery and looked like he was wearing an Al Pacino Halloween mask. Then imagine they remade The Godfather with Adam Sandler as Michael, Rob Schneider as Sonny, David Spade as Fredo, Chris Rock as Tom Hagan, Courtney Cox as Connie, Eminem as Carlo Rizzo and Pacino as Don Vito Corleone – marketed as a “funnier, hipper version!” of the original classic – with Pacino’s appearance making it seem like he endorsed the idea (when they were actually taking advantage of a washed-up actor who needed a job).
Wow, what do you really think? There’s a lot more to the article, but that introduction makes Simmons’ feelings on the subject quite clear.
I have to admit that I don’t remember the original version of The Longest Yard very well, but I intend to remedy that soon. I didn’t really have plans to see the remake, but I think I’ve definitely relegated it to “catch it on cable” status now…