I have never seen the 1991 original but I do recall executive producer, Tyra Banks, mentioning this movie somewhere. As a fun fact, she was supposed to be Rose in this remake, but a scheduling conflict lead the team to replace her with Nichole Richie.
So, if you’re like me and have never seen the original, you may have done your Googles to see what was the same and what was different. Most everything is kept the same…except the fact that the family is Black. Changing the family to be Black is a blessing and a curse for this movie. One, when their mom (play by the hilarious Ms. Pat) comes home, has a nervous breakdown, and decides to just leave the country for the summer, it didn’t curl all the way over for me. Yes, Black women are allowed to take the summer off as a mom, and yes, I know Black women be traveling. For me, it did not seem like a plausible thing when you changed the race of the family. Honestly, i expected her to say she was going on a girls trip with her sister or best friends. Also, she posted on Facebook to find a babysitter for three whole months. Did you meet this lady before you left your four children with her? The babysitter was also an elderly White lady. Another thing that didn’t curl all the way over for me, but I digress.
The movie is a cute watch. I had a great time watching Tanya (played by Simone Joy Jones who was Lisa in “Bel-Air”) get a dose of what her mom has to go through while raising these kids alone. She found her a man. She got a job that she ended up loving. The movie never really tells you that she wants to be a fashion designer but I guess we’re to assume she has some passion for it because of the way she dresses. The kids evolving throughout the film was nice, especially the oldest brother, Kenny (played by Donnelley Hansley). I also loved the nods to the original that I didn’t understand until I read the synopsis of the original before writing this.
Here’s what I didn’t need. I know the Gus story was in the original, but according to my reading, Gus (played in this version by Jermaine Fowler and has a shaved head) was hitting on Swell (who is Tanya in this film) which made it more important that she say something to her boss about the situation. Here, Tanya just sees Gus swapping spit with a random woman when she goes to get tacos with Bryan (her summer boyfriend). Doesn’t seem that important in this version. Plus, Jermaine Fowler is way too talented for y’all to have him in the film and not be used properly.
We had this sweet moment between Tanya and Kenny where he shares that who is now is because their deceased father never let him be himself to protect him from White people. While this was a tender moment and I liked it, it was too late in the film to introduce that information and to also throw in that he’s almost monetized on social media from he and his friends skating all summer. Honestly, him learning to cook would have been a better arc to continue with throughout the film.
Didn’t quite understand the crows with the little brother. I know it’s a nod to the original….but it doesn’t play well, for me, here. Make his weird thing the stock market or bugs.
I do find it interesting that this version had the kids pull a full on murder mystery situation with the dead babysitter. In the original, they took the babysitter to the morgue and left her with a note. In this version, Kenny suggests that but his little sister mentions cameras being everywhere. These kids dumped this poor lady in a river with her car with an insane amount of liquor in her system. No one ever finds the car or Mrs. Sturak, and these kids get away with murder without Annalise Keating! What makes this funnier is the very end of the film when their mom hears the entire story and she goes, “You did the right thing because they would have shot all of you.” That was funny to me.
What I would like to know from all of you is:
- Have you seen the original?
- Did you know BET made a remake?
- How much of the original do you need to preserve in order for it to still be considered a remake?
