MovieChat Forums > The Makeover (2013) Discussion > Why was this made?

Why was this made?

posted 11 years ago by cjtressler
11 replies | jump to latest

Pardon my rant for just a few moments.

Just watch "My Fair Lady", and you will see that the supposed "writer" of this story (C. Jay Cox) didn't even take the time to write this story. (Henry/Hannah) Higgins and (Colonel/Colleen) Pickering teach (Eliza/Elliot) Doolittle how to speak proper English. Why do Alan Jay Lerner and George Bernard Shaw (the author and play write of the original) not receive writing credit for this TV show, when the other person hardly changed the names of any of the main characters? The location of the story was hardly changed (England to NEW England)! Am I the only person who feels that Hallmark has wasted their time with this? Can they not come up with an original story, or at least take more time to do a complete re-write of a classic film? Shame on you, to everyone involved!

[–] ms_moviebuff23 11 years ago

I agree, this movie was so cliche and predictable and I knew it would be by the previews. Hallmark always has these type of romantic films, yet they do have some original ideas. My Fair Lady was a classic and they shouldn't have touched that unless they made it into more of vintage/Victorian twist meets modern world without politics involved. I'm sick of politics. I would rather watch a new episode of Once Upon a Time tonight along with Revenge in that time slot.

I'll always catch you when you fall.. -Will Young, Who Am I

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] bellz9113 11 years ago

Why are any Hallmark movies made? They are simple fluff movies that shouldn't be compared to normal movies, no TV movie should. They stand their own and are good at serving the purpose. Why even bother asking why is what I am wondering. One could simply argue Why not.

[–] Cay15 11 years ago

As it is a modernization of the play Pygmalion, which the movie My Fair Lady movie and musical was adapted from, I see no issues with keeping the character names similar. They did a wonderful job keeping it fun and modern without going over the top and unbelievable.

[–] mikenbondi 11 years ago

It's based on the play Pygmalion, which My Fair Lady was also adapted from, so hardly any need to give Lerner any credits! You may as well castigate Lerner for rewriting a classic play!

I thought it was interesting to see a gender reversal in the story, and the plot diverged enough from the original source material to make it more interesting.

As for England to New England, I think that's mostly a matter of having a convenient strong regional accent to work with.

[–] mattack 11 years ago

Are you claiming there isn't even a credit in the movie? I admittedly didn't notice one in the beginning. (I've had this on my DVR for a while and am a bit more than halfway through it -- I watched so far walking on my treadmill.)

Yeah, it's a remake.. The movie was a remake of the book too.

I think reversing the genders of the characters was interesting. It's nothing revolutionary, none of the Hallmark movies are. (Though I definitely liked Julia Stiles' character -- even in the beginning when she was simply being intelligent & correcting people's grammar!)

[–] dan456-1 11 years ago

I know this post is more than six months old, but seeing as how the movie is being rebroadcast today, I thought I'd respond: Timeless stories get retold...time and time again. Even George Bernard Shaw was updating/interpreting an ancient Greek myth. There's very little that is new under the sun.

[–] Rheli 11 years ago

Right. There are only 7 basic plots anyway - http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheSevenBasicPlots - so the OP can chill out, relax and enjoy the show. In this one, I particularly enjoyed the way Julia Stiles never compromised the character, but stayed true to it all the way through, even though the more usual thing to do is a make a 180 turn by the end of the film.

Where's your crew?
On the 3rd planet.
There IS no 3rd planet!
Don't you think I know that?

[–] Elliot1976 10 years ago

Just watch "My Fair Lady"

My Fair Lady is a remake of the better and brilliant movie Pygmalion directed and starring Leslie Howard.
People should watch that movie if they want to see the original: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030637/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[–] RobbieCalifornia 8 years ago

It's a made for tv romcom. That's why. It wasn't that horrible, I watched/listened while cleaning the house, perfect.

[–] jrhpax 7 years ago

"The Makeover" is much better than I expected. It's one of the best Hallmark Hall of Fames of the past ten years. Sadly, that's not much of a compliment.