Sisters

Reviewed by Rich Drees

     While remakes of older films have become de rigeur for a Hollywood studio’s releasing schedule, it is odd that a director would mount such a project independently, but that’s exactly what Douglas Buck has done with his remake of Brian DePalma’s 1973‘s psychological thriller.

     Reporter Grace Collier (Chloe Sevigny) is investigating a clinic for children with unusual infirmities run by the mysterious Dr. Philip Lacan (Stephen Rea) following the deaths of several patients there. While illegally breaking and entering into Lacan’s office, she sees a murder being committed in the apartment across the street, an apartment owned by Lacan’s former patient and wife Angelique (Lou Doillon). Her efforts to convince the police that a crime has been committed only alert Lacan to how close her investigation has come to discovering the truth and he begins to take steps to stop Grace once and for all.

     When approaching a remake of a film, one hopes that the director will try to improve on the things that didn’t work in the original while preserving what did work. Unfortunately, Sisters has at its heart a rather ridiculous premise and no amount of third act tinkering can make it work any better. This is a shame as, at least scriptwise, the film generally has a fine and intriguing set up and does dig into the sisters’ psychology a bit more than the original. Still, much of the film’s structure can be attributed to DePalma’s insistant aping of his idol Alfred Hitchcock. Grace’s Rear Window-like observance is given a modern technological twist, while much like Janet Leigh’s character is Psycho, the character of Dylan Wallace is set up as the film’s antagonist only to be savagely murdered at the climax of the first act, allowing Sevigny’s reporter to take center stage.

     While director Buck has received some notice for his previous short film work, this, his feature film debut, has some flaws, some of which can’t be helped. Doillon’s non-engaging performance may be the result of her stepping into the role of Angelique just days before filming commenced after two other actresses dropped out. However, several moments that should be suspenseful fall short and Buck resorts to cheap editorial gimmicks in other places to get audience reaction. During Grace’s break-in to Dr. Lacan’s office, she turns towards the camera and reacts startledly. The film cuts away to other action and when we return to Grace, she is opening a filing cabinet. Are we left to assume that the cabinet is what startled her? If so, then perhaps a more interesting film would have been to follow Grace on a shopping trip to Office Max.