The original film is German and bears the same name (Barfuß). It was written and directed by Til Schweiger, who also plays the lead. Yes, you know him from Inglourious Basterds. The barefoot mental patient is played by Johanna Wokalek. The film - as it came out in 2005 - was fine the way it was and did not need an Americanization.
Rather than go into the details of the remake, let me just tell you about my biggest disappointment: Evan Rachel Wood or, rather the character she portrayed here. She plays Daisy as a ditsy blonde, hopping from one embarrassment to the next for - I'm guessing - cheap laughs. The character (of a different name) did get her fair share of laughs in the German film without trying so hard. Whereas then she was mentally ill, here she is just plain stupid, at times even crass - a far cry from the quiet sweetness and innocence that Johanna Wokalek brought to the same role.
This is the kind of film that makes me wish that American audiences finally got over their arrogance about foreign films and learned how to read subtitles. Their lives would be so much richer for it.
Oh so disappointing.
3/10
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