PAPILLON (2017)

In addition to writing BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, many others, William Goldman might best be remembered for that pithiest of Hollywoodisms: ‘Nobody knows anything.’  But surely, somebody knew nobody wanted a remake of 1973's PAPILLON, the ‘truish’ ‘30s French penal colony prison-break memoir, meticulously made into a lumbering marvel of masochistic melancholy for bromatically suffering tropical prison-mates Steve McQueen (loyal/unbending) and Dustin Hoffman (mainly bending to get into his portmanteau ass).  Yet, here it is!  With drabber colors and serried ranks of rank inmates showing perfectly sculpted chests (there must be a gym in that jail).  Charlie Hunnam & Rami Malek hetero-bond in the McQueen/Hoffman spots under Michael Noer’s busy direction.  Really not so different than before*; yet US grosses shrinking from a blockbuster 54 mill (that’s 1973 dollars!) to a pathetic two mill (that's gross not net).  And, pace William Goldman, I think everybody knew what the score would be on this one.  Why else blatantly steal the most famous scene and the most famous line William Goldman ever wrote for a film as your climax?*

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: For a great commercial prison escape film, Don Siegel/Clint Eastwood’s ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ/’79.  OR: Keeping things French, but with an existential angle, the thrilling restraint of Robert Bresson’s A MAN ESCAPED/’56.   https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2016/12/escape-from-alcatraz-1979.html   https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2013/09/un-condamne-mort-sest-echappe-man.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Here’s a change.  In ‘73, the head flew off the guillotine and rolled right toward the camera.  Yikes!  (Lots of buzz on that.)  Now, it just drops in a basket from afar.

CONTEST:  *Name the movie, the scene and the line quoted to win a MAKSQUIBS Write-Up of your choice.