My gut tells me this isn’t going to work. Even though it’s going to be a Hammer production. (Hammer is relaunching, apparently. I wasn’t aware it had un-launched, but come to think of it, they haven’t done anything in a while. I don’t regard the Hammer of today as the same as the classic Hammer Studios, anyway, since it ain’t.)
Anyway, here’s the spiel: “In the film, a modern interpretation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s iconic 1886 novella ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde,’ Eddie Izzard plays Dr. Nina Jekyll, a recluse who finds friendship with her newly hired help, Rob, played by emerging actor Scott Chambers (‘Chicken’) and they must work together to prevent Hyde from destroying her life.”
And here’s what Hammer said: “We’re thrilled to be partnering with [director] Joe [Stephenson] and his superlative cast and crew on ‘Doctor Jekyll.’ There can be few subjects more apt to launch Hammer Studios and the production has everything you’d expect of a modern Hammer film.”
What I say: the gender-bending, transsexual take is hardly novel. Hammer, the real Hammer, did it masterfully back in 1971 with DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE. But this thing with Izzard feels like a stunt. Like it’s more about getting attention for who they cast than about the story itself. I could be wrong. I hope I’m wrong. But I predict the wrecking of a train.
