Remake of the 1950 Judy Holliday/William Holden/Broderick Crawford hit farce, adapted from Garson Kanin's popular play, about millionaire businessman hiring a tutor for his dizzy girlfriend, which backfires when she becomes wise enough to know she's being played for a dupe. In the leads, Melanie Griffith, then-husband Don Johnson and John Goodman all have a propensity to lapse into shtick, but, for her part, Griffith is well-cast and very likable. The men have a harder time: Johnson is charmingly low-keyed in a dull role (the problems with it go back to the play) and Goodman works hard at being both vulgar and sympathetic. Not a complete success by any means, this update still hasn't figured out how to make the last act work (the plot mechanisms become congealed, the action becomes stagy and the finale is limp), but there are some nice laughs spread around and an occasionally witty flash of original thought. ** from ****

The rude, selfish and arrogant businessman Harry Brock (John Goodman) travels to Washington with his mistress Billie Dawn (Melanie Griffith), his adviser Ed Devery (Edward Herrmann) and his assistant JJ (Max Perlich) to have business meetings with senators. Billie is a former showgirl from Las Vegas and does not have culture, embarrassing Harry in the social events. He hires the journalist Paul Verrall (Don Johnson) to teach Billie that is an intelligent woman and soon she does not accept the treatment spent by Harry toward her. Further, Billie and Paul disclose dirty businesses of Harry and fall in love with each other.

"Born Yesterday" is a remake of the 1950 film with a storyline inspired in "Pygmalion" (1938) and "Educating Rita" (1983). The romance is entertaining and funny and the gorgeous Melanie Griffith shows a great chemistry with her husband Don Johnson. John Goodman completes the cast with great performance. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Renascer de Uma Mulher" ("The Rebirth of a Woman")

I'm never against remakes. What is there to lose? If the remake is inferior it just reaffirms the rarity of and how difficult it is to produce a true classic. If the remake is superior, then we have a better movie! This movie stands on its own as fair and light entertainment. The performances are right in line with popcorn comedy and will produce a sufficient number of chuckles and laughs.

The problem, of course, is this movie cannot stand on its own. If you remake a classic, you have to make the comparison. This version just doesn't measure up to the 1950 original on any level.

Since many people have not seen the 1950 Born Yesterday, I think this movie will do them just fine. Sooner or later though, if they love movies, they're going to stumble across Judy Holliday's outstanding performance and then this remake may seem a bit weak.

As with most attempts at remaking classics, the 1993 version of Born Yesterday falls far short of the original. It does, however, maintain a charm of its own and it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. However, I certainly, without reservation and whole-heartedly recommend the original as a "must-see"!