A big stumbling block when remaking a Hollywood screen classic is often the indelible ownership of an original star. Is there anyone alive who would choose Julia Ormond over Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina? Or Melanie Griffith over Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday? The problem with Netflix's toothless redo of Rebecca is less about casting — although none of the principals is an ideal fit — than lack of a firm directorial imprint.
