Remaking a classic movie is always a risky proposition, especially when it’s already been remade as a movie that is itself considered a classic. So French filmmaker Julien Leclercq was facing an uphill battle before he even got started on his version of “The Wages of Fear.” Georges Arnaud’s 1950 novel was previously adapted in 1953 by director Henri-Georges Clouzot, whose movie won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and in 1977 by William Friedkin under the title "Sorcerer."
Leclercq’s film retains the set-up of a group of desperate outsiders driving trucks full of volatile nitroglycerin across treacherous terrain. Leclercq adds shootouts and car chases, awkwardly combining his lean action-movie style with the original’s slow-building psychological torment.
