Reason for reshoots No. 1: The director, once his final cut is assembled, has proven incapable. This predominantly relates to two things: The cut is woefully lacking in all the signatures that the film's genre requires. This means a comedy that has no laughs, a drama that has no tension, etc. The director's cut makes it clear that they have no idea what it is they're doing. The other element it most often relates to has two sides to it: The director is incapable of taking either the studio's notes or the star's notes in the editing room. What happens is a confrontational moment where things either escalate or are smoothed over. If they escalate, then the director is fired, someone new takes over, and reshoots evolve from there. If the disagreements are resolved, well, then the studio gets their cut, it tests like crap, and it is generally decided that re-shoots are necessary. In two of these three cases, the new director is the only hope the film has of truly transcending its limitations and being something more than it has any right to be.

A new vision and aesthetic can revitalize a film and turn unfunny into funny, turn melodramatic or flat into dramatic and moving. Rarely is it the case that the big fights are resolved and everyone can move forward begrudgingly, that the director (perhaps fearing that being fired will ostracize him from the community) can adapt his vision to the satisfaction of people who have MBAs but little understanding of what that vision entails. Test screenings are valuable tools and necessary when a studio has that much money riding on each film. A director's vision is just that, however, his or her vision, and if there's a problem with that, then it can't really be fixed in the end. That's why it's so important to pick the right director up front, because once the cameras are rolling, once you're capturing footage, there's no going back without massive cost overruns that are far more terrifying for studio executives than a failure. With a failure they can put off the blame six ways to Sunday. Cost overruns are their job. Theirs' and the producers', and the producers have to answer to the executives.

Reason for reshoots No. 2: The script, which had holes when it went to shooting, still has holes and now it needs more scenes to make it all work. This is less terrifying in some ways than the director scenarios, but still shouldn't make you feel good. Because let's face it, if they couldn't get the thing right when they were working on it the first time around, then whhy would you think that in reshoots, where the timeframe is condensed, that they are suddenly going to have the magic formula that makes it all work? Ninety-nine percent of the time they're not. They didn't have an idea the first time, and odds are their ideas the second time will probably suck just as much. It's a tricky proposition, fitting in new material and catching the same vibe you had during production -- not to mention the ability to grasp what's missing and get it right the second time around. Like I said, it's not impossible, but you're really testing your faith here. If Terrence Malick is re-shooting, then by God go with him. Same with many other talented directors both young and old. But even with talented directors I've seen this go south in a hurry. The best hint you'll have here is: Did the re-shoots run long? Was this supposed to be an in-and-out affair that turned into a mini-production? Were people unhappy on the reshoot set? Any sign that things didn't go fast and easy is your tip that there is trouble.

Reason for reshoots No. 3: The film is an outright disaster, there's too much money and time invested to throw it away, so we're going to restructure this baby and get it right. No, you're not. This will undoubtedly lead to a push in the film's release "to take advantage of the film's strengths rather than release at a time when it is too similar to films in the original release frame" ... or whatever crap the untrustable marketing department is telling you. A push in release date, particularly a significant one due to reshoots, is a disaster. Don't draft it, don't go see it -- don't even rent it. Run from it like your hair's on fire, because in the end, somebody's gotta pay the price for all those reshoots ... and why the hell should it be you?

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