Absolutely. Even more than it did the first time I tried to watch this remake. For two reasons:
1) Now that I’m much older than when I first saw it, I’m having he same kind of physical and mental challenges that plague Willy, who in the play is 63. The 60s then (and at the time the play was written) are today’s 70s.
2) Dustin Hoffman is NOT Willy Loman, never was, never will be. The only Willy Loman was the original actor who played him on stage and screen… Lee J. Cobb. Even though Cobb was actually younger than Hoffman when he first played the role, he looked and sounded like a 63 year-old man. Most of Cobb’s career was built on playing older man. Hoffman, whose career was built on playing young men, looked and sounded made up… he didn’t work for me. Same goes for other actors who have played the role. They’re just not Cobb.
It’s a wonderful play, arguably America’s finest, and I love it. But I just can’t watch it anymore.