(Bowfinger, The Dark Crystal, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Housesitter, In & Out, The Indian in the Cupboard, Little Shop of Horrors, The Muppets Take Manhattan, The Score, Ump, What About Bob?)
Producer:
Scott Rudin
Screenplay:
Paul Rudnick
Music:
Marc Shaiman
Cast:
Howard Brackett: Kevin Kline
Emily Montgomery: Joan Cusack
Cameron Drake: Matt Dillon
Berniece Brackett: Debbie Reynolds
Frank Brackett: Wilford Brimley
Tom Halliwell: Bob Newhart
Peter Malloy: Tom Selleck
The first film ever to be based on an Oscar-acceptance speech,
delivered by Tom Hanks and it's hard to imagine that a farce as banal
and predictable as this could ever be green-lighted. But then it's in the
hands of Frank Oz, who some may know best as the voice of
Yoda in the
Star Wars films,
but when he gets behind the camera he directs some of the most uninspired
and unfunny movies ever created including Housesitter, Dirty Rotten
Scoundrels and the Little Shop of Horrors remake.
When actor Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon) wins the Best Actor award for
his role in a gay war film his thanks go far and wide including his teacher
Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline), the revelation of Howard being gay
surprising not only him but also his fiancee Emily (Joan Cusack) and
eventually his parents (Debbie Reynolds & Wilford Brimley).
As the time nears to their wedding everyone overacts and the obvious things
happen - The Village People are the first thing Howard hears on the
radio in the morning, he dances to a remix of I Will Survive and every
motion, every nuance makes him appear gay despite his protestations to the
contrary and despite the advances of supposed investigative TV reporter
Peter Malloy (Tom Selleck).
There's an overall look of grain throughout the film, affecting indoor
scenes more than outdoor, which is presented in an anamorphic 1.78:1 (16:9)
widescreen ratio.
The average bitrate is a high 6.52Mb/s, often peaking over 9Mb/s.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack doesn't particularly excel in comedies like
this so don't expect for anything out of the ordinary. Dialogue comes in
English and French.
The only extra is a 2-minute 4:3 fullscreen Trailer, but there are
a decent number of chapters with 28 to its count. Subtitles come in 3 languages:
English (and hard of hearing), Dutch and French.
The menus are silent and static.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
