Peter Gilbert, James D. Stern, Ash R. Shah, Anne McCarthy and Mary Vernieu
Screenplay:
Keith Reddin
Music:
Mark Mothersbaugh
Cast:
Helen Harding: Joan Allen
Warren Harding: Jeff Daniels
Tyler: Robert Forster
Tim Sullivan: Andre Braugher
Agee: Bokeem Woodbine
Annabel Lee: Anna Paquin
Chris: David Schwimmer
Tennel: Josh Brolin
Norton Morgan: Gary Sinise
Sidney Lee: Giovanni Ribisi
It's the Rage
to have a gun in the US in order to protect yourself, your loved ones and
your home - or so that is the stance taken by those who find themselves in
compromising positions when someone's bought the farm and the person is standing
over them with a smoking pistol in their hand.
What we have here is a combination piece featuring ten people whose lives
intertwine in unexpected ways, which presents you with a film, the type of
which promises much because there is no specific plot and, like Pulp Fiction
it even features characters who just talk about the general banalities of life,
which holds your interest if you're into directionless soap operas.
As the film begins, housewife Helen Harding (Joan Allen is woken by
gunshots coming from downstairs and finds her stressed-out businessman husband
Warren (Jeff Daniels) standing over the body of a dead man in the
living room, the identity of whom I shall not reveal but the consequences
drive a wedge further between them as divorce looms. Cops Tyler (Robert Forster)
and Agee (Bokeem Woodbine) become involved in the case as Warren's
solicitor, Tim Sullivan (Homicide: Life on the Streets' Andre Braugher)
advises him of his prospects, before coming across street urchin Annabel Lee
(Anna Paquin) in a convenience store.
Throw into the mix Sullivan's gay partner Chris (Friends' David Schwimmer),
Annabell's schizophrenic brother Sidney (Giovanni Ribisi), the potentially
deranged and absurdly eccentric computer genius Norton Morgan (Gary Sinise)
and his secretary Tennel (Josh Brolin) and you're left with a number of
bizarre moments that don't connect, but then they're not really meant to, save
for the gun aspect.
The film is presented in the original 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio
with only occasional artifacts on view and otherwise no complaints.
The average bitrate is 4.61Mb/s, often peaking above 8Mb/s.
The sound is in Dolby Digital 5.1, but never gets a chance to shine because
it's mostly dialogue-driven and doesn't need to give your speakers a workout.
As well as the film, the disc contains a 2-minute 1.85:1 non-anamorphic
Trailer, Filmographies for the director and three cast members,
a 13-minute Featurette containing interviews with members of the cast
and crew and, finally, a feature length Audio Commentary track from the
director and a number of cast members.
There are the usual 28 chapters and subtitles in 11 languages :
English, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Hebrew,
Hungarian, Bulgarian and French and 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
