Dom Robinson reviews Martha Meet Frank, Daniel And Lawrence
Distributed by
Cat.no: VCD 0011
Cert: 15
Running time: 84 minutes
Year: 1998
Pressing: 1999
Region(s): 2, PAL
Chapters: 25 plus extras
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages: English
Subtitles: None
Widescreen: 1.85:1
16:9-enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: Yes
Price: £19.99
Extras : Full Motion Menus, Scene index, Sub-plots, Theatrical trailer,
Featurette, Feature Clips and Biographies.
Director:
Producer:
Screenplay:
Music:
Cast:
Martha: Monica Potter (Con Air, Patch Adams )
Frank: Rufus Sewell (Amy Foster, Carrington, Cold Comfort
Farm, Dark City, Dirty Weekend, Hamlet (1997), TV: "Middlemarch", "The
Woodlanders" )
Daniel: Tom Hollander
Laurence: Joseph Fiennes (Elizabeth, Shakespeare In Love, The Vacillations Of Poppy Carew )
Pedersen: Ray Winstone (Face, Nil By Mouth, Scum )
Male Information Official: Steven O'Donnell (Far And Away,
TV: "Bottom" )
Martha Meet Frank, Daniel And Lawrence
With her last $99, American Martha (Monica Potter ) buys a one-way plane
ticket to London to start a new life. One after another she bumps into
three men, Frank (Rufus Sewell ), Daniel (Tom Hollander ) and
Laurence (Joseph Fiennes , brother of Schindler's List star
Ralph) who are all long-time best friends but when a this woman comes between
them it'll be a fight to the end to see who gets to win her heart. Well, I say
they're all long-time best friends, but Frank never quite sees things eye-to-eye
with Daniel at which point Laurence has to act as the go-between.
The film is told in flashback, through the eyes of Laurence, as he discusses
the situation with his neighbour-cum-psychiatrist Pedersen (Ray Winstone ,
in a rather under-used role). There is also a brief cameo from Steven
O'Donnell , who had a regular part in Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson's
TV series, Bottom , as Spudgun, best friend to Christopher Ryan's
Hedgehog.
The picture quality is mostly excellent on this disc with a good average
bitrate of 5.45 Mb/s. However, in a few scenes the bitrate drops below
4Mb/s and the picture suffers with noticeable artifacts, which is a shame
given how good the disc looks the rest of the time. The film is also
16:9-enhanced for widescreen televisions (although the trailer isn't and has a
ratio of approx. 15:9). The good news is that the film itself is presented
in its original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1.
The sound is also very good, but it won't give your speakers a workout.
Aside from the ambience and musical interludes from composer Ed Shearmur,
there are a number of songs on the soundtrack, namely: Texas (Halo),
Roni Size (Brown Paper Bag), Booth And The Bad Angel - aka
Tim Booth from James and Twin Peaks' producer Angelo Badalamenti - (Fall
In Love With Me), Hurricane #1 (Step Into My World), Echo And
The Bunnymen (Fools Like Us), Morcheeba (Tape Loop) and Dusty
Springfield (I Only Want To Be With You).
Extras :
Chapters, Trailer, etc. : In addition there is the original theatrical trailer, a four-minute
featurette including interviews from the cast, a selection of clips from
the film, plus text biographies of the main cast and crew members.
Sub-Plots : 1. Martha - Meet Daniel, Frank And Laurence
2. Laurence And Pedersen
3. Martha And Laurence
4. Frank And Daniel
To those who know the film, you'll have an idea of what to expect, but
to those who don't I won't spoil what's in store. However, to summarise,
each heading contains a number of small clips strung together which show
how that aspect of the film develops. It's worth noting that you should
only view these after seeing the whole film so as not to spoil any surprises.
Languages/Subtitles : Menu :
Clicking on the menu options can be a little hap-hazard as previously mentioned.
However, parts of the onscreen menu are animated in a subtle fashion.
Overall, while anyone buying or renting this film will be contributing
to the British Film Industry, it comes off as slow and plodding with little
or no spark or chemistry between Monica Potter and any of her potential
suitors. You want to like it more, or hope that one of the three relationships
will work out better than the other two but as the film goes on, you just
don't care.
Also, there's not a great deal in the way of extras. One of its saving
graces is that VCI have used the interesting "Sub Plots" feature, but aside
from a trailer and a four-minute featurette there's not much else. Certainly
no subtitles in any language (not even English) or alternative language
soundtracks. Aside from that, anyone who's curious can take note that in terms
of content, this release is identical to the rental DVD, save for the fact that
the bookmark bug has been ironed out.
Given the aforementioned state of regular DVDs being available to rent, is
the rental-only market still born? It may seem that way for now as another
recent Film Four release, Velvet Goldmine , was released at the same
time to buy as the retail and rental fullscreen video.
FILM : *
PICTURE QUALITY : ****
SOUND QUALITY : ***
EXTRAS : **
-------------------------------
OVERALL : **½ Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.
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