Dom Robinson reviews

Distributed by

Columbia TriStar

Cat.no: CDR 95241

Cert: 12

Running time: 101 minutes

Year: 1997

Pressing: 1998

Region(s): 2, PAL

Chapters: 20 plus extras

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic, Hindi, Hebrew.

Widescreen: 2.35:1

16:9-Enhanced: Yes

Macrovision: Yes

Price: £19.99

Extras : Scene index, Theatrical trailer

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Director:

P.J. Hogan (Muriel's Wedding)

Producers:

Jerry Zucker and Ronald Bass

Screenplay:

Ronald Bass

Music:

James Newton Howard

Cast:

Julianne Potter: Julia Roberts (Conspiracy Theory, Flatliners, The Pelican Brief, Pretty Woman, Sleeping With The Enemy, Steel Magnolias)
Michael O'Neal: Dermot Mulroney (The Assassin, Bad Girls, Box Of Moonlight, Copycat, Living In Oblivion, Longtime Companion, Sunset, Young Guns)
Kimmy Wallace: Cameron Diaz (Feeling Minnesota, Head Above Water, The Last Supper, A Life Less Ordinary, The Mask, She's The One, There's Something About Mary)
George Downes: Rupert Everett (Another Country, The Comfort Of Strangers, The Madness Of King George)
Walter Wallace: Philip Bosco (Children Of A Lesser God)
Joe O'Neal: M. Emmet Walsh (Blade Runner, Blood Simple, Clean And Sober, Missing In Action)
Jonathan P.E. Rice: Harry Shearer (Godzilla, This Is Spinal Tap, TV: "The Simpsons")

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So what sounds like a simple case of two hearts trying to win the love of one man, is actually one woman's sabotage of the love that two people are sharing. She tries to do this by pretending to all and sundry that the man who is always around her, George (Rupert Everett), is her intended-to-be, despite the fact that he is gay.

There are some very clever comedic scenes in this film, mainly coming from Everett, while even Julia, one of my least favourite actresses, is suprisingly bearable and prior to this the only film I could repeatedly watch her in was the excellent life-after-death drama, Flatliners.

Mulroney is fine as the suitor, although doesn't seem to be the catch of the century that the script would have us believe, especially if you remember him from Young Guns spending most of the film seeing how far he could spit, in graphic detail. Cameron Diaz is always one to brighten the screen - and maybe it's my imagination - but she doesn't seem quite as dolled-up as Ms. Roberts, so while Julia has been touching up the blusher, La Diaz has been applying the bleached flour.

The picture quality is night-on perfect with motion artifacts hardly present, especially not from the average viewing distance. The film is presented in its original widescreen ratio of 2.35:1, is enhanced for 16:9 widescreen televisions - thus allowing for higher resolution - and the average bitrate is a so-so 4.57 Mb/s.

It's good news that the disc has been encoded well as the widescreen ratio incorporates plenty of well-composed shots that span the length of the screen, whether it's placing an actor on either side of the screen talking, with something else happening in the middle, or a very effective overhead shot, such as the traditional bouquet-throw (but I'm not saying who throws it!). Another good example comes when most of the restaurant are singing "Say A Little Prayer".

The sound comes in Dolby Digital 5.1 - which will benefit all of those with the suitable hardware - and Dolby Surround for everyone else. The sound is mainly used for dialogue and background music and comes across very well, but doesn't ever get over-excited.

Extras :

Chapters/Theatrical Trailer :

The theatrical trailer is included here and is framed at approx. 1.66:1.

Languages/Subtitles :

There's just the one language on this disc - English - plus subtitles in English, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic, Hindi and Hebrew.

However, at least in the English language, there are no subtitles during the musical numbers sung by the cast once they've got into full swing, namely Cameron Diaz's broken rendition of I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself, (almost) the whole cast singing Say A Little Prayer, or three boys getting high on helium and warbling better than most would on John Denver's Annie's Song.

Menu :

The menu works very well and is presented in the style of a wedding invitation. Just dragging the mouse pointer over an option highlights it, although the menu is static. On playing the disc you see the Columbia TriStar logo before the main menu appears.

Upon initiating the "Start Movie" option, you'll first see a "Sony Pictures DVD Center" logo, followed by the Dolby Digital helicopter demo, the copyright logo and finally the film itself. Phew!

Apparently this film has some brief edits in the soundtrack for bad language, presumably to cut down (or out, as I didn't spot any) the f-words in the script, thus getting the film a 12-rating. Normally, I don't agree with such censorship but adding f-words to a film like this would not have added anything, so any prospective purchaser can rest assured it will not affect their viewing pleasure.

Overall, I was more impressed with this film than I thought I would be. I was expecting the typical crap slapstick-fest that the trailer led me to believe was on offer, most noted by the fact that it ran together all the moments where people fall over. Perhaps that's what devotees of Julia Roberts want and if they do then they may as well watch "You've Been Framed" as what's on show here is an entertaining comedy which comes recommended from me.

FILM	 		: ***½
PICTURE QUALITY		: ****½
SOUND QUALITY		: ****
EXTRAS			: *½
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OVERALL			: ***½

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.