Movie Info:
Writer: Andrew Niccol
Director: Peter Weir
Cast: Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Holland Taylor, Natascha McElhone, Noah Emmerich, Peter Krause
Rating: PG
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment

Release Info:
DVD Release Date:December 30, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $19.99

I’m really not a fan of Jim Carrey. Sure, I like a few of his movies, but as an actor, I’m really not super excited when he comes out with a new movie. I’m not one of his fan boys nor have I ever been. While Jim Carrey seems to be a one trick pony, in the vast majority of the films that he’s been in, occasionally, there comes a movie where he actually proves he just might know how to act. The Truman Show is one of those movies.

I didn’t want to see this movie initially. I had seen Ace Ventura, and while I found the movie stupid-funny, I thought Jim Carrey was kind of dumb. My oldest nephew is only six and a half years younger than me. As you might have guessed, he was a huge Jim Carrey fan. I don’t know if he still is, but he was when he was a kid.

My nephew and niece would visit our house for a month, every summer. My brother would often go to Cedar Point with them and I ended up having to go to the movies with them, instead. I know that totally wasn’t a fair shake, but I got over it. Being the nice uncle I am, I let them pick the movie, even if I knew I was going to regret it. That is how I ended up seeing Titanic at the theater, four times in one summer! All I remember is how huge that boat looked. I also remember sneaking my niece into a movie that was rated R. I think there was some partial nudity in it or something (it probably would be rated PG-13, these days). Since I was over 18 and her “guardian” at the time, we got to go in, no sweat!

Of course, none of this has anything to do with The Truman Show except for the fact that Ben (the nephew) wanted to go see it. At first, I wasn’t going to let him pick the movie. He was a kid anyway. Sure, I’d sat through Titanic (four times) for his older sister (only 4 1/2 years younger than me), but that turned out to be a good movie, especially if you ignore the entire romance part of it.

Ben was 11 at the time, and though we had quite the antagonistic relationship (I thought he was a baby and we fought more like siblings – Ben fought with everyone and everything. He’d have fought with a shoe if it’d fought back!) I decided to be nice. I saw The Truman Show and I was all set to hate this movie. My 17 year old self was sure it was going to stink. When it didn’t, I could almost hear the sneering, “I told you so,” in Ben’s voice!

After watching this movie, I thought that maybe Jim Carrey would be able to come into his own. Maybe he’d stop taking the crappy, I’m a freak of nature, watch my body contort, type of roles. Sadly, he seems to be up to his old tricks again, and while he acts in movies like The Truman Show, on occasion, those occasions seem to be too few and far between, these days.

The The Truman Show Plot
Seahaven is a quiet, friendly town, on a small, secluded island. Everyone seems to know everyone else. Everything you could ever need from a grocery store to a college is on the island. Surrounded by water, believed to be off the west coast of the United States, Seahaven is the perfect place to grow up.

The reason why this town is so ‘perfect’ is because it’s not real. Everyone knows that except for Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey). Everyone else, from Truman’s mother to his wife, are actors who are just playing parts in the telling of Truman’s life story, on a 24/7 run television show called “The Truman Show.” Truman was bought by a corporation when he was just a baby. He was from an unwanted pregnancy, so his parents aren’t even his real, biological parents. While people have tried to crash the set and let Truman know the truth, his true identity has been hidden so well, he has no clue about it.

With moments told in flashback, we look at a time when Truman begins to suspect something is different about his town. All of the memories of the past help him to believe something is amiss, but he’s not sure he can put his finger on it. Obsessed with maps, Truman hopes to one day explore the world, but his more practical wife, Meryl Burbank/Hannah Gill (Laura Linney) and the death of his father, Kirk/Walter Moore (Brian Delate) by drowning render him unable to leave this island paradise.

When Truman thinks he sees Kirk, a man he believed to be dead, his entire world falls apart. Add in a set light falling into the middle of the street and some other, film snafus, and Truman is soon becoming suspicious of his surroundings. He begins to think of the girl he fell in love with, in college, named Lauren Garland (Natascha McElhone).

Lauren was really an extra who wasn’t supposed to get romantically involved with Truman, but he wanted to be with her, so he broke the rules not knowing there were any. When Lauren tries to tell him her real name is Sylvia and she tries to tell him the truth about this world, she is taken away by her “father” never to be seen again. This leads Truman to want to travel, and leave home, but every time he tries to get away, something is standing in his way.

With pressure to start having a family from Meryl and Truman’s mother, Angela/Alanis Montclair (Holland Taylor), good advice that only seeks to keep him from learning the truth by his best friend, Marlon/Louis Coltrane (Noah Emmerich), and a constant desire to travel, Truman is on the verge of discovering the secret of all secrets.

Storyline/Plot: 5 out of 5 stars
Replayability: 5 out of 5 stars
Acting: 5 out of 5 stars
Directing: 5 out of 5 stars

Audio/Visual:
The video quality for The Truman Show does not disappoint. It is presented in a 1080p transfer with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. If you have had a chance to see The Truman Show before, you will be in awe of quality that you find here. Despite it being a few years older, The Truman Show looks like a brand new movie. There were no moments of noise or compression errors. The only noticeable error comes in slight grain in the darker scenes. Still, the majority of the movie is detailed and looks great. For a movie that was not originally on Blu-ray it looks fabulous.

Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless sounds excellent in this HD format. The soundtrack here is stunning and dyanamic, which is amazing since this was not originally a movie made with Blu-ray in mind. The majority of the channels are used to the best of their ability. No toggling is necessary as all of the various sound forms are well represented with none over-powering the other. The dialogue is crisp and clear, the music utilizes every bit of sound capacity, and the sound effects are stellar. There is absolutely nothing to complain about here. In addition to the English track there are both Spanish and French tracks in Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles are available in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French.

Visual: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Audio: 5 out of 5 stars

Bonus Features:
I was surprised to see that after a good movie and excellent audio and video, The Truman Show would fail in the area of special features. What you end up being offered on this otherwise perfect BD presentation is two special featurettes, a gallery, some deleted scenes, and a mix of trailers and television spots.

The featurettes include a two part “Making Of” in “How’s It Going to End? The Making Of Part 1″ and “Part 2″. The other featurette is entitled “Faux Finishing, The Visual Effects of The Truman Show“. Both featurettes are rather lackluster. They suit their purpose, but they aren’t anything that is going to make you want to buy this movie just to see them. The deleted scenes aren’t that impressive and frankly, it’s obvious as to why they were deleted. Other than that it’s just the trailers and television spots.

Bonus Features: 2 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line:
The Truman Show has to be Jim Carrey’s best movie to date. Even if you aren’t a fan of Carrey, you can appreciate his performance in this movie. The story for The Truman Show is fun and entertaining. All of the actors (many A-Listers, in Hollywood) give great performances. While the bonus section is a bit lackluster, the excellent Blu Ray quality and the great performance value of this movie make it worth picking up!

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Technorati Tags: Blu Ray, BD, Paramount Home Entertainment, The Truman Show, Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Holland Taylor, Natascha McElhone, Noah Emmerich, Peter Krause

Movie Info:
Writer: Diane English
Director: Diane English
Cast: Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bette Midler, Candice Bergen, Carrie Fisher, Cloris Leachman, Debi Mazar, India Ennenga, Natasha Alam, Ana Gasteyer
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Warner Bros.

Release Info:
DVD Release Date:December 19, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $26.99

I’m the type of guy who can’t stand chick flicks. Well, unless they are well written and feature Meg Ryan. Looking back at the “chick flicks” I’m able to tolerate watching, nearly all of them have Meg Ryan in them. My mother in law loves Meg Ryan. So, I’ve seen many of her chick-friendly movies. I admit it. When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and even You’ve Got Mail are watchable. I’ve seen all of these movies more than once.

As a genre though, I’m just not into the chick movies. I’ll watch them occasionally with my girlfriend, just to be a nice and caring boyfriend. Of course, I don’t expect to like the movies. I’m just glad my girlfriend, Ashtyn, seems to like drama, action, and horror movies a lot more than she does chick flicks. We tend to agree on our assessment of most films, so I can expect that she won’t want me to watch any Cameron Diaz movies. It’s just not her style.

When I was told I had to review a movie called The Women I didn’t know what to think. The title alone just screams chick flick. Then I heard about the cast. Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bette Midler, Candice Bergen, Carrie Fisher and Cloris Leachman all have parts in this. Meg Ryan was the first name I heard. I like Meg Ryan, but she has had some real doozies! I was hoping this was more of a When Harry Met Sally then it was a French Kiss.

When I heard Annette Benning was in this, I had hope. She isn’t really the big chick flick type. Her roles are usually more dignified. Adding in Eva Mendes and Jada Pinkett Smith could definitely spice this movie up, and while Debra Messing definitely does the chick flick thing, she was fabulous in Will and Grace. So, with the right cast, she could be not so chick flick-y.

Add in some Candace Bergen, a woman I’ve enjoyed watching, ever since she made fun of Dan Quayle on Murphy Brown (and perhaps even before then), Bette Midler (what’s not to love about the magnificent Bette?), Cloris Leachman (who is just a hoot – dating back to her Young Frankenstein days), and Carrie Fisher. Sure Carrie isn’t dressed up with Cinnamon buns. She doesn’t have a semi-automatic weapon she’s using as she chases down her ex. She does play quite the sleazy reporter/writer though, and those dark and nasty roles she plays are always fun.

To sum things up, even though it’s about the friendship of a group of women, this movie still sounded like it could be a winner. And…winner it was! I actually enjoyed this movie. Ash and I watched this together. In fact, I’d be willing to watch it again, just because it was so funny!

The The Women Plot
The acting, casting and comedic timing are what make The Women work. This movie has some laugh out loud moments. I didn’t mind sitting through this movie, and I found both the cast and the story they were telling to be engaging. If the cast had been made up of hacks, this would have been just another, boring chick flick. However, this cast worked well together and although these women made unlikely friends, that made the story all the more interesting. Oh, and who doesn’t want to see Jada Pinkett Smith play a lesbian? Her role wasn’t huge, but she was pretty funny when she was on the screen. She’s not just a lesbian. She’s a narcissistic writer lesbian.

I should also probably note that The Women is an updated version of a movie by the same name, which featured actresses from classic Hollywood. This movie fits the times NOW. It can’t be compared to the original version, merely because that movie spoke for the times, then. Yes, the original will always be better, because they don’t make movies like that anymore. That being said, there are a few things you need to understand.

First, Meg Ryan was wishy washy because many women who have been cheated on by their husbands (and who initially choose to try to ignore it) are that way. That’s just part of the times. I know women like Meg Ryan’s character.

Second, Eva Mendes will NEVER be a Joan Crawford. Thank goodness, because the floozies men now cheat on their wives with are the Eva Mendes’ not the Joan Crawfords. She fit the role, in which it was written, for this updated version. Third, women care as much about appearance and obsess over it, as much, if not more, than men do. All this being said, on with the plot!

Mary Haines (Meg Ryan) has it made. She lives in a beautiful home far enough away from the bustle of the city in Connecticut. She has a good job, working as a fashion designer for her father. She has a wonderful 11 year old daughter, Molly (ndia Ennenga), and a well to do husband Steven. She also has a stellar group of friends, her best friend Sylvie (Annette Bening), who is an editor of a top fashion magazine, a bohemian style, constantly pregnant artist, Edie (Debra Messing) and a narcissistic, lesbian writer, Alex (Jada Pinkett Smith).

Mary’s life turns upside down when her father fires her. To make matters worse, Sylvie finds out, by mistake, from a manicurist at Saks that Steven is cheating on Mary with a young, sexy girl who works in the perfume section, Crystal Allen (Eva Mendes). Wracked with anguish and wanting to protect her friend, Sylvie doesn’t tell Mary.

When Mary finds out about the affair, on her own, her mother, Catherine (Candace Bergen), advises her to ignore the affair. That’s all it is, otherwise Steven would have divorced her. Sylvie must also choose to get involved in exploiting her friend’s time of torture and heartbreak, or risk losing her job. All of the decisions these women will make will not only affect their own lives, but the lives of others. As Mary tries to find a way to move on from the ultimate betrayal, she will go on a journey to discover herself, in the process.

Storyline/Plot: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Replayability: 5 out of 5 stars
Acting: 5 out of 5 stars
Directing: 5 out of 5 stars

Audio/Visual:
With The Women you have to take the good with the bad when it comes to audio and video. The visual quality here is not as bad as it is bland. The colors do not jump out as you as much as you might expect with Blu-ray. The detail is good, but the 1080p/VC-1 encode with 1.85:1 aspect ratio feels wasted here at times. There aren’t any major compression errors. The biggest problem is that it’s just not as visually exciting as you would expect from this type of setting. Sadly, when a film like this, that is more chick flick oriented and not something like action, the Blu-ray runs the risk of not seeming as spectacular because there isn’t as much to show off. This means that it has to try harder in other areas, like the colors and the definition. While definition was good, colors were rather plain and boring. So, it’s the least you would expect from Blu-ray but that doesn’t make it completely bad.

Surprisingly this Blu-ray disc does not appear to have anything in the way of enhanced, Blu-ray worthy sound. In fact, rather than offering something amazing it comes with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Sure, this is a dialogue heavy track so you probably would not have needed anything better than what is here, but there would have been a noted difference had they allowed the enhanced track. Instead, things are pushed to the front channel and not overly dynamic. Things are easy to hear but are not too impressive otherwise. The audio suits its purpose but is not representative of Blu-ray quality in any way. Additionally, there are no other audio options and subtitles are available in English.

Visual: 3 out of 5 stars
Audio: 3 out of 5 stars

Bonus Features:
The special features for this release of The Women is about as bare bones as they come. Considering this was a bigger budget film, at least star wise, one would think that New Line would have went all out. Sadly, it seems that the exact opposite has taken place. In fact, the only special features here beyond the standard previews are two featurettes and a set of deleted scenes.

“The Women, The Legacy” is an 18 minute featurette that is really nothing more than an interview with Diane English. The interview includes comparisons with the previous version of the film. If you’re a fan of the original this featurette won’t prove to you that it needed to be done in this second version. If you’ve never seen it you might find yourself wanting to run out and rent it. Otherwise, even if you’re a fan of this version you probably won’t care for this feature.

“Behind the Women” is a minute longer and serves as a making of for the feature film. It includes interviews with the cast like most Making ofs. Sponsored by Dove Products it also feels a bit like a service announcements for women. The only other thing available here are some deleted scenes that last about six minutes.

Bonus Features: 2 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line:
The Women is a great movie. I liked the cast, the acting was good and the story was actually quite decent. This movie is funny. I don’t remember laughing at a chick flick quite like I laughed at this. If you like the actresses involved in The Women (and there are absolutely NO men in this movie – no men are seen period throughout the entire film) and you can handle the excess estrogen for the few hours it’s on, then you need to buy this movie.

If you don’t have the extra cash and want to save a little dough, you should purchase this in standard DVD form. Sadly, the BD quality and bonus features didn’t live up to their expectations. Either way, the film is worth the purchase, so buy it while you can.

Overall Rating: 3.79 out of 5 stars

Technorati Tags: Blu Ray, BD, The Women, Chick Flick, Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing, Comedy, New Line Home Video, Warner Bros