W.E.
(2011/Weinstein/Anchor Bay Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
B- & C Sound: B- & C+ Extras: C Film: C
Madonna
reunited with her Truth Or Dare
director Alex Keshishian for W.E.
(2011), an odd attempt to tell two stories and link them into one feminist
statement, but so much is going on that the film becomes muddled and despite
its ambitions, simply does not add up.
Abbie
Cornish plays a woman who becomes obsessed with the love affair of Edward VIII
(James D’Arcy) and Mrs. Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough) which the movie
spends about half of its time flashing back to.
Cornish has given up her career to be with a man who is mean, ignorant
and manipulative, but wants to have his baby.
She is constantly being beaten and abused otherwise, mirroring an early
scene with Wallis. However, right there,
a woman who loves to much and man who hates her relationship in 1998 is not
analogous to the older tale as there are so many things that are not common
denominators.
As a
result, the violence loses context and the violence seems out of context, we do
not have enough information on why in either case and whatever points Madonna
had gets lost in the cross-cutting and assuming we always know what she is
talking about. I like her and understand
the big statement she tries to make about love and childbirth, but it seems
like an aside to the film and never integrated into the narrative as it could
have been.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer shows the style in both periods
and the money that is on screen, but this is overall a little softer than I
would have liked and the anamorphically enhanced DVD version is much
softer. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
lossless mix is somewhat quiet and towards the front speakers, but it is well
recorded and also better than the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD version
which is weaker. Extras include Digital
Copy for PC and PC portable devices and the disc itself adds a Making Of featurette on the film.
- Nicholas Sheffo
