Two For The Road
Picture: B
Sound: B- Extras: B- Film: B
After seeing this film on TV a few times, I was desperate
to see Two For The Road in a nicely restored version, not to mention in
it’s intended scope 2.35 X 1 widescreen presentation. I’ve suffered through poor versions of it on
TV and now that this DVD is available from Fox, I can without a doubt say that
it’s been worth the wait to revisit this film.
Two For The Road is yet another charming Stanley
Donen picture starring Audrey Hepburn and another one of my favorite actors,
Albert Finney. They are awesome
together and really help make this film work as well as it does. While Donen’s other film with Hepburn (Charade)
is far superior, this is still worth a look.
What truly holds this film together is the fact that it’s quote unquote
a ‘road’ movie, but here the films narrative is strung together
brilliantly. Hepburn’s character is
traveling with a choir, while Finney’s an architect and they meet in Europe;
the rest of the film follows their relationship through courtship and
eventually marriage via automobile. Not
only through their ups, but also their downs as the film unfolds infidelity and
parenthood in their path.
Donen has a clever knack whether it be Singin’ in the
Rain or Charade and especially here with telling the story in a
clever way and the editing enables the viewer to feel what the characters are
feeling without the film taking forever.
In short little moments we are taken in and placed under the films
trance. This is without a doubt a
realistic look into the married life, plus what evolves afterwards.
The film is presented in its scope 2.35 X 1 aspect ratio
and has been anamorphically enhanced for this Fox DVD presentation, as it
should be, especially for a restored copy.
This is the best the film has looked on home video and maintains the
high level of quality that Fox seems committed to with their classic
films. Depth and detail is astonishing
in certain scenes, while color manages to stay solid and never washed out. With a tad of softness at times this is
hardly a complaint as there are too many good things about this print and
restoration to even bother.
Sound-wise this is interesting too because Fox likes to do
both stereo and mono mixes when possible for their older films. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix is far more
spatial than it’s counter 2.0 or even 2.0 Mono mix. For those with receivers that enable Pro Logic to decode for a
fuller surround mix, the 2.0 Stereo sounds more sonically compatible and is the
preferred choice since 5.1 was not done for this film.
Extras included are a real treat as we get commentary by
Stanley Donen that was recorded for the 12” LaserDisc format version years ago
and has been recycled here, if that is the word since this is really good. Also included is the restoration
demonstration for those that want to see the comparison before the film was
cleaned up, as well as the theatrical trailer giving a good impression of what
the film looks like untouched.
Definitely a solid DVD release and fans of Audrey will be
pleased to get their hands on this one.
This is a great comedy/drama that will make you laugh at its honesty and
at the same time feel emotionally touched by it as well. It’s hard to come across films today that
reach this level and is worth rediscovery.
Two For The Road has a following for a good reason.
- Nate Goss
