Parenthood – Special Edition (DVD-Video)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C     Film: C+

 

 

A film that showed Ron Howard’s growing skills as a filmmaker and helped him to be a more successful and credible director was his 1989 hit Parenthood.  Co-written by Howard with Lowell Ganz and Babloo Mandel, it was a big screen sitcom done large, somewhat intelligently and with some good moments that still hold up.  It also came with a huge cast led by Steve Martin, with Diane Wiest, Mary Steenburgen, Tom Hulce, Rick Morantis, Keanu Reeves, Martha Plympton, Mary Steenburgen, Joaquin Phoenix, Clint Howard and Jason Robards.

 

The film is essentially a compendium of vignettes, gags and other moments in a sometimes entertaining, sometimes dysfunctional way.  It is a safe film, but even has its moments of honesty.  It is also a product of its time when it stood out among the “happy family” cycle of 1980s films and in some ways, is its conclusion and peak.  Howard had a ways to go to be a great filmmaker, but this has aged well enough and is still worth a look.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is supposed to be remastered, but it still shows it age, which is interesting since Director of Photography Donald McAlpine, A.S.C., is known for his glossier shoots later in his career like The Hard Way, Stanley & Iris, Mrs. Doubtfire, Patriot Games, Chronicles Of Narnia and Moulin Rouge!  The original theatrical sound was old Dolby A-type analog sound, here in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with vague Pro Logic surrounds, but a Dolby 5.1 upgrade is barely an improvement.  The only extras are three making of featurettes.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo