Evening (HD-DVD/DVD
Combo Format)
Picture:
B/C Sound: B+/B- Extras: C Film: C+
An
ambitious drama, Lajos Koltai’s Evening
(2007) tells the story off Ann (Vanessa Redgrave) flashing back and reliving
key points of her past as she gets sicker mentally and the like. Trying to help her and understand her are her
daughters (Toni Collette & Claire Danes) who do not know her as well as
they think. The film has many flashbacks
woven in, as well as other interesting moments.
Unfortunately,
the Susan Minot/Michael Cunningham screenplay can be patchy and sags in places,
relying too much on melodrama and not enough on character development. It boasts an impressive additional cast
including Hugh Dancy, Natasha Richardson, Patrick Wilson, Eileen Atkins, Meryl
Streep and Glenn Close, but it simply cannot juggle all that talent and make
all this work. I give it points for
ambition, but overall, was a bit let down.
Still, it is worth a look just the same.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 VC-1 digital High Definition image on the HD side has much digital
work, but has rich color and a solidly-enough consistent look throughout. Unfortunately, the anamorphically enhanced
standard DVD side is color weak, Video Black weak, flat and awful to watch
overall. It is so bad that it ruins what
dies work in the film and should be skipped.
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix exclusive to the HD side is the highlight of
the whole disc, with solid ambience, decent surrounds, nicely recorded dialogue
and a fairly good Jan A.P. Kaczmarek score. The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 version on the HD
side and standard Dolby Digital 5.1 side are still good, but no match for the
TrueHD. Extras include deleted scenes
and two featurettes: One Weekend By The
Sea: Remembering Evening and Adapting
Evening.
- Nicholas Sheffo
