Sweet Bird Of Youth (1989/Telefilm/Tango Entertainment)
Picture: C Sound: C+ Extras: C- Telefilm: C
The 1962
feature film version of Sweet Bird Of
Youth had tension in the hands of the capable Richard Brooks, stars Paul
Newman and Geraldine Page. The 1989 TV
movie with Mark Harmon and Elizabeth Taylor could have worked, especially with
a clever, innovative director like Nicolas Roeg. Unfortunately, it is a flat exercise with
Roeg hampered by Cavin Lambert’s teleplay and network TV censorship.
It does
not help that Roeg was not in top form and the result is 96 minutes that drags
on and on, with nothing good realized and feeling like the phoniest of package
deals. Even Rip Torn and Valerie
Perrine cannot perk up this flat flick that stops new generations from reading
books. Only for the most curious.
The 1.33
X 1 image is surprisingly soft from older analog transfers with detail issues,
motion blur and aliasing issues. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 is barely stereo and passable, more like a TV recording of
the time, with bad sound-alike hits to boot.
- Nicholas Sheffo
