Feel The Noise (2007/DVD)
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Film: C-
As the Musical has slowly made a comeback, the
soundtrack-driven non-Musical has survived, but as a B-movie. Hustle
& Flow would be one of the few exceptional products of this cycle, but
most are teen films with formula plots that involve using music and/or dance as
a route to success. Dirty Dancing is a model for this new subcycle and non-white actors
are usually more prominent than they would be in mainstream product. Alejandro Chomski’s Feel The Noise (2007) is the latest entry.
A rapper from the South Bronx (Omarion Grandberry)
discovers where his long lost father is and goes to Puerto Rico (protectorate
and commonwealth of the U.S.) to find him, but meets his half brother instead
and Reggaeton, a new hybrid genre of music that has not hit the states
yet. Can they make the record that will
break it and make them rich, or will they get exploited and ripped off by
powerful thieves? Will they get killed
over it?
Well, instead of taking advantage of the possibilities,
the film is formula all the way with Albert Leon’s too-safe, too-tired
script. The cast is good and give it
their best, but the production is slight and never amounts to anything. Did anyone behind the scenes ever see The Harder They Come? Did they get it? Do they care?
The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is too soft
throughout, with poor Video Black and only the variety of colors tend to
survive. The cinematography in general
by Director of Photography Zoran Popovic is not bad, but nothing we have not
seen before. The Dolby Digital 5.1 uses
its surrounds for the music when it shows up, but dialogue is poorly
recorded/reproduced and can be overwhelmed by sound effects and music. It reminds me of some remasters of older
films where the music the music was recorded at high fidelity in the studio,
but location recording and dubbing shows its age. Extras include two featurettes and some
trailers for other Sony releases.
- Nicholas Sheffo
