Eli Stone – The Complete First Season (ABC/Disney DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: B Episodes: B-
WAAM! What would you do if you woke up one day to
George Michael singing to you? Or a
biplane flying at your head? Or maybe a
fire breathing dragon outside your office window? Whereas the second two sound much better,
welcome to the life of Eli Stone…
The
series is simple at best. The premise of
Eli Stone is that Eli Stone (Jonny
Lee Miller) is an ordinary lawyer with an ordinary life; that is until he finds
out he has an inoperable brain aneurism that is making him have
‘hallucinations.’ The funny thing is,
however, the ‘hallucinations’ all seem to signal future events, events that if
he were to intervene on the world would be a better place. The reluctant Eli mostly brushes off the
predictions and ‘hallucinations’ as part of his medical condition, but his
acupuncturist (Dr. Chen) believes that it is a divine message from a higher
being. The ‘hallucinations’ begin to
take a toll on Eli’s professional and personal life, but he is at a crossroads
as to what all the recent happening means.
Is he meant to be the helpful prophet or the unhealthy lawyer? Life isn’t easy for Eli Stone, but he is
trying to keep the faith.
Eli Stone did not make a splash in its first
season, but lightly treaded the water with its light comedy, light drama, and
deep creativity. The series shows great
promise with its infusion of many facets of comedy and drama to push it along;
but seemed too afraid to get its feet wet at first. The series pilot was intriguing and made the
viewer want more, but after that the series lightly fizzled along as only
mildly amusing. The audience will become
quickly invested in the characters, but for some reason they will also be left
with a slight annoyance by the characters attitudes and actions as well. Some characters are too stringent, others too
sassy, some passive, and others down right indecisive. It would seem that the characters cover a
good walk of life, but really they turn out to be big walking caricatures of
what they are suppose to be portraying.
The series shows great promise but needs work. The use of George Michael’s music being such
a great moment in the series would make people think that the series would be filled
with great musical moments, but that is just not so. From this reviewer’s point of view, if the
series utilized a much heavier soundtrack it would be much more interesting and
would pull in a larger audience. But what do I know?
The
technical features on this set will not change the world, but fans should not
lose any faith either. The picture is
presented in a 1.78 X 1 Widescreen that seems to be a tad dull in the color
department, but remains crisp throughout with little too no light/dark issues. The sound is a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound that mainly is heavy on the front speakers since the series is mainly
dialogue, but the music and action sequences do make solid use of the full
soundstage.
The
extras are plentiful as well as interesting.
The special features include an Extended Pilot Episode with Audio
Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Ei Oopps! Bloopers, and Acting On Faith: Eli and
George Michael featurette, Turning a Prophet: The Creation of Eli Stone, and
Inside the Firm: The Natasha Henstridge Tour.
Collectively the extras are very well done and give a good look into the
series from top to bottom. Not only do
fans get audio commentaries and interviews, but also the behind the scenes
looks into the creation of the series gives the audience a great sense of
direction and the creative process.
Eli Stone was not exactly what this
reviewer was expecting when he first popped in the DVD, but it turned out to be
a great series with a lot of heart and creativity. This series is for a wide ranging
audience. The series contains it all
comedy, drama, and even George Michael…those last two may be the same thing?
- Michael P. Dougherty II
