Brideshead Revisited (2008/Miramax DVD) +
Closing The Ring (2007/Genius DVD)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: D Films: D
Miramax and now, The Weinstein Company, are most likely to
greenlight stuffy feature films much like stuffy British TV and two recent entries
reminds us of how even stuff overproduction is still stuffy and
overproduced. From 2008 comes a film
remake of the enduring, popular, classic book and British TV Mini-Series Brideshead Revisited with Jeremy Irons,
which we covered here:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4248/Brideshead+Revisited
The remake has Matthew Goode in Irons role and support
from Emma Thompson and Michael Gambon.
Yes, it was a novel first and 133 minutes just seems too truncated
versus the TV version (also filmed) and the idea of using scope does not make
it more cinematic. Director Julian
Jarrold (who did such a good job with Kinky
Boots) is just fighting a losing battle on this one, but he is talented and
you see why all involved rolled the dice.
There is money in the production and the makers and actors try, but the
energy and chemistry is just not here.
Closing
The Ring was Sir Richard Attenborough’s last film and he managed
to get Christopher Plummer, Shirley MacLaine, Pete Postlewaite and Brenda
Flicker with Mischa Barton and Neve Campbell in yet another flashback romance tale
where a ring turns up and sends us (safely) back 50 years to see how a great
love was formed during WWII. Some of
this is well acted and the locations are not bad, but it is still everything we
have seen lately and just has too many clichés, which is something we have come
to expect from Attenborough’s work.
There certainly is some ambition to both and they are not
stupid films by any means, but if you must see them, be very, very awake.
The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image (lensed by Jess
Hall of Hot Fuzz and Son Of Rambow) on Brideshead and 1.85 X 1 image on Ring (lensed by Roger Pratt, lately of the Harry Potter films) are not bad, but both are still softer than
films with this kind of detail potential should be and when they hit Blu-ray,
that will be more obvious. It is not
that DVD is too weak to handle this, but they could look better. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes on both have some
good ambiance, but are both also dialogue-based and offer limited surround activity. Extras on Brideshead include deleted scene, Director Audio Commentary & “The World Of Brideshead” featurette all
worth seeing, while Ring has a
trailer and making of featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
