...the scary thing is, you can see by the seriousness of the film's tone that everybody who worked on the project must have had the best intentions.
I tell you, "Deuces Wild" is so aggravating it makes "The Outsiders" look like "The Godfather" by comparison. It's unrelenting gloom and doom without a happy face in the crowd. What's going on here? Then, the period fifties' atmosphere is meticulously recreated to the point that everything looks artificial. The magazines in a newsstand rack are perfectly arranged for conspicuous audience attention; the automobiles are polished and sparkling; the clothing is all white tee shirts and blue jeans. Everything is entirely too stereotyped to be credible.
What's more, police and parents are virtually nonexistent except as drunkards or simpletons. Bobby and Leon's mother is an alcoholic who cries in her glass; Annie's mother is a fruitcake who believes in Santa Claus and plays Christmas music year round; and the cops make about one appearance in the whole film, even though the setting is nearly a war zone. Finally, typical of movies set in the fifties, people make love with their clothes on. You think maybe "Deuces Wild" was supposed to be a comedy? Nahhh....
Video:
MGM continue their long-standing policy of offering the film in both a standard and a widescreen format on flip sides of the disc. As usual, their definition of "standard" really means pan-and-scan, the egregious practice of cutting a widescreen film to fit the size of a standard, 4:3 ratio television set. Compared to the 2.09:1 ratio, anamorphic widescreen version provided, the P&S version removes about 40% of the screen image, leaving the viewer with a blowup of only one part of the original picture. Stick with widescreen. There you'll find some good, bright colors and some reasonable definition, with little or no grain. Hues are mostly natural, although facial tones do lean toward the pinkish at times, and darker scenes can obscure a degree of detail.
Audio:
The movie starts right out with an all-enveloping thunder storm, rain coming down all around us, deep bass, very impressive Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Traffic noises, neighborhood ambiance, musical resonance all show up in the surrounds. Again we have a case of the audiovisual qualities of a movie far outstripping the merits of the film itself, which seems like a waste when you consider how many great older films have to do without these superior technical characteristics. Oh, well....
Extras:
For special features we get the usual assortment, and I'm surprised, given the film's lack of theatrical success, that MGM even bothered to supply them. Nevertheless, if you actually care enough, you can listen to a full-feature audio commentary with director Scott Kalvert or watch a five-minute photo montage of stills from the movie. Then, there are all of sixteen scene selections to help you navigate, a widescreen theatrical trailer, and spoken languages and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.
Parting Shots:
Do I really need to tell you again how much I disliked "Deuces Wild"? Let me put it this way: If I were forced to watch it again, I'd definitely look at it as a parody--a dark, satiric comedy making light of things like "West Side Story" or "Rumblefish." I'd pretend all the caricatures and all the insipid dialogue were meant to be funny, and then I might find it a howl. But as it stands, the movie's ninety-seven minutes went by like ninety-seven hours, and the thought having to look at it twice would negate any pleasure I could conjure up. The movie simply fails on every level of serious involvement. Despite its best intentions, "Deuces Wild" is an empty hand.
What's more, police and parents are virtually nonexistent except as drunkards or simpletons. Bobby and Leon's mother is an alcoholic who cries in her glass; Annie's mother is a fruitcake who believes in Santa Claus and plays Christmas music year round; and the cops make about one appearance in the whole film, even though the setting is nearly a war zone. Finally, typical of movies set in the fifties, people make love with their clothes on. You think maybe "Deuces Wild" was supposed to be a comedy? Nahhh....
Video:
MGM continue their long-standing policy of offering the film in both a standard and a widescreen format on flip sides of the disc. As usual, their definition of "standard" really means pan-and-scan, the egregious practice of cutting a widescreen film to fit the size of a standard, 4:3 ratio television set. Compared to the 2.09:1 ratio, anamorphic widescreen version provided, the P&S version removes about 40% of the screen image, leaving the viewer with a blowup of only one part of the original picture. Stick with widescreen. There you'll find some good, bright colors and some reasonable definition, with little or no grain. Hues are mostly natural, although facial tones do lean toward the pinkish at times, and darker scenes can obscure a degree of detail.
Audio:
The movie starts right out with an all-enveloping thunder storm, rain coming down all around us, deep bass, very impressive Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Traffic noises, neighborhood ambiance, musical resonance all show up in the surrounds. Again we have a case of the audiovisual qualities of a movie far outstripping the merits of the film itself, which seems like a waste when you consider how many great older films have to do without these superior technical characteristics. Oh, well....
Extras:
For special features we get the usual assortment, and I'm surprised, given the film's lack of theatrical success, that MGM even bothered to supply them. Nevertheless, if you actually care enough, you can listen to a full-feature audio commentary with director Scott Kalvert or watch a five-minute photo montage of stills from the movie. Then, there are all of sixteen scene selections to help you navigate, a widescreen theatrical trailer, and spoken languages and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.
Parting Shots:
Do I really need to tell you again how much I disliked "Deuces Wild"? Let me put it this way: If I were forced to watch it again, I'd definitely look at it as a parody--a dark, satiric comedy making light of things like "West Side Story" or "Rumblefish." I'd pretend all the caricatures and all the insipid dialogue were meant to be funny, and then I might find it a howl. But as it stands, the movie's ninety-seven minutes went by like ninety-seven hours, and the thought having to look at it twice would negate any pleasure I could conjure up. The movie simply fails on every level of serious involvement. Despite its best intentions, "Deuces Wild" is an empty hand.
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[release]10486[/release]