Women, The (DVD)

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The fact is, there probably isn't much going on in "The Women" that HBO's "Sex and the City" didn't already cover. Ms. English intends "The Women" to be sophisticated, insightful, and funny, but it comes off as catty, superficial, and bland. Then, the film concludes with a really tasteless, grating, desperate scene in a hospital delivery room that pretty much says it all. The film is quite disappointing, given its pedigree and its stars, proving that it's usually better to leave well enough alone.

Video:
Warner/New Line provide both a widescreen anamorphic version of the film and a pan-and-scan full-screen version on flip sides of the same disc. Neither version does much to make a lasting visual impression, but at least the widescreen format doesn't cut off the edges of the screen. (And when are studios going to drop the announcement that these P&S affairs are "formatted to fit your screen" when a high percentage of viewers are now using widescreen TVs?) That said, the colors are bright enough, but the screen looks somewhat dark and sometimes noisy, with occasional moiré effects, shimmering stripes and columns, distracting the eye. When it looks good, the picture quality is fine, and when it doesn't look good, it's average at best. Faces are often too shadowy, although close-ups display reasonably good detail.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 does little more than it has to, but because the film's audio is made up almost entirely of dialogue, there is little for it to do. There is a decent stereo spread for some of the background music, and there is a realistically balanced midrange. Otherwise, there is very little surround and almost no need for deep bass or wide dynamics.

Extras:
The major bonus items on the disc are a pair of featurettes, both about eighteen minutes long. The first is "The Women: The Legacy," which compares this 2008 remake to the original 1939 Cukor film, with each comparison showing the newer movie to a disadvantage. The second featurette is "The Women Behind The Women," a promo on the making of the new film, with the writer-director assisted by a junior female journalist, the two of them trying in vain to show how relevant the film is to modern women.

The extras conclude with two additional scenes; twenty-nine scenes; access to a digital copy of the film (Windows Media-compatible only and not compatible with Apple Macintosh and Ipod devices); some trailers and promos at start-up; English as the only spoken language; and English captions for the hearing impaired.

Parting Shots:
A female fan of this remake could accuse any male critic who disliked it of simply not understanding it. Fair enough. Critics do their best to remain unbiased and look at all types of film with an open mind, from children's fare to genre flicks. Although I admit I cannot speak for women who might adore what they see in "The Women," taking it as objectively as I can and comparing it to the better films in my experience, it's hard for me to see "The Women" as anything more than mediocre at best and strident at worst.

"Nobody hates Saks!" --Annette Bening

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