...does little more than disappoint its audience with annoying characters and stereotypical situations.
When "Introducing the Dwights" can't manage the warmhearted smile it's looking for, it goes after maudlin sentimentality or outright agony. For example, the disabled son serves little purpose except to elicit our sympathy, yet, as I say, he's the most appealing character in the story. Moreover, it's hard to understand what attraction the two young people see in one another beyond sex, of which there is plenty; there is little chemistry between them and little for the audience to enjoy. And, worse, it's hard to say why anyone would find the mother's stage act funny or her offstage life engaging.
As the movie wears on, the mother becomes ever more irritating to everyone around her and to the viewer. She's really quite horrible, actually, which hardly makes for an attractive picture.
Video:
Warner Bros. present the film in two screen formats on opposite sides of the disc, one in the movie's original 1.85:1 ratio widescreen and the other in a 1.33:1 ratio full-screen. The full-screen is a misnomer, of course, as about a third of the televisions in use are 16x9 sets that the "full-screen" will not fully fill up. The full-screen here is actually a pan-and-scan rendering that eliminates about one-third of the screen image left and right, leaving black bars on the sides of widescreen sets.
I watched the film in widescreen, as God and Warner Bros. intended, and found it just fine. Colors are deep and bright; facial tones are a tad dark; detailing and delineation are on a par with most standard-definition releases, meaning a little soft and fuzzy; and there is a hint of fine print grain in evidence, which sometimes makes the picture look a touch gritty and rough.
Audio:
There is a pleasant ambient bloom on the music and audience effects in this Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Otherwise, things are pretty ordinary, too: a wide front-channel stereo spread, a clear, clean midrange, and a well-balanced if somewhat limited frequency response. The movie makes no serious demands on the audio, and the audio responds in kind.
Extras:
Basically, there are no extras, unless you count the fact that the disc offers two screen formats. Beyond that, there are several trailers at start-up only for other WB releases; twenty-five scene selections; English as the only spoken language; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles, with English captions for the hearing impaired.
Parting Shots:
The question about the movie is just how entertaining you'll find a clinging mother who feels life has passed her by and an introverted son who wants to escape but isn't sure how. The keep case describes it as an "endearing comic gem." I would describe it as a joyless melodrama. It's always possible that the movie is somewhere in between, but, if so, I leave it to you to find it.
As the movie wears on, the mother becomes ever more irritating to everyone around her and to the viewer. She's really quite horrible, actually, which hardly makes for an attractive picture.
Video:
Warner Bros. present the film in two screen formats on opposite sides of the disc, one in the movie's original 1.85:1 ratio widescreen and the other in a 1.33:1 ratio full-screen. The full-screen is a misnomer, of course, as about a third of the televisions in use are 16x9 sets that the "full-screen" will not fully fill up. The full-screen here is actually a pan-and-scan rendering that eliminates about one-third of the screen image left and right, leaving black bars on the sides of widescreen sets.
I watched the film in widescreen, as God and Warner Bros. intended, and found it just fine. Colors are deep and bright; facial tones are a tad dark; detailing and delineation are on a par with most standard-definition releases, meaning a little soft and fuzzy; and there is a hint of fine print grain in evidence, which sometimes makes the picture look a touch gritty and rough.
Audio:
There is a pleasant ambient bloom on the music and audience effects in this Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Otherwise, things are pretty ordinary, too: a wide front-channel stereo spread, a clear, clean midrange, and a well-balanced if somewhat limited frequency response. The movie makes no serious demands on the audio, and the audio responds in kind.
Extras:
Basically, there are no extras, unless you count the fact that the disc offers two screen formats. Beyond that, there are several trailers at start-up only for other WB releases; twenty-five scene selections; English as the only spoken language; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles, with English captions for the hearing impaired.
Parting Shots:
The question about the movie is just how entertaining you'll find a clinging mother who feels life has passed her by and an introverted son who wants to escape but isn't sure how. The keep case describes it as an "endearing comic gem." I would describe it as a joyless melodrama. It's always possible that the movie is somewhere in between, but, if so, I leave it to you to find it.
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[release]23108[/release]