I was eager to see this film as I had heard a little
about it and was intrigued. I, and most of you I’m sure have been the victim of
malicious gossip at one time or another and knows how it feels to try and squash the
rumour.
Cathy Jones (Lena Heady), Derrick Webb (James Marsden) and Travis (Norman Reedus) are a
group of college roommates who attend the same communication lectures. The three are
really completely different characters. Early on in the film it becomes apparent that
Derrick isn’t the sweet young man everyone thinks he is.
The three decide to perform a little experiment by starting a completely untrue rumour
and seeing just how far it will spread and how out of proportion it will get. They pick
and innocent young girl Naomi Preston (Kate Hudson) and start a rumour that she had sex
with Beau Edson (Joshua Jackson) at a nightclub. Derrick knows this is completely untrue
as he actually saw Naomi pass out and Beau left.
However all starts to go horribly wrong when Naomi gets wind of the rumour and is
convince that she was raped since she was passed out at the time. Cathy tries hard to
confess but the rumour has become so rock solid that noone will believe her.
It soon becomes very apparent though that Derrick had other more malicious plans when
he started the rumour and the story takes some interesting twists towards the end.
VIDEO
The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is close to reference quality
but doesn’t quite make it after a couple of very small problems. The transfer is
extremely sharp and clear throughout. Shadow detail is a little average, as the contrast
seems to be well overdone. Black levels are fantastic and deep but shadow detail is a
little on the bland side and often doesn’t come up to scratch.
I did see one instance of grain but it wasn’t really bad enough to be a problem.
There were no mpeg artefacts or film artefacts and only a few occasions of shimmering. The
colour palette was bright and brassy and complimented the film well.
AUDIO
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track wasn’t too bad either. Dialogue is
clear and easy to understand throughout. As a predominantly dialogue based film the
surrounds didn’t come into play very often but they did support some effects and the
soundtrack well. The rears gave plenty of life to the film and a very enveloping feeling
while the LFE channel had a little life but not enough to really make it known.
The soundtrack comes from a mixture of alternative bands
and does a great job without going overboard and completely drowning out the film.
EXTRAS
Dolby Rain Trailer
Cast Bio’s
Cast and Crew Listing
Theatrical Trailer
Music Video : Our lips are sealed: Poe
Music Video: Mean to Me: Tonic
Alternate ending: I won’t tell you
what happens here as it would spoil it for those who haven’t seen the film. But I
will say that it’s another clever twist that would have fit very well.
5 deleted Scenes: 4 deleted scenes and
some unedited footage, all poor quality.
Audio Commentary: Davis Guggenheim
(Director) and James Marsden (actor): This is quite a good commentary (as far as
commentaries go) and was easy to listen to with one person speaking from the left and one
from the right. I was interested to lean that the director has chosen to cut in a scene in
the film which was not completely in focus becaues the acting of James Marsden was better.
There are many other great little insights into the film.
Featurette: Gossip Interviews: A good
collection of interviews of other students involved in the gossip scandal at the college.
Featurette: Gossip montage shot test: Lines
from the gossip montage sequence.
Featurette: Gossip montage extended version: an
extended version of the above.
Overall
This is a great film and a great transfer, and the amount
of extras is a big bonus.
| PICTURE
QUALITY |
9/10 close
but no cigar |
SOUND
- Quality
- 5.1 WOW Factor |
8/10 very nice indeed
4/10 a little was enough |
| EXTRAS |
10/10 ggggggggrrrrrreat! |
| OVERALL |
9/10 impressive dvd
especially on the features side |
Review Equipment
TV: GE 68cm (16:9 selectable)
DVD: Pioneer 737
Receiver: Yamaha DTS RX-V595a
Speakers:-
Fronts: Wharfedale Diamond R6 (on a pair of custom made stands you'd KILL for)
Centre: Venturi
Rears: Sony bookshelf
Sub: M&K v75
- Reviewed 17th April 2001
* jpeg files for internet promotion use
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