Director
Chris Columbus

Cast
Julia Roberts,
Susan Surandon,
Ed Harris

Music
John WIlliams

Julia Roberts plays Isabelle the woman in Ed Harris’s life. She battles with his children in the game of getting them to accept her. She bribes them with Puppies and Ice creams and smothers them with niceness in an effort to get them to like her. On the other side of the fence is Jackie (Susan Sarandon) who incessantly make snide remarks against Isabelle to convince her children that she is not a good person. She actually puts down just about everything Isabelle does and the children begin to believe that Isabelle is trying to take their mothers’ place. All the normal bitchy things that happen when a new stepmum is on the scene.

However all this goes a stray when Jackie discovers she has a life threatening cancer and begins to rely on Isabelle to take care of her children. Of which she does an amazingly good job. Isabelle is quite happy to make everything work and the children become quite attached to her.

The film hinges on touching your emotions and seeing things from all point of views in this dysfunctional family. It does this quite successfully and if you didn’t cry I would be disappointed.

So How Does This Transfer Hold Up?
The transfer quality of this 2.35:1 framed 16:9 Enhanced picture is exceptional. There were some slight instances of ailiasing but you really had to looking for it. In the opening chapter when Isabelle is chasing Ben around the kitchen the venetian blinds in the background show instances of ailiasing. Other than that I found it hard to pick fault with the transfer. Images were always sharp and the shadow detail is exquisite. It can be the dark of night with the blackest of blacks and yet you can still see every little bit of detail in the scenery. The layer change at 71:40 is barely noticeable and doesn’t disrupt the film at all. In all the transfer is one of the best I have seen to date.

 Video Highlights
Ch 01 02.48 – Some aliasing in the venetian blinds
Ch 07 32.03 – Nice shadow detail
Ch 04 18.49 – More venetians but no ailiasing
Ch 22 1.30.56 – More great shadow detail in the scenery

The 5.0 Audio track is also great. It is still sad to be lacking that .1 channel, but the audio is still fantastic. The dialogue did occasionally seem to fluctuate in volume but it was still very sharp. There is not a lot of use of the surrounds but when they are used it, creates a great ambience for the film. I was also impressed with the score by John Williams. It is predominantly orchestral music, which successfully creates the moods in the film. There is also a great contrasting use of some good rock and roll songs, which shows the fluctuation between good and bad times quite obviously. There are not a lot of actual highlights in the audio but there was one instance where a phone is ringing and I had to check twice it wasn’t mine J .

Audio Highlights
Ch 17 1.12.59 Ain't no mountain.
Ch 07 34.18 Phone ringing in the right hand side.

The extras are a little disappointing. I enjoyed the behind the scenes featurette but nothing else really grabbed my eye. I’m getting a little tired of the Dolby City Trailer. Sure the sound definition is great but there are other Dolby trailers which need a work out too. Other than that you get the original movie trailer, cast and crew filmographies and a nice but bland menu.

In all I enjoyed the film immensely, and I cried heaps too… :-) The transfer and the audio are great but once again shame about the extras.

Review Equipment
TV: GE 68cm (16:9 selectable)
DVD: Samsung DVD907 (via S-Video)
Receiver/Proc: Sansui A505/Sony Amp & Yamaha DSP-E390
Speakers:-
Fronts: Wharfdale Diamond R6 (on a pair of custom made stands you'd KILL for)
Centre: Venturi
Rears: Sony bookshelf

- Reviewed 6th December 1999