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Bruce Willis has certainly had an interesting and somewhat diverse movie career.  With the sensation he caused as John McClane in the original Die Hard, he seemed destined to only appear in action adventures from that point on.   Had it not been for his comedic abilities, bought to life with the pairing of he and Cybill Shepard in hit 80's TV show Moonlighting, this probably would have happened.

One of Bruno's latest attempts to stay out of the action hero stereo type comes in the form of "the Whole Nine Yards", a quirky gangster type comedy with Willis playing Jimmy "the Tulip" Tudeski, a retired hitman.  Jimmy has moved up to Canada, into somewhat isolation having just been released from prison.    He is now living next door to Oz (Matthew Perry), a dentist who is married to a complete and utter bitch Sophie (deliciously played by Rozanna Arquette).  Unbeknownst to Oz, Sophie was hired a hitman to kill him, as she wants his life insurance.  However, Oz only discovers this after his loving wife sends him to Chicago to rat on Jimmy to the Gogolac gang..the guys Jimmy worked for before going to prison!
To make matters worse, Jimmy's wife Cynthia (Natasha Henstridge) is being held captive by Janni Gogolack (Kevin Pollack), as she is one of three people who has access to $10 million dollars held in trust... Jimmy and Janni begin the other two. 
Jimmy wants Janni and Cynthia dead so he can get the money, Janni wants jimmy and Cynthia dead so he can get the money, and Cynthia actually doesn't want anything to do with the money, and pretty soon Oz falls in love with Cynthia!!

Meanwhile, back in Canada, Sophie, and her mother are STILL planning to get Oz done in, while Oz has left his slightly off the wall new dental assistant Jill (Amanda Peet) to keep things under wrap. 

Like many of Willis' 'non-action' roles, Whole Nine is far from your straight laced comedy, and may take some getting use to with it's "not straight out funny haha" style of humour.   I actually found the more times I watch it, the more I liked it.  (still having quite enjoyed it the first time around)

So How Does This Transfer Hold Up?

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VIDEO
This Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer comes across very nicely indeed.   With just a hint of softness being the only real complaint against it.  Flesh tones are very accurate and there's a minimal amount of alaising.   This film certainly has a distinct look about it....nice  (I actually find it somewhat similar to another Roadshow film, Three to Tango).
Whole Nine is spread over two layers of an RSDL DVD and one has to wonder if there is indeed a layer change.  There are two places on the DVD in which one "may" be the secret location.  One i figured was based purely on the fact my DVD player spindle sound changes pitch between chapter 12 and 13. (so yes, hmm THAT's sound theory isn't it!  :)  Against the "other spot" which is located at the VERY end of the credits then over to the Credits to the VRS logo seems the more likely of the two...though why the hell it's at the very end of the moofy is beyond me.  at any rate something definitely happens from chapter 19 to 20 and it's at about the speed of a layer change for my 717 player.  (Roadshow are being big meanies and won't tell where it is!  :(     :) 

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AUDIO
Unlike a majority of Roadshow DVDs from the past year or so, Whole Nine does not include a Dolby Digital encoded 2.0 mix.  There is still a Dolby encoded 5.1 mix (with the appropriate tweaks required for accurate fold-down in 2.0)
Randy Edelman's music score, is ever so well integrated into the mix, and offers even more quirkiness to this film.  Though not a memorable score at the end of the day, it's still a lot of fun and is spread nicely across the front sound stage, with a gentle surround ambience. 
Overall this is not a full 5.1 assault, but it certainly has its standout moments.   Drop by Chapter 3, 7:45 and this will let you hear what Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448kbps can truly deliver..This sequence certainly rate a 5 on our 5.1 WOW factor. 
Dialogue throughout is always clear and intelligible and shows up no sync problems.   This is a nice and clean 5.1 sound mix. 

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EXTRAS
There a  few goodies here, but sadly missing are outtakes/bloopers.  God there would have been some howlers in this one! (note the USA edition is sans bloopers also)
Director Jonathan Lyn offers a mellow, but rather interesting screen specific commentary track. (He often talks about on-set antics.  so it's disappointing we're not treated to any)
Interview grabs of the entire main cast are included, totally around 15 minutes.
Motion based Scene Selects are nicely done.  On each of the scene select pages, you can play the "audio bite" of an individual Selectable Scene...nice
A Theatrical Trailer, very detailed Cast and Crew Bios,   and the Dolby Digital Rain Trailer round off the extras

Whole nine is quite a good little film, and is very nicely presented on DVD.   Definitely worth renting, and even worthy of purchasing for those who adon't go for straight laced humour.

Review Equipment
TV: Pioneer SD-T50W1 (16:9 RPTV)
DVD: Pioneer DV717  (using RGB outputs)
Receiver/Decoder: Marantz SR870 & Sony SDP-EP9ES
Speakers:-
     Fronts: Quadral Phonolgue Gold Amun
     Centre: B&W CDMC-SE
     Rears: B&W 602
     Subby: M&K V125 

- Reviewed 20th November 2000

* The Whole Nine Yards jpeg files for internet promotion use only. Copyright© exists on all aspects of these files. Any reproduction of these files in whole or part has to be given authorisation from Village Roadshow.