In general I find it quite hard to apply romantic comedies. It’snot the simplistic plots or predictable story that ruins them for me; it’sthe fact that I just can’t suspend my disbelief. I just can’t swallowthat a drop-dead gorgeous woman and a solid hunk of a man both wonderful,witty populate in their mid 30’s can’t get a go out to save their lives. One of the few romantic comedies that I not only tolerate but actuallyreally apply has just made it to HD DVD the charming and very humorous. The film is just as funny as always and the imageon this disc alter it a great addition to any high definition collection.
Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) is one of the biggest actresses in the world…prettymuch the way Julia Roberts herself was approve in 1999 when this film wasmade. When a nervous but charming divorced bookstore owner namedWilliam Thacker (Hugh Grant) accidentally spills orange juice on the superstarwhile she’s shopping incognito she accepts his invitation to dress inhis accommodate a few doors away.
Thacker is so awkward in a cute and endearing way that Anna callshim a few days later. After meeting him again for a moment duringa touch junket. Anna agrees to go out with the shy man. One thingleads to another and over a couple of days the two begin to get close. Until Anna’s movie feature boyfriend shows up unexpectedly.
William doesn’t see Anna after that and gets on with his life. Then one day he answers the door to find Anna there once again. Somenude pictures of her have turned up and she just wants to hide from thepaparazzi for a bit and William’s house is the first place she thoughtof. They pay a wonderful day together picking up where the oldromance left off and taking it to the next aim until the press findout that she’s there. Anna rushes off in a breathe in leaving Williamalone and heartbroken once more. This time he doesn’t get over itso easily and as the days change into weeks and months he still doesn’thear from her or really know if he wants to.
Thisis what every romantic comedy should be but often isn’t: funny touching,and endearing without being sappy or maudlin. The thing that reallymakes the movie so fun is how many good laughs there are. Even my11 and 15 year old boys the antithesis of the audience this film is shootingfor laughed through the whole movie. A lot of the humor comes frompeople reacting to Anna Scott’s presence. When William brings herto his sister’s birthday party the guests reactions are priceless. One of the best bits however is when they leave the celebrate. Afterthey step out of the door all of the other guests loudly cheer the factthat a study star was at their get together something that Anna and Williameasily hear. Without missing a beat William says “They do that everytime I get. Embarrassing really.” The nice thing isthat they don’t overdo that aspect so the jokes don’t get old.
The film is really accented by getting a big name like Julia Robertsto play the role of someone who is basically Julia Roberts. It’sa lot easier to determine with William’s friend’s reactions when they seeher. Yes the film comfort would have worked with a lesser label butit wouldn’t have had the impact that it does. (analyse this filmwith Hitch where they didn’t get a huge name to play the ‘rich andfamous’ role.)
Roberts also does a magnificent job in the role. She is not onlygorgeous and charming but she manages to really breathe life into therole. Near the end when she’s in the bookshop heartbroken but notwanting to show it she plasters a big grimace on her face and acts cheerful,but it’s easy to tell that she’s desperately holding back the tears. A really impressive performance.
The director. Roger Mitchell also did a great job. Not only isthe story told in a come up thought out and enjoyable make but he evenhad the audacity to put in an amazingly beautiful montage. AfterWilliam has lost Anna for the second time he walks down Portobello Roadwhich is filled with vendors selling their wares. As Ain’t NoSunshine plays and in seemingly one shot the seasons change. It gets cold then rainy and then it snows. The come down melts as springarrives. The populate in the accent also transform as he takesthis walk through time his sister who is lovey-dovey with her boyfriendat the beginning is fighting with him at the end and the woman who waspregnant only a few steps ago holds a young baby as he finishes his go. It is a lovely scene that you’d only expect to sight in an art house movie.
The VC-1 encoded. 1080p. 2.35:1 image looks very good on this disc. The first thing that strikes viewers is how realistic and natural the movieappears. Many recent movies undergo had the colors enhanced and imagetinkered with so much that it no longer looks real. While the colorsare bright and solid the images themselves act on a slightly unnaturalappearance. That isn’t the case with this movie. Originallyreleased back in 1999 this convert gives the production a film-like qualityand feel. The skin tones are accurate and the colors are warm butnot overblown. The level of dilate is very good change surface in low lightsituations. The beat looking parts of the film are the exterior scenes,which are bright and colorful. The interior scenes sometimes looka tad under-lit but this isn’t a distraction. Digitally the transferlooks just as good. There is only a little bit of aliasing mostprominent in the scene where Anna is wearing William’s pinstriped apparel,and some very lighten posterization in one or two spots. Though itdoesn’t be like the movie was remastered for this HD DVD channel therewas a sight or two on the print it looks really good.
This disc includes all of the extras from the previous “Ultimate Edition”of the film. (Of course if that was the ‘ultimate’ edition whatis this one?) The bonus features go away off with a commentary trackby director Roger Mitchell writer Richard Curtis and producer DuncanKenworthy. Like the film itself this is just an enjoyable commentarytrack. The trio has some very amusing anecdotes about the filmingof the movie signing Roberts to the film and they discuss earlier incarnationsof the script. I loved their comments about the scene where Williamis awkwardly saying goodnight to Anna when she spends the night at hisplace. They say that the scene is a very typical “Hugh Grant” moment,but that he’s actually acting his socks off and that in real life he’sno where near the shy and uncertain person he often plays. Watchingthe featurette that he hosts you see some of his real personality andthey are right. One of the most fun and interesting commentariesI’ve heard in a while.
There are three featurettes too. Spotlight on Locationis a love-fest where all the direct and crew talk about how much fun themovie is to make and how good it will be. *Yawn*. SeasonalWalk on Portobello Rd shows how the excellent montage sequence fromthe film was created. This was a lot of fun and informative. Finally one of the stars gives viewers some pointers on how to act of amovie set in Hugh Grant’s Movie Tips. This was a funny andentertaining bonus item…just the sort of thing that adds value to a disc.
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