This Code One DVD review is made possible with the kind sponsor of CINENOW

Widescreen 1.85:1
Dolby Dgital 5.1 Surround Sound

Click here for the past movie review and screenstills

Genre: Children/Comedy/Fantasy
Director: Brad Silbering
Starring: Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep, Emily Browning, Liam Aiken, Kara Hoffman
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Rating: PG
Features (Code 1 DVD):
- Bad Beginnings
- Alarming Audio Commentaries
- Orphaned Scenes
- Previews

Movie Review:

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events were the first children books that knocked JK Rowling’s Harry Potter’s series off the top of Popular Children book chart. It is no wonder that Hollywood’s filmmaker decides to ride on the success with this screen version.

Weaving together Lemony Snicket’s three short story: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, and The Wide Window, the misadventure of the Baudelaire children started when their parents and home perished in a mysterious fire. The now Baudelaire orphans were entrusted to their actor Uncle, Count Olaf (Jim Carrey), who they never met. Count Olaf may appear kind and compassionate towards the children in the presence of adults, the fact is, the children were loaded with many impossible house chores and was kept in a dilapidated room filled the creepy crawlers. When the custody of the children falls into Count Olaf hands, more misfortune befall on the kids as their death mean that the massive inheritance from their parents would belongs to Count Olaf. Ranging from near-death encounters on the railway track to getting trap on a boat surrounded by men-eating leeches, the children managed to escape every time, all thanks to their special abilities: Violet Baudelaire (Emily Browning) was the finest young inventor, Klause Baudelaire (Liam Aiken) remembers everything he reads, and Sunny Baudelaire has the strongest and sharpest teeth.

It was not difficult to guess the culprit who caused the children of their plight. But the revelation of how Count Olaf started the fire “from a great distance” was surprising and imaginative.

Jim Carrey was convincing in the role of Count Olaf, entertaining children and adult audience alike with his exaggerating bodily movement and most notably his rubbery facial expression. The performance of Emily Browning, Liam Aiken, and Kara Hoffman as the Baudelaire’s children were loveable and commendable although the makeups of the triplet seem different from what was describes in the novel. Klaus does not wear glasses, Sunny was a bit larger than expected and Violet was overly gorgeous – which is not a bad thing to see though. With the help of Computer Graphics, the fictional World of Lemony Snicket were digitally made alive to the finest colours and details

Sound:

The DVD features English 5.1 surround sound with the option of viewing the movie in French or Spanish language. If you have a full set of 5.1 surround speakers, do tune up the volume a little more as usual to enjoy the dramatic scores and sound effects. I decided to stretch my old Altec Lensing 221 amplified speakers this time by gradually pushing up the volume and was pleased that the sound does not tremble much even as I approaches the max-point! What an excellent audio quality!

To Lemony Snicket’s fan, you may be thrilled that there is an audio commentary by the real Lemony Snicket and the director, Brad Silbering.

Visual:

Given that this is about a series of unfortunate events, the filmmaker’s choice of colour scheme is towards the darker side of the palette. I am surprise that the decision does not affect the screen clarity. If you paused the frame and zoom in on different part of the stills, you be amazed by the attention to details in the production sets. In the visual department, this DVD is rated flawless!

Extras:

At a glance, I am thrilled with the many special features offered. You can even choose the background picture on the selection menu, which features artist Brett Helquist works. Detailed examination into the special features was however, disappointing. The extras (with funny titles that makes navigation difficult) were meaningless and boring. It doesn’t help with a navigation menu that gets more complicated as you go into the sub-menus. Moreover, the transfer between menus were slow and sometime irresponsive, very typical flaws of DVD which offers many extras. Skip the extras if you can.


Movie Rating: B


Overall DVD Rating: B+

Review By Leosen Teo

This Code One DVD review is made possible with the kind sponsor of CINENOW

Widescreen 1.85:1
Dolby Dgital 5.1 Surround Sound

Click here for the past movie review and screenstills

Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: James L. Brook
Starring: Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni, Claris Leachman, Shelbie Bruce, Paz Vega
Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Rating: PG
Features (Code 1 DVD):
- Commentary with James L. Brooks, Richard Marks and Tia Nolan
- Additional Scenes
- HBO first look: The Making of Spanglish

Movie Review:

James L. Brook, the master behind the memorable romantic comedy “As Good as its Gets” was renowned for his talents of unhurriedly telling his story and detailed narration of the story’s characters. However, this time he seems to be overly ambitious, choking the audience with too many themes and characters.

The story opens with a suburb Mexican Town where two of the story main characters, Flor (Paz Vega) and her daughter, Cristina (Shelbie Bruce) lives. With Cristina’s voice narrating the story in the background, you almost thought that this is about her. No, it is not. In fact, you see little of her in the movie.

The focus soon shifted when Flor and Cristina migrated into America, hoping for a better life. Here, you thought it about protecting one’s identity and cultural heritage as Flor choose to put up in a Spanish speaking community in America and refuses to learn English. No, it is not. Flor step out of her Spanish’s sanctuary (nine years after she arrived in America) to be the housekeeper in top chef, John Clasky’s (Adam Sandler) non-Spanish speaking family as she needs better wages and working hours so that she could spend more time with Cristina. No prize given for guessing how Flor got through the interview with John Clasky’s hyper-paranoid wife, Deborah Clasky (Tea Leoni), but the miscommunication and cultural differences among them that came after was fun to watch. So is this about racial understanding? No, it is not.

Then there were conflicts one after another due to Deborah superfluous care on Cristina probably she was brighter and better looking as compared to her own slightly overweight, silver tooth-braced daughter, Bernice Clasky (Sarah Steele). Just when you thought the story is about parental-love, an extra-marital affair(s) came, turning the movie into a serious tone (something unexpected from comedian Adam Sandler). I do not need to elaborate further here as the movie just contains almost everything under the sun: interracial romance, cultural conflicts, parental and marital commitments, parent-children relation etc that I could just go on and on with this review. The result was confusing and you could almost suspect a directionless ending in the middle of its run when Deborah took over the plot even with Cristina’s voice still as the background narrator.

With a lengthy story that could be a nice TV-sitcom with as many seasons as “Friends”, “Spanglish” is a comedy bearing a melancholic message(s), which is unexpected for most Adam Sandler’s audience to heartily enjoy. Bet you can’t find the meaning of the movie title on any dictionary just as you can’t figure out the intention of the filmmaker. Obviously the word is “Spanish” and “English” combined, which hinted to the audience of what to expect from the movie. Brilliant? Not as a movie, perhaps.

Watch it for the performance of its cast, which even includes, Chum, the retriever in the movie, who charmed audience with his “acting” that you just wishes he have more screen time. Comedian Adam Sandler has surprises audience that he is also capable of a more complex and mature performance. Finally, the 11 years old Shelbie Bruce has display a versatile performance in spite of her age. Watch out for a hilarious confrontation scene between Flor and John Clasky where she acted as a translator between them.

Sound:

I am surprised that the movie does not offer any audio selection except that you could watch the movie with English or French language. Having no aural enhancement feature here does not reduce the enjoyment of this plot-heavy movie. Stay away from the French language version as the French voice talent had done a bad job, making the characters voice sounded way different and worst, the lips movements are not in synchrony.

Visual:

I watched the movie twice: once on my Sony VEGA Trinitron TV set and another on my desktop. I must commend the filmmaker for their excellent choice of colours and brightness contrast. Unfortunately, there were some minor halt spotted during playback.

Extras:

You may be disappointed with the short list of extras on the disc cover. Do not judge the disc by its cover. The twelve additional scenes on the special feature give you a clearer understanding of the movie and its character. I love additional scene 10 and 11 where it shown more of the restaurant rendezvous between Flor and John Clasky. Also, you may like to zoom in to scene 12 on the “unseen” final confrontation between Flor and Deborah. Thankfully, all scenes come with the Director’s commentaries so that you appreciate the filmmaker’s intention of leaving these scenes out of the final product.

In “HBO first look: The Making of Spanglish” I am surprise that Paz Vega does not speak English and needed a translator throughout filming! We can also see something rare from Director James L. Brook, as compared to other filmmakers, as he always seem deeply indulged with the set, laughing heartily on his director’s chair as the casts executed every funny scene.


Movie Rating: B-


Overall DVD Rating: B

Review By Leosen Teo

This Code One DVD review is made possible with the kind sponsor of CINENOW

Widescreen 1.85:1
Dolby Dgital 5.1 Surround Sound

Click here for the past movie review and screenstills

Genre: Drama
Director: Mike Nichols
Starring: Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: M18
Features (Code 1 DVD):
- Music Video: “The Blower’s Daughter” Performed by Damien Rice

Movie Review:

Based on the critically acclaimed play by Patrick Marber, "Closer" is a reality check on contemporary romance and brutally exposed the hurts, lies, and betrayal that could be done to a relationship.

In spite of a chaotic agenda, the opening of the movie was surprisingly charming, with the title song “The Blower’s Daughter” (performed by Damien Rice) running in the background while two of the story main character, Alice (Natalie Portman) and Dan (Jude Law) closing in on each other in a busy city street. Love at first sight and without a hassle, both soon move in together. It is interesting that Director Mike Nichols chose to snip off all the fairy tales in between and went straight to the point, with Dan flirting Anna (Julie Roberts), the photographer shooting the
cover of his upcoming book, ironically, on Alice.

Though Anna was submitted to the temptation, she was reluctant to come in between Alice and Dan. Soon, she met and marries, Larry (Clive Owen), who was indirectly referred to her by Dan in what could be the most hilarious sequence in the whole movie. My lips shall be tight, watch the DVD to find out why.

But there is no “happy ever after” for the two couples as Dan continue to tempt Anna and even started an affair with her. Hell break lose when both decided to be frank with their own partners. Here, Clive Owen had chilled the audience with his barbaric bombardment on Julie Roberts after
learning about the affair. His caveman, sex-driven behaviour leaves audience wondering whether to pity him or vice versa. On the other hand, Natalie Portman shed her usual sweetie pie image by making guys went gar-gar over her g-strings and provocative moves as a stripper. She simply shines in this multi-facet role, starting off as an innocent looking girl, then a victim of love and finally an ultimate liar in the movie.

The haunting performance by Clive Owen and Natalie Portman had earned them the Golden Globe’s Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress awards respectively.

Although many critics cited that audience were unable to relate to the experience of the characters, I personally found them to be quite “close” to the people around me – self indulged and neglecting the fact that their foolish actions (in relationship) would leads to unforgivable
consequences. There are no “nice guys” in the movie, which fully translated that nobody is perfect in this World.

With more than a dozen typical romance movies from Hollywood nowadays, Closer offers a much welcome and honest alternative.

Sound:

The DVD featured the English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English DTS and French 2.0 Dolby Digital. Although you need not have bombastic sound effects to view this movie, the audio is a bit soft even as I tune up the volume of my speakers. However, after I turn on the DTS mode, the audio sounds more pleasant.

Visual:

The DVD is in widescreen format with an option for English and French subtitles. On my Philips DVD 711, the disc “hangs” momentarily as I scan the DVD fast forward. The colour contrast looks too soft to my liking but this could be the work of the filmmaker to achieve a gentle but melancholic mood.

Extras:

Due to the fact that it's a Superbit edition. The extras consist of only one music video: “The Blower’s Daughter” and many other movies trailers. But those time-restricted audience may welcome the minimal extra features.


Movie Rating: B+

Overall DVD Rating: C+-

Review By Leosen Teo

This Code One DVD review of "The Final Cut" is made possible with the kind sponsor of CINENOW

Widescreen 1.85:1
Dolby Dgital 5.1 Surround Sound

Genre: Drama/Sci-Fi
Director: Omar Naim
Starring: Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino, Robin Williams
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: NC-16
Features (Code 1 DVD):
- Making of Production
- Design Featurette
- Special Effects Featurette
- Deleted Scene
- Commentary With Director Omar Naim
- Behind the Scenes / Storyboard Comparison

Movie Review:

There were no hints on the year, but it is a World with many people having a Zoe implant in their brain. This implant captures every single moments of their life and upon their death, the implant would be retrieved and edited by a “Cutter” as post mortem footage for their love one to review and remembered. More often than not, those unpleasant events would be dutifully deleted. To safeguard the privacy of the deceased, cutters are governed by a set of rules and most importantly, they were without a Zoe implants.

Alan Hakman (Robin William) is one such cutter and being socially awkward ironically, makes him the top man of the job. And when he was employed to edit the life of a late Star Attorney of EYE tech, the inventor and manufacturer of Zoe implant, his life was thrown into chaos as childhood memories returns to haunt him and worst, a group of anti-implants activist
threatening his life if he do not surrender the Star Attorney implant.

The most commendable aspect of the movie is the mysterious atmosphere and the excellent plot building that was enough to hold audience attention. Unfortunately, the long wait for a shocking revelation failed to reach its potential. Instead, the movie finishes off without the anticipated showdown between the EYE tech and the anti-implant activist, leaving audience
unsatisfied. Fortunately, Robin William saved the day with his captivating performance that makes this movie still worthy of our time. However, his presence may have overshadowed talented cast like Mira Sovino and Jim Caviezel.

Sound:

The DVD featured the usual English 5.1 Dolby Digital and 2.0 Dolby Surround. Fortunately to those who does not pour hefty sum into their home theatre system, the movie does not requires sophisticated audio and visual effects. Any simple entertainment equipment or even your laptop would be enough to triggers your emotions of this plot-centered movie.

To those effects monsters, the bass rumble at the opening credit with my old Altec Lensing 221 Amplified speakers. Some flashback scenes sounded monotone although it is unclear whether such was intentional or are there flaws. The movie sounded too quiet, making audience uncomfortable. There is also nothing to shout about the movie soundtrack, which were typical
symphony scores.

Like most code 1 DVD, there was also an audio commentary with Director Omar Naim. But such feature could be distracting and annoying.

Visual:

The DVD was in widescreen format and feature English and Spanish subtitles. On my Philips DVD 711, the transfer speed between selections was almost instant and no jumps were spotted throughout. The colour scheme does not looks fake and dark even when the filmmaker choose the moody sepia and dull grayscale on some scenes to achieve the required mood.

Extras:

It is quite disappointing to find only one unexciting trailer of this great movie. Other than the movie’s trailer, you will also find the trailer of the movie “Saw” and “I am David”. In the “making of” footage, some may be curious to see how the crew shot a simple scene of the characters looking at themselves in the mirror. If you have little time to browse the disc, go straight for this one. In the production design featurette, discover the construction of the editing machine, which was made of wood in spite of its powerful cutting edge technology within. The deleted scene section contains only three deleted scenes. It is surprising that the director choose to exclude the interesting “Implants in dogs” scene and the “Moving photo” scene.

Overall Rating: B -

Review By Leosen Teo

This Code One DVD review of "Saw" is made possible with the kind sponsor of CINENOW

Thriller/Horror
Widescreen 1.85:1
Dolby Dgital 5.1 Surround Sound

Click here for the past movie review and screenstills

Director: James Wan
Starring: Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Cary Elwes, Michael Emerson
Rating: NC-16
Features (Code 1 DVD):
- Sneak peak of the making of SAW
- Audio Commentary 1. James Wan Director 2. Leigh Whannell Writer & Actor
- Music Video > Fear Factory "Bite the Hand That Bleeds"
- Making of Fear Factory "Bite the Hand That Bleeds"
- Poster gallery


Review:

Two men awaken in a dirty, dilapidated bathroom. Each is chained to a pipe along the wall and has only a hazy, unclear memory of how he got there. In the middle of the floor is a dead body. Introductions are reluctantly made. One of the unlucky gentlemen is Dr. Lawrence Gordon. The other is Adam. Confusion reigns. Adam discovers an envelope in his pocket and hence begin the nightmare of thier lives as the men learns their fate. They are trapped in this hellhole, and there are rules for release for which Dr. Gordon must kill Adam within the next eight hours. If he doesn't, something horrible will happen to his family. The kidnapper has even left clues somewhere among the filth and foulness that will provide a means of escape.
High expectacy was hoped for but quite a let-downer at some point. But among all the negetive comments however, 1st timer James Wan and Leigh Whannell did take a good step and managed a pretty good show. Setting and atmostsphere was top notch and greatly taken care of which rased up the points to make up for the awful acting by the cast. Cliches of adapted techniques of filming are apparent, but made used to good status.
Saw had the potential to be a great, cutting edge film on the level of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a cult favorite to be enjoyed for years to come but it does miss a few points which sets it goal so close but yet so far.


Sound/Visual:

Best played with dolby surround to get yourself in the best mood of despair. It's really rich, fills all the air with sound where there's creepy voices all over the place. Visual wise, was rather uncertain if the result on screen was to potray a gritty dark, "David Fincher" atmostphere or was it just plain bad film tranfer because at close range, scenes were rather grainy and and not so sharp as normal dvd should be. But if you're not so much an eagle eye nit-pick and sees the glass as half full, this shouldn't bother you so much.

Extras:

On a much less enthusiastic note, the extras is a dissapointment! Not much here to get excited about which includes a sneak peak of the making of Saw ( whats that all about?? - i sense a special edition dvd coming up soon..) which is only minutes long and gives you nothing. This is the kind of show where the film is more than worthy of a closer look of the minds of the creators. There are 2 music videos (plus a making of ) that is decent and probably a bonus for fans of the band "Fear Factory". Sadly the making of the Video featurette is far more interesting than the "Sawed Off" featurette. Also included are the TV spots and Trailers which you're unlikely to have seen it here in Singapore. And lastly the poster gallery slideshow ( pretty much like a screensaver featurette on TV).

Overall Rating: B- (Good film but disappointing extras)

Review by Lokman B.S.

This Code One DVD review of "First Daughter" is made possible with the kind sponsor of CINENOW

Comedy
Widescreen 1.85:1
Dolby Dgital 5.1 Surround Sound

Director: Forest Whitaker
Starring: Katie Holmes, Marc Blucas, Amerie Rogers, Michael Keaton, Margaret Colin
Rating: PG
Features (Code 1 DVD):
- Commentary by Katie Holmes, Marc Blucas, and Amerie Rogers
- Widescreen anamorphic and full-screen versions
- Deleted and extended scenes
- Making of choreography featurette
- The Final Score: Remembering Michael Kamen


Review:

A question came to my knowledge, how exactly did two films get made and released within the same year about the exact same topic? If you saw ‘Chasing Liberty’ , imagine ‘First Daughter’ as that film minus the European vacation trappings. On a side note, both films originally had the title ‘First Daughter’, but after some posturing, ‘Liberty’ got an earlier release date and this film received the more identifiable title.

Holmes stars as Samantha Mackenzie, the First Daughter of the United States. Her father (Michael Keaton) is up for re-election, and his campaign swing is in full effect when she goes off to college. She wants to get away from the White House and lead a normal life, but her father is worried about her safety hence assigns Secret Service agents to follow her around and keep her safe. Romantic links came about when she met the dorm resident assistant, James (Marc Blucas), whom Samantha finds some comfort in when her life gets too hectic. But of course the story doesn’t linger much around.

The similarities between "Chasing Liberty" and "First Daughter" is astonishing, from the superficial (both deal with the President's daughter seeking freedom) to the specific (both romances are hit with a blow), but that is really the least of this film's problems. A sappy confection, "First Daughter" is pretty much a recycled mediocre romantic hokum. Screenwriters halfheartedly strive to find the reality in its premise of a President's daughter going away to school, but they and director Forest Whitaker, fail to say anything of interest about its subject matter; the one subplot with potential—that of Samantha's loneliness in leading her unconventional, unavoidably public life—is thrown to the wayside in favor of a derivative, charisma-free romance.

Speaking of the performances, in the lead role Katie Holmes is effective at handling both the comedy and drama; The movie requires an actress capable of exuding charm and beauty, and Holmes does both. This is not a demanding role for her - she gave a better performance in Pieces of April - but she fits the part. It’ll be interesting what she does with her role in the upcoming ‘Batman Begins’ in 2005. Michael Keaton, as the president, makes his character just overbearing enough to meet the needs of the script, but he also infuses more sensibility in the role. Meanwhile, as her romantic interest, Mark Blucas is effective if not a little bland at times. Other supporting performances by the likes of Amerie Rogers as Holmes’ first friend she meets at college are okay. She does what she can with the underwritten part.

The film’s storyline doesn’t contain any surprises; even less so if you have seen the aforementioned ‘Chasing Liberty.’ Director Forest Whitaker senses this so he makes certain to play most every scene as the way it should be: light, humorous, and just a little bit tongue in cheek. He basically gives his actors free reign to add that little something to their performances; especially in the case of Michael Keaton.

There are a few moments in “First Daughter” that expose small truths of what it must be like to be the President’s spawn. If only the movie were built around moments like these instead of creatively bankrupt clichés, the movie might be as sweet as it thinks it is. Yet somehow, throughout the whole debacle, Holmes manages to maintain her dignity. She has the kind of talent that can lead her to being the next Holly Hunter or Jodie Foster, so long as she avoids choosing movies like this and becoming the next Sandra Bullock.

Extras:

Dissapointingly, director Whitaker isn't part of the commentary and leaves that to his young stars—Holmes, Blucas, and Amerie—who talks like graduates getting together looking at their year book. What's disappointing, though, is that it didn’t include the outtakes that were. There are only two deleted scenes (one of them a racier rendition of Sam's bar-top dance) and a short feature on "fox trot" ballroom dance elements in the film. Probably the best feature for families who can't agree on widescreen vs. full screen is that this release offers both. Also included is the feature in memory of Michael Kamen the original music composer who died during the production.

Overall Rating: B- Predictable but presently presented without being over sickly sweet.

Review by Lokman B.S.

This Code One DVD review of "Ray" is made possible with the kind sponsor of CINENOW

152mins/Drama/Biography
Widescreen 1.85:1
Dolby Dgital 5.1 Surround Sound

Click here for the past movie review and screenstills

Director: Taylor Hackford
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King
Rating: NC-16 (Some Drug References)
Features (Code 1 DVD):
- Feature Commentary with Director, Taylor Hackford
- Details of Cast and Filmmakers
- Deleted Scenes
- Extended Musical Scenes
- Stepping Into The Part
- Ray Remembered
- A Look Inside Ray
- Theatrical Trailer
- Preview


Review:

Without a doubt, Jamie Foxx is Ray Charles. Foxx delivers his role with much panache that it is unimaginable if he does not take home the Oscar for this role.
It must have been a real challenge to portray Ray Charles but sacrifice is what makes the distinction between a good actor and a best actor.

Ray, is a labour of love for Taylor Hackford and it shows. Hackford has been at work on the film for 15 years and his efforts have paid off. He has meticulously driven the movie such that it becomes an honest film, which depicts Ray Charles’ ride up to the top of the charts without emitting the struggles he fought with his inner demons (drugs).

However, despite the glitz and glam that surrounded Ray Charles’ life, the film only manages to swim close to the surface in the plethora of biopics that have graced the silver screen in 2004. Nonetheless, rest assured, you’ll be tapping your feet away throughout the film.

Extras:

It may seem like a lot of extras but quite rightly, everything’s pretty compact.

Do not watch the extended version of the movie if you’re easily irritated. The DVD will pause for a moment as it includes the extended part and then does the same thing again, when the extended part ends. There are not that many deleted scenes afterall and it would be more convenient to go through them one-by-one. There are 2 extended musical scenes which you could watch for sheer listening pleasure.

I thought “Stepping into the Part” and “A Look Inside Ray” would be an extensive and detailed account of the making of the film. However, both segments were short commentaries by Jamie Foxx and Taylor Hackford with the supporting cast and crew giving very minimal comments. The extras would be a delight for both fans and non-fans of Ray had much more effort been put into it.

“Ray Remembered”, is an appropriate piece for the cast and crew to honour Ray Charles. Some quotes and again, short commentaries adorn this segment.

The extras section is rounded off with a theatrical trailer of the film and “Preview” is only a trailer of the upcoming “Cinderella Man.”

Overall Rating: A- for the film but a B for the extras.

Review by Mohamad Shaifulbahri

This Code One DVD review of "Shall We Dance" is made possible with the kind sponsor of CINENOW

106mins/Comedy/Romance/Drama
Widescreen 1.85:1
Dolby Dgital 5.1 Surround Sound

Click here for the past movie review and screenstills

Director: Peter Chelsom
Starring: Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Lisa Ann Walter
Rating: PG
Features (Code One DVD):
-5 Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary
-Behind The Scenes of Shall We Dance?
-Beginner's Ballroom
-The Music of Shall We Dance?
-Pussycat Dolls "Sway" Music Video
-Commentary With Director Peter Chelsom
-Sneak Peek

Review:

Based on the original Japanese hit comedy "Shall We Dansu". This Hollywood remake is a sweet rendition of the original which boasts top stars such as Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez.

Gere's character, John is a successful lawyer, lives in a grand house, has a lovely wife (Susan Sarandon) and two kids. He is what society deemed as a successful person in life. But everyday as he board the train home, there is no deny that his life is empty and repetitive. Until one day, he chanced upon a dance teacher, Paulina (played by the gorgeous J.Lo in a rather subtle role) glancing out of the window. Somehow, he is attracted to the sight of her and ended up signing up for ballroom dancing. As the plot goes, John uncovered that his so called sports fanatic colleague (the laugh-inducing Stanley Tucci) is actually a rumba expert. Seeing John and two other hapless guys fumbling over the dance steps and Lisa Ann Walter's loudmouth Bobby is a hoot. "Shall We Dance" succeeds in creating lasting impression of all it's supporting cast. Each one of them has a story of their own and is as colourful as a palette.

"Shall We Dance" on the whole is a sweet romance comedy. Never too overbearing or sugary. Play for laughs at times. Everyone of us is like John, always searching for new things to explore, to achieve higher grounds simply because we are humans. If you prefer an unoffensive, relaxing comedy, go for "Shall We Dance"?

Sound/Visual:

Overall the visual transfer is very good and the hues are rich and deep. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is under utilised, perhaps it's the genre that restricted the use of surround sound. Dialogues and music scores are of superb clarity. It's only when the ballroom competition sequences that really work up the stereos and the bass.

Extras:

Most noteworthy are the 5 deleted scenes with optional commentary. One is an alternate tacky opening which fortunately wasn't used for the final version. The rest of the scenes are mostly prolonged dance sequences which were trimmed because of time constraints. Nevertheless, worth a look as the cast actually took up months of lessons to achieve what you see on screen. "Beginner's Ballroom" is a short history segement of ballroom dancing for the uninitiated. "Behind The Scenes of Shall We Dance?" is the usual standard feature whereby the stars discussed how tough the lessons were and some hilarious practice shots. In "The Music of Shall We Dance?", the President of Miramax Films Motion Picture Music narrated the 3 minute featurette. For more information, you may like to switch on Director Peter Chelsom's commentary track which discussed more about the background of the making of the movie. Lastly, the music video for "Sway" is included.

Overall Rating: B+ Makes you want to sign up immediately for ballroom dancing!

Review by Linus.T.