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| Jeff
Bridges, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, Hope Davis |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
 |
DTS |
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|
Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Oliver
Lang: Now if you'll excuse me, we're having a party here... You're
welcome to stay...
A
history professor begins to suspect his new suburban neighbor is in
fact a dangerous terrorist.
 This
thriller of paranoia and suspicion starts off promisingly as Jeff Bridges
saves a ten-year-old boy he finds walking up his suburban block seriously
wounded. The thumping techno score, fantastic editing and slightly overexposed
stock combine to give this movie a gruesome and energetic beginning.
Followed by nightmarish diapositive images of suburbia over the opening
credits, the opening sets you up for a David Lynch movie experience.
Oddly enough, first-time feature director Mark Pellington all but abandons
this style once the opening credits end, settling for a very conventional
and mostly very slow build-up of suspense. This snail-paced development
of the plot leaves the viewer a few steps ahead of the movie's protagonist
Jeff Bridges until close to the ending, by which time it has become
hard to actually sustain very much interest in the story or characters.
Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack provide some excellent scenes however, striking
just the right note of oddness and insincerity as the overly friendly
new family across the street. Robbins clearly has fun with his first
real villain, and though he goes over the top towards the end, he gives
the movie most of its interest. The ending is clever and rings refreshingly
true, but by that time it is somehow too late to fully redeem a story
and main character that have both gone too far over the edge to demand
any real interest. |
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The
Region 1 release carries some extra features including an alternative
ending. The Region 2 release is a movie-only DVD with only the theatrical
trailer added to the film. This review refers to the Region 2 release.
The
anamorphic widescreen image is framed at 2.35:1. The daylight exteriors
look great, with the film's pale, restricted pallette accurately reproduced.
The interiors and night-time sequences however suffer from low contrast
levels and an overabundance of distracting compression artifacts.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix provides a wide and deep sound stage
for the often overbearingly loud soundtrack.
The
theatrical trailer is the only extra feature on the Region 2 release.Menu
screens are minimally designed, without any animation or music.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: 2001
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