DVD
REVIEW: THE WOMEN
12/19/08
SYNOPSIS: Mothers,
daughters, wives, friends: These are the women of The Women.
Based on Clare Boothe Luce's Broadway success and the hit
1939 movie, this sparkling update (from Murphy Brown creator
Diane English) set in Manhattan and featuring an all-star,
all-female cast says a lot about what it means to be today's
woman and all of it's funny! The story starts with
beautiful, smart, accomplished Mary Haines (Meg Ryan)
discovering her husband is cheating on her. It's a time when
friends are needed, so Mary's gal pals (Annette Bening, Jada
Pinkett Smith and Debra Messing) and mother (Candice Bergen)
rally round with advice, cocktails and shopping. The Wife
vs. the Other Woman (Eva Mendes): Sharpen your claws for a
timeless and wonderfully witty battle.
REVIEW: One of the
films released at the beginning of the movie Fall season
was "The Women", a remake of the 1936's film of the same name.
Released by Picture House, the film had an estimated budget
of $16 millions dollars and was able to collect $26 millions
dollars at the box office in its theatrical run. Probably
breaking even in
the money department.
There is no doubt that the
star power was the driving force with the "The Women". Meg
Ryan, Jada Pinkett Smith, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes and
Debra Messing make up for an outstanding cast, similar to
the one assemble for the 1936 classic. However not even this
powerful cast was able to save this film.
Like the original film "The
Women" highlights an all women movie. Not a single man
appear in the film, not even as an extra. The main problem
with it, is not that absent of men's present in the film, It
is that in an effort to preserve the main idea of the
original film. Diane English didn't changed much of the
story of the film. I was expecting to see an updated version of the
film, with a contemporary flavor other than an updated dialog.
However I found a long and slow movie that fails to engaged
the audience in any way.
DVD: The DVD
includes both, widescreen and full screen version of the
film, as well as 2 additional scenes. It also includes
the featurette "The Women : The Legacy", in which
director Diane English talk about the history behind the
1936's classic and her approach for remaking the film.
This is probably the highlight of the DVD. Finally there
is a ten minute featurette called "The Women Behind the
Women" , in which a Junior journalist talk to the cast
about the meaning of real beauty.
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen
Full Screen
AUDIO:
English 5.1 (Dolby Digital).
Subtitles - English Spanish - Optional
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Deleted Scenes:
Two deleted scenes that don't add anything new to the
story. (6:26)
The Women : The
Legacy Diane English talks about the history
behind the 1936 classic and how she was approach the remake
of the film. (18:45)
The Women Behind the
Women: In this featurette a Junior journalist talk
with the cast about the real beauty (10:00)
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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