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The Movie:
 Oh, how the
mighty have fallen. I remember a time when Molly Ringwald was one
of Hollywood's major players. The Breakfast Club, Pretty
in Pink, and Sixteen Candles cemented her place in
the history of American cinema. So what happened? Well, that's
certainly a good question, and a rather appropriate one to ask
once you finish watching In the Weeds. What has happened
to poor little Miss Ringwald that she's ended up basically
slumming it through a barely watchable film? It's clear that
careers - in Hollywood especially - don't last forever, and
anyone who thinks that she's still really trying need only to see
her performance in this film to realize that she's pretty much
thrown in the towel at this point.
Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but I have to be honest when I say
that there's not much to like about In the Weeds.
Writer/Director Michael Rauch has created a story centered around
one night at a restaurant staffed by some of the least likable
characters you're likely to find in one place. It's not for lack
of trying that nearly every one fails to make any real impression
on the viewer. It might just be that Rauch tries so hard to make
them interesting that he, for the most part, forgets to allow any
of them to develop. They, instead, become slight variations on
caricatures. I thought I was watching an episode of MTV's
"The Real World" with all the obvious stereotypes being
portrayed by each member of the staff. Eric Bogosian's Simon
character is so horribly unlikable from the moment he shows up on
screen that it's impossible to ever imagine giving him allowing
him any type of redemption. His character is so flat that everything
he does is mean, bad, or downright despicable.
Rauch's concept for In the Weeds, nevertheless, is not a
bad one. Told from the perspective of the restaurant staff, it
could have made for a nice slice-of-life story about one crazy
night in their establishment. Good idea. Bad execution. The final
product meanders for most of its ninety minutes, and really ends
up going nowhere. Which would have been fine had it had anything
meaningful to say along the way. Unfortunately, it doesn't have
much to say at all. There are too many subplots that we simply
don't care about and not enough focus on the few truly
interesting characters in the film.
 In the
Weeds may be a mess of a film, but I would be remiss if I
didn't mention its few redeeming qualities that come in the form
of two promising actors and a pretty face. Bridget Moynahan,
though she's given very little to do in the film, looks stunning
on the screen. Rauch would have been wise to give her more face
time. The real treat, however, are the performances of Joshua
Leonard and Ellen Pompeo. They play the only two characters in
the film that seem to be able to break away from all the
stereotypes and actually resemble real people. Adam and Martha
come across as complex and driven, but misguided, and the
evolution of their relationship throughout the film is truly
believable. Kudos to the two young actors for trying their best
to elevate this dismal script.
Don't let me give you the wrong idea though; even these few
shining moments are not enough to make me want to subject you to
this film. Maybe if Rauch started from scratch with the same
concept, excised a few characters, and allowed the rest of his
cast to actually develop their characters, I'd give In the
Weeds another chance. In its current form, however, the only
things that would bring me back for a second viewing are the
performances of two promising young actors and a really angry
chef whose performance would have been hilarious if he hadn't
been so badly overacting.
The DVD
Video:
 In the Weeds
is presented in an anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer that has a few
slight problems, but holds up fairly well. Flesh tones are
accurate and the subdued colors inside the restaurant are handled
nicely. Shadows are well delineated and detail is mostly sharp,
but there is, however, a slight bit of edge enhancement and
shimmering noticeable throughout. The print itself is very clean
with only a few instances of dirt or debris present. Blacks could
be a bit deeper and there is some inherent grain in darker
scenes, but overall this transfer serves its purpose quite well.
Sound:
The audio on this disc is presented in a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
format that sounds pretty much like what you would expect from a
dialogue-heavy film with a stereo track. Spatial separation is
just fine across the front channels and dialogue is always clear
and crisp. The use of Dolby Pro Logic II decoding even provided a
few slight surround effects that made the restaurant atmosphere
seem all the more chaotic. What's really important here is the
dialogue, and this track never falters by allowing it to be
overwhelmed, by the rest of the soundtrack, at any point in the
film.
Extras:
There are no extras pertaining to In the Weeds on this
disc. There are, however, five trailers for
Miramax Home Entertainment, Cold Mountain, The
Station Agent, The Barbarian Invasions, and People
I Know.
Final Thoughts:
Maybe if this disc had included even the slightest amount of
extra material - to provide me with any modicum of insight into
the film - I could have gained some perspective and, possibly,
even a new respect for a film that, when trying to stand up on
its own, falls flat on its face. But alas, we get absolutely
nothing useful in the extras department. And while the
audio-visual presentation is adequate, In the Weeds is
just awful enough for me to tell you not to waste your
hard-earned money. |
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