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Blow Dry
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment // R // August 14, 2001
List Price: $32.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
A year or so ago, "The Big Tease" arrived to review. A small feature starring Craig Ferguson ("The Drew Carey Show", where he plays Drew's boss) as a Scottish hairdresser visiting LA for the championships, the picture brought some unexpectedly huge laughs. "Blow Dry" was in and out of theaters in the blink of an eye earlier this year, with little support from its studio and even less interest from moviegoers. Although the film was heavily promoted as being from the writer of "The Full Monty", that same writer was actually trying to get his name removed from the picture before its release, according to news reports. The addition of "Josie and the Pussycats" star Rachel Leigh Cook and "Pearl Harbor" star Josh Hartnett may help the film's business on video/DVD, but nothing can really help what is only an infrequently entertaining picture.
The picture revolves around a small British town where the national hairdressing competition is being held. There's the villian of the piece, Ray (Bill Nighy), who is up against local hairdressing legend Phil (Alan Rickman) and his son Brian (Hartnett). Complicating matters is the fact that Phil's former wife Shelly (Natasha Richardson) has run off with another woman (Rachel Griffiths). But, since the championships are in town and Shelly's health is declining, she wants to make peace and bring them all together to defeat Ray.
Elsehwere, Brian has fallen for Ray's daughter Christina (Rachel Leigh Cook), so there's a little "Romeo and Juliet"-ish romance between two feuding families thing going. That, and the fact that Miramax likely grabbed these two to appeal the picture to a younger demographic - that's why the home video cover focuses on these two instead of the using the original theatrical poster. Suprisingly, these two are one of the few positive elements of the picture - neither gives a great performance, but at least the two have a decent amount of chemistry.
The film bounces uneasily between melodrama and comedy, but succeeds at neither side. The comedy simply isn't funny and the drama isn't particularly emotional or that engaging. Richarson does a respectable job with a declicate character trying to be strong in her time of weakness, but her character, like all of the rest in this picture, is not developed in the least.
"The Big Tease" showed that a picture about hairdressing can be both hilarious and entertaining. "Blow Dry" pales in comparison. It simply rounds up a cast of well-known, talented actors and finds new ways to waste them as the picture goes along.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Blow Dry" is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen by Miramax. An unremarkable, but still very nice presentation, sharpness and detail are generally solid. The picture has a couple of slightly soft moments and generally has a "flat" feel, but still remains consistent and never goes noticably too soft or hazy. Flaws were generally kept in check, with only a couple of exceptions. The film displayed a tad more grain than I'd expect from a recent release - some print flaws in the form of speckles and a mark or two also infrequently appeared. No significant amounts of edge enhancement or pixelation were noticable. Colors generally looked well-rendered, appearing well-saturated and clean throughout the movie, with no instances of smearing or other problems.
SOUND: "Blow Dry" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but it's hardly an active audio presentation. Surrounds kick in sightly for the music, but other than that, they remain completely silent or, at most, extremely subtle. Audio quality remained fine throughout, as the music sounded crisp and full and dialogue came through clearly. Nothing special.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus. The options on the main menu are placed vertically, making them a bit hard to read.
EXTRAS:: A moderately informative featurette about the research and rehearsals that went into the picture. The featurette also provides interviews with the cast and crew. What suprised me most was the reveal here that Sydney Pollack was an executive producer on the film - why he became involved with this material is beyond me. Also included are several "sneak peek" trailers in Dolby Digital 5.1 ("She's All That", "Bounce", "Muriel's Wedding", "Comitted", "Confessions Of Sorority Girls", "All I Wanna Do" and "The Faculty".)
Final Thoughts: Disney provides an average DVD edition of "Blow Dry", but it's certainly overpriced at $32.99. The film itself is pretty dismal - definitely slow going, and the performances from an otherwise terrific set of actors are dissapointing. Definitely a dissapointing way to end a day of reviewing. If you're looking for a far funnier and more entertaining film on the subject, check out "The Big Tease" as a rental.
A year or so ago, "The Big Tease" arrived to review. A small feature starring Craig Ferguson ("The Drew Carey Show", where he plays Drew's boss) as a Scottish hairdresser visiting LA for the championships, the picture brought some unexpectedly huge laughs. "Blow Dry" was in and out of theaters in the blink of an eye earlier this year, with little support from its studio and even less interest from moviegoers. Although the film was heavily promoted as being from the writer of "The Full Monty", that same writer was actually trying to get his name removed from the picture before its release, according to news reports. The addition of "Josie and the Pussycats" star Rachel Leigh Cook and "Pearl Harbor" star Josh Hartnett may help the film's business on video/DVD, but nothing can really help what is only an infrequently entertaining picture.
The picture revolves around a small British town where the national hairdressing competition is being held. There's the villian of the piece, Ray (Bill Nighy), who is up against local hairdressing legend Phil (Alan Rickman) and his son Brian (Hartnett). Complicating matters is the fact that Phil's former wife Shelly (Natasha Richardson) has run off with another woman (Rachel Griffiths). But, since the championships are in town and Shelly's health is declining, she wants to make peace and bring them all together to defeat Ray.
Elsehwere, Brian has fallen for Ray's daughter Christina (Rachel Leigh Cook), so there's a little "Romeo and Juliet"-ish romance between two feuding families thing going. That, and the fact that Miramax likely grabbed these two to appeal the picture to a younger demographic - that's why the home video cover focuses on these two instead of the using the original theatrical poster. Suprisingly, these two are one of the few positive elements of the picture - neither gives a great performance, but at least the two have a decent amount of chemistry.
The film bounces uneasily between melodrama and comedy, but succeeds at neither side. The comedy simply isn't funny and the drama isn't particularly emotional or that engaging. Richarson does a respectable job with a declicate character trying to be strong in her time of weakness, but her character, like all of the rest in this picture, is not developed in the least.
"The Big Tease" showed that a picture about hairdressing can be both hilarious and entertaining. "Blow Dry" pales in comparison. It simply rounds up a cast of well-known, talented actors and finds new ways to waste them as the picture goes along.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Blow Dry" is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen by Miramax. An unremarkable, but still very nice presentation, sharpness and detail are generally solid. The picture has a couple of slightly soft moments and generally has a "flat" feel, but still remains consistent and never goes noticably too soft or hazy. Flaws were generally kept in check, with only a couple of exceptions. The film displayed a tad more grain than I'd expect from a recent release - some print flaws in the form of speckles and a mark or two also infrequently appeared. No significant amounts of edge enhancement or pixelation were noticable. Colors generally looked well-rendered, appearing well-saturated and clean throughout the movie, with no instances of smearing or other problems.
SOUND: "Blow Dry" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but it's hardly an active audio presentation. Surrounds kick in sightly for the music, but other than that, they remain completely silent or, at most, extremely subtle. Audio quality remained fine throughout, as the music sounded crisp and full and dialogue came through clearly. Nothing special.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus. The options on the main menu are placed vertically, making them a bit hard to read.
EXTRAS:: A moderately informative featurette about the research and rehearsals that went into the picture. The featurette also provides interviews with the cast and crew. What suprised me most was the reveal here that Sydney Pollack was an executive producer on the film - why he became involved with this material is beyond me. Also included are several "sneak peek" trailers in Dolby Digital 5.1 ("She's All That", "Bounce", "Muriel's Wedding", "Comitted", "Confessions Of Sorority Girls", "All I Wanna Do" and "The Faculty".)
Final Thoughts: Disney provides an average DVD edition of "Blow Dry", but it's certainly overpriced at $32.99. The film itself is pretty dismal - definitely slow going, and the performances from an otherwise terrific set of actors are dissapointing. Definitely a dissapointing way to end a day of reviewing. If you're looking for a far funnier and more entertaining film on the subject, check out "The Big Tease" as a rental.
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