The Story:
Mickey (John C. McGinley—Dr. Cox on television's Scrubs) is a reporter being hunted down—by corrupt police Lieutenant Brock (Martin Sheen), who will do anything to get his hands on a valuable coin he thinks Mickey has. But when Mickey dies, his deaf friend Jillian (Marlee Matlin), is in the wrong place at the wrong time, and is suspected of having the coin. The late Mickey's good friend Ben (D.B. Sweeney) believes Mickey was killed, and he teams up with Jillian to prove that Brock is a bad cop who is sending his nasty masked thugs to try to kill her and reclaim a coin she doesn't even have. And while they are playing Nancy Drew and Ned Nickerson, the two begin falling in love.

Back in the early 1990s, Marlee Matlin made a name for herself as an outstanding actress who also happened to be deaf. The studios seemed to run with it, and created movies such as this to expose the world to the lives of deaf people (specifically Marlee, since she was the only deaf actress everyone knew). This is so un-PC of me, but I'm going to say it anyway. This movie is mostly a tutorial in how a deaf person lives. We learn about vibrating beepers, sign language, the troubles you run into when a killer is after you and you attempt to call 911, that you can be deaf and still fall in love, if you're falling in love with a deaf person, you have to make sure to look at them when you speak so they can read your lips, and that deaf people also forget that other people CAN hear, so when you're sleeping, they may be too loud and wake you up. And the best thing of all—being deaf doesn't mean you can't land a cutie like D.B. Sweeney. D.B. was hot back then, making girls swoon, and he's adorable—if not corny—in this film. This is somewhat of a thriller, but women are going to be drawn in more by the love story as Jillian and Ben fall head over heels for each other while unraveling a simplistic mystery that's already been solved—they just need to prove it. They get themselves in some suspenseful predicaments, and a good job is done of utilizing the catch—a deaf woman being hunted by a killer, but this isn't a total frightfest. It's a fairly light film, more often cute than scary—Sheen and his goons aren't all that ominous. There are some standard edge-of-your-seat stalker scenes, but no real blood or guts. So, this one's strictly for women…and the men who love them enough to go for a little sappy suspense.

The DVD

Video:
I was pretty impressed with the overall presentation. You have two options, widescreen anamorphic 1:85:1, or full frame 1:33:1. And yes, it's on a dreaded two-sided disc. The transfer is impressively clean, with few flaws. In progressive scan, some grain and pixilation shines through on well-lit scenes, but the darker scenes look quite cinematic. Flesh tones lean towards the pink hue, but the color saturation is near perfect and the blacks and darks offer a good contrast.

Sound:
The Dolby Surround audio track offers Pro Logic decoding, so there is a single channel of sound from the rear speakers along with left/right/center in front. The sound is often front heavy, but I was impressed by the virtual surround and left/right separation offered most often during outdoor scenes (in particular, the sound mixer seemed to enjoy making cars driving by move from one side to the other—real hi-tech stuff, right?). Bass output was timid, so you will have to crank your subwoofer up for a still subtle response. In actuality, I got more than I expected from this audio track, which does offer a modest surround experience.

Extras:
The extras here are straightforward. You have a Spanish stereo audio option. There are also English and Spanish subtitle options. 16 chapter breaks are offered in the Chapter Select menu, and you get the original trailer from the movie.

Final Thoughts:
Hear No Evil is a simple romantic thriller focusing on Marlee Matlin's challenges as a deaf women being stalked by men who think she has a rare coin in her possession. Luckily, D.B. Sweeney is there to be her sidekick and lover. This one is definitely for the ladies who grew up on Nancy Drew. The DVD offers some above standard, if not outstanding, surround sound and picture quality.