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Baby's Day Out
Fox // PG // January 29, 2001
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Writer/producer/director John Hughes had a run through the 80's of comedies that are special to many people. Many people wouldn't call them "high art", but there's certainly a craft to creating memorable characters and situations that people recall years later. Yet, after Hughes' enormous success in the early 90's with "Home Alone", his pictures afterwards have moved entirely away from the adult ("Planes, Trains and Automobiles"), teen ("Ferris Buller's Day Off") and family ("Uncle Buck") films that made him a success in the first place. In fact, many of his pictures seem to be trying to recreate the success of "Home Alone", including this costly 1994 effort, which he produced.
The film revolves around Baby Bink (played by twins), who is the son of the wealthy Cotwells (Lara Flynn Boyle, Matthew Glave). The parents hire what they think is a trio of photographers (Joe Mantegna, Joe Pantoliano and Brian Haley), who all turn out to want to hold the baby for a 5 million dollar ransom.
The only problem is that they can't actually seem to keep the baby in their posession for more than 5 minutes. When the baby sees a possible exit, he skips out and decides to explore Chicago, with the three criminals - who are consistently injured as a result of their chase - follwing behind.
There's one main problem with the film - there's simply not enough story to go very far on. The endless injuries that happen to the three criminals are mildly funny for a little while, but things eventually become quite repetitive. The performances aren't bad - the three (Pantoliano, Haley and Mantegna) are quite good at slapstick comedy, but obviously they're all capable of working with better material. Flynn Boyle is the suprise of the cast, able to generate some fairly moving and emotional moments on her search for Bink. The other star of the show is the effects work by ILM, who place the baby in the middle of some interesting situations.
"Baby's Day Out" has a few mildly entertaining moments, but the film runs out of energy rather quickly.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Baby's Day Out" is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and pan & scan. Each edition is housed on a different side of the dual-sided disc. The anamorphic widescreen edition is not flawless, but again shows that Fox is able to give their catalog titles a solid effort, as well. Thomas E. Ackerman ("Rat Race", the upcoming "Snow Dogs")'s cinematography vividly captures the interesting sets (the reported 50m budget had to go somewhere besides the effects) and comedic moments. Presented here by Fox, images remained pleasantly sharp and crisp, if not exceptionally well-defined.
A few minor flaws appeared throughout the presentation, but didn't have an enormous effect on the viewing experience. The print appeared free of all but a couple of extremely light instances of dirt and a speckle or two. Edge enhancement was not seen, but I did notice a very minimal trace of pixelation.
Colors looked enjoyable, appearing natural and well-saturated throughout, with no smearing or other issues. While not exceptional, this is still a very good effort from Fox.
SOUND: "Baby's Day Out" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The credited sound designer for the film is none other than one of the best in the business, Gary Rydstrom ("The Haunting", "Toy Story 2"). While Rydstrom has been reponsible for some of the most thrilling sound mixes, "Baby's Day Out" simply doesn't have the same kind of opportunities for surround use as, say, "Mission Impossible". Yet, the film's audio does take things beyond the usual comedy mix, as the cartoony action does provide for some instances of fun, if rather minor, surround effects. Surrounds also occasionally provided the score. The film's audio quality was quite good, as music sounded clear and bright, while dialogue and sound effects came through clearly and crisply.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus that essentially use film-themed images and cover art.
EXTRAS::
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Patrick Read Johnson, who seems as if he prepared himself to deliver a very good amount of detail about the film's production during this track. The director discusses having to work with a talented cast of adults as well as the obstacles in having to have to work with a pair of children who share the starring role. There's also some superb discussion of the other elements of a fairly major production; working on the locations, the film's special effects (which there are quite a few of) and the film's sound work. Although there are some pauses here and there, this is actually a very enjoyable commentary track, as Read Johnson relates all sorts of informative information in a fun and engaging manner.
Also: 5 minute and 45 second promotional featurette and trailers for "Baby's Day Out", "Breaking Away", "My Bodyguard", "Rookie of the Year" and "The Sandlot". The last four are also available on 1/29/01.
Final Thoughts: "Baby's Day Out" isn't an entirely entertaining feature; there's a few funny moments thanks to the cast, but there's little story and it simply turns rather repetitive. Fox's DVD is quite nice, though: good audio/video quality and unexpectedly, a few supplements are included. Fans of the film will want to check out the disc, which should be available as low as $14.99. Others might want to check it out as a rental first.
Writer/producer/director John Hughes had a run through the 80's of comedies that are special to many people. Many people wouldn't call them "high art", but there's certainly a craft to creating memorable characters and situations that people recall years later. Yet, after Hughes' enormous success in the early 90's with "Home Alone", his pictures afterwards have moved entirely away from the adult ("Planes, Trains and Automobiles"), teen ("Ferris Buller's Day Off") and family ("Uncle Buck") films that made him a success in the first place. In fact, many of his pictures seem to be trying to recreate the success of "Home Alone", including this costly 1994 effort, which he produced.
The film revolves around Baby Bink (played by twins), who is the son of the wealthy Cotwells (Lara Flynn Boyle, Matthew Glave). The parents hire what they think is a trio of photographers (Joe Mantegna, Joe Pantoliano and Brian Haley), who all turn out to want to hold the baby for a 5 million dollar ransom.
The only problem is that they can't actually seem to keep the baby in their posession for more than 5 minutes. When the baby sees a possible exit, he skips out and decides to explore Chicago, with the three criminals - who are consistently injured as a result of their chase - follwing behind.
There's one main problem with the film - there's simply not enough story to go very far on. The endless injuries that happen to the three criminals are mildly funny for a little while, but things eventually become quite repetitive. The performances aren't bad - the three (Pantoliano, Haley and Mantegna) are quite good at slapstick comedy, but obviously they're all capable of working with better material. Flynn Boyle is the suprise of the cast, able to generate some fairly moving and emotional moments on her search for Bink. The other star of the show is the effects work by ILM, who place the baby in the middle of some interesting situations.
"Baby's Day Out" has a few mildly entertaining moments, but the film runs out of energy rather quickly.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Baby's Day Out" is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and pan & scan. Each edition is housed on a different side of the dual-sided disc. The anamorphic widescreen edition is not flawless, but again shows that Fox is able to give their catalog titles a solid effort, as well. Thomas E. Ackerman ("Rat Race", the upcoming "Snow Dogs")'s cinematography vividly captures the interesting sets (the reported 50m budget had to go somewhere besides the effects) and comedic moments. Presented here by Fox, images remained pleasantly sharp and crisp, if not exceptionally well-defined.
A few minor flaws appeared throughout the presentation, but didn't have an enormous effect on the viewing experience. The print appeared free of all but a couple of extremely light instances of dirt and a speckle or two. Edge enhancement was not seen, but I did notice a very minimal trace of pixelation.
Colors looked enjoyable, appearing natural and well-saturated throughout, with no smearing or other issues. While not exceptional, this is still a very good effort from Fox.
SOUND: "Baby's Day Out" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The credited sound designer for the film is none other than one of the best in the business, Gary Rydstrom ("The Haunting", "Toy Story 2"). While Rydstrom has been reponsible for some of the most thrilling sound mixes, "Baby's Day Out" simply doesn't have the same kind of opportunities for surround use as, say, "Mission Impossible". Yet, the film's audio does take things beyond the usual comedy mix, as the cartoony action does provide for some instances of fun, if rather minor, surround effects. Surrounds also occasionally provided the score. The film's audio quality was quite good, as music sounded clear and bright, while dialogue and sound effects came through clearly and crisply.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus that essentially use film-themed images and cover art.
EXTRAS::
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Patrick Read Johnson, who seems as if he prepared himself to deliver a very good amount of detail about the film's production during this track. The director discusses having to work with a talented cast of adults as well as the obstacles in having to have to work with a pair of children who share the starring role. There's also some superb discussion of the other elements of a fairly major production; working on the locations, the film's special effects (which there are quite a few of) and the film's sound work. Although there are some pauses here and there, this is actually a very enjoyable commentary track, as Read Johnson relates all sorts of informative information in a fun and engaging manner.
Also: 5 minute and 45 second promotional featurette and trailers for "Baby's Day Out", "Breaking Away", "My Bodyguard", "Rookie of the Year" and "The Sandlot". The last four are also available on 1/29/01.
Final Thoughts: "Baby's Day Out" isn't an entirely entertaining feature; there's a few funny moments thanks to the cast, but there's little story and it simply turns rather repetitive. Fox's DVD is quite nice, though: good audio/video quality and unexpectedly, a few supplements are included. Fans of the film will want to check out the disc, which should be available as low as $14.99. Others might want to check it out as a rental first.
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