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Angela's Ashes
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
"Angela's Ashes" is based on the best-selling autobiography by Frank McCourt. Although I have not read the book, I can still say that it's a book that probably should not have been attempted to make a film from. Or, at least, the filmmmakers should have gone about it in a different direction. Reading the author's own words about his life let readers draw their own conclusions; the movie, on the other hand, is not terribly subtle in the way it bathes the audience in 145 minutes of slow gloom.
For a film this lengthy, the story remains fairly simple. These are the McCourts and this film shows what happened to them during their llives in Ireland. There are moments that I enjoyed in this film, but they're few and far between in the over two hour running time. It starts off well, looking like a film where performances will carry the movie. After a while though, it becomes hard to care. Although "Eyes Wide Shut" was over 3 hours, it moved quicker than this film does at a little over two. Much quicker.
Still, the performances are good, if not enough to make the film interesting. Watson plays Angela almost perfectly, quiet and subtle - she's the most interesting character in the film. Carlyle is also quite good as Malachy, the alcoholic father. The kids offer good performances as well, but they're never really well-defined as characters.
Director Alan Parker needed to seriously work on pacing for this film; that's the element that pretty much takes it down. A more streamlined picture might have been bearable, but at this point, it goes on far too long and is far too gloomy for its own good.
The DVD
VIDEO: This is kind of a tough one to talk about when it comes to image quality. Angela's Ashes is, for the most part, a dimly lit or dark film with an extremely cold, pale look to it. Although I did not see this film in theaters, I can probably guess that Paramount has done the best job they possibly can on this anamorphic transfer, presented in the film's 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Sharpness is usually good; most sequences have adequate sharpness, although there are a few instances where the picture seems a tad soft. Detail is good in the lighter scenes and remains fairly good in some of the darker sequences. Colors? Well, "Angela's Ashes", with a few exceptions, remains extremely subdued in terms of colors, with mainly some darker colors appearing now and again. For a dark film though, I was pleased that the film seems to look accurate; dark, but not too dark on this effort.
The only thing I noticed was that some scenes tend to look slightly grainy. Other than that, there are no instances of pixelation or shimmering, and the print used is free of marks and scratches. A good job by Paramount on a tough looking film.
SOUND: This is really a front-only presentation for the majority of the film; I don't think I was expecting anything different. This certainly is a dialogue-driven drama, and the audio is content to be fairly limited in its presentation. As it is, there's really hardly any surround use at all, and they remain silent for the majority of the film. The John Williams score sounds clear and natural, as well. All in all, a film that focuses on the dialogue.
MENUS:: Some nicely animated menus with the music from the film in the background.
EXTRAS::
Commentary One: This is a commentary from author Frank McCourt, and it's definitely quite an interesting discussion, since it's a rare commentary track that doesn't focus on the film - McCourt is able to share his life with the viewer on this track, and it's quite a fascinating tale; sometimes he simply narrates what is going on on-screen, but he then goes into further detail about his experiences and the problems his family went through, and it's saddening and quite interesting to listen to.
He's very enthusiastic about sharing his comments to; although there are some small spaces where there is silence, the author is able to talk throughout much of the track. For the real story behind the film, this commentary provides a discussion by McCourt of what he really had to go through in his life.
Commentary Two: This is a commentary from director Alan Parker, and it focuses more on the aspects of making the film, but still offers a viewpoint on the story. The commentary is another instance where I didn't care for the film, but found listening to the director's opinions and tales to be quite an interesting trip. Parker is energetic about sharing comments, and he has quite a lot to say.
He shares quite a lot about filmmaking in general, and his opinions on the process. As for the movie, he tells the viewer quite a lot about the locations and sets that had to be chosen for the film, as well as the look that he had to create for the film. He talks about the actors, but doesn't spend too much time on them. That kind of illustrates the commentary as a whole - Parker offers solid information on a subject, then quickly moves on, which is a pleasing way of discussing a film, since some commentary tracks seem to go off on a topic for too long before they realize they've gone off too far.
Like the other commentary, Parker's discussion is quite good, and there are few pauses of silence throughout the track. Although I didn't really like the movie, I found this commentary to contain some interesting information about not only the film, but the story and novel as well.
Trailers: The theatrical and teaser trailer, both presented in Dolby 2.0
"Ashes To Ashes: The Making Of "Angela's...": Sort of promotional in nature, this documentary still is very nicely produced, with informative interviews with the cast and crew, as well as Author McCourt. There are some very nice clips watching the production at work, as well. Worth a look - its at its best when it talks about and shows the process of filming. The documentary runs about 26 minutes or so.
Reflections on Angela's Ashes: Similar to the interview segements that were offered on Paramount's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" DVD, this section offers 17 minutes or so worth of interview clips where the actors as well as the director talk about their feelings on the story as well as their roles.
Final Thoughts: Although I didn't care for the film, I did appreciate that this is Paramount's first really special Special Edition, with 2 good commentary tracks and some other features. Those who liked the film will be very pleased with Paramount's work; those who haven't seen the film should probably rent it first.
"Angela's Ashes" is based on the best-selling autobiography by Frank McCourt. Although I have not read the book, I can still say that it's a book that probably should not have been attempted to make a film from. Or, at least, the filmmmakers should have gone about it in a different direction. Reading the author's own words about his life let readers draw their own conclusions; the movie, on the other hand, is not terribly subtle in the way it bathes the audience in 145 minutes of slow gloom.
For a film this lengthy, the story remains fairly simple. These are the McCourts and this film shows what happened to them during their llives in Ireland. There are moments that I enjoyed in this film, but they're few and far between in the over two hour running time. It starts off well, looking like a film where performances will carry the movie. After a while though, it becomes hard to care. Although "Eyes Wide Shut" was over 3 hours, it moved quicker than this film does at a little over two. Much quicker.
Still, the performances are good, if not enough to make the film interesting. Watson plays Angela almost perfectly, quiet and subtle - she's the most interesting character in the film. Carlyle is also quite good as Malachy, the alcoholic father. The kids offer good performances as well, but they're never really well-defined as characters.
Director Alan Parker needed to seriously work on pacing for this film; that's the element that pretty much takes it down. A more streamlined picture might have been bearable, but at this point, it goes on far too long and is far too gloomy for its own good.
The DVD
VIDEO: This is kind of a tough one to talk about when it comes to image quality. Angela's Ashes is, for the most part, a dimly lit or dark film with an extremely cold, pale look to it. Although I did not see this film in theaters, I can probably guess that Paramount has done the best job they possibly can on this anamorphic transfer, presented in the film's 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Sharpness is usually good; most sequences have adequate sharpness, although there are a few instances where the picture seems a tad soft. Detail is good in the lighter scenes and remains fairly good in some of the darker sequences. Colors? Well, "Angela's Ashes", with a few exceptions, remains extremely subdued in terms of colors, with mainly some darker colors appearing now and again. For a dark film though, I was pleased that the film seems to look accurate; dark, but not too dark on this effort.
The only thing I noticed was that some scenes tend to look slightly grainy. Other than that, there are no instances of pixelation or shimmering, and the print used is free of marks and scratches. A good job by Paramount on a tough looking film.
SOUND: This is really a front-only presentation for the majority of the film; I don't think I was expecting anything different. This certainly is a dialogue-driven drama, and the audio is content to be fairly limited in its presentation. As it is, there's really hardly any surround use at all, and they remain silent for the majority of the film. The John Williams score sounds clear and natural, as well. All in all, a film that focuses on the dialogue.
MENUS:: Some nicely animated menus with the music from the film in the background.
EXTRAS::
Commentary One: This is a commentary from author Frank McCourt, and it's definitely quite an interesting discussion, since it's a rare commentary track that doesn't focus on the film - McCourt is able to share his life with the viewer on this track, and it's quite a fascinating tale; sometimes he simply narrates what is going on on-screen, but he then goes into further detail about his experiences and the problems his family went through, and it's saddening and quite interesting to listen to.
He's very enthusiastic about sharing his comments to; although there are some small spaces where there is silence, the author is able to talk throughout much of the track. For the real story behind the film, this commentary provides a discussion by McCourt of what he really had to go through in his life.
Commentary Two: This is a commentary from director Alan Parker, and it focuses more on the aspects of making the film, but still offers a viewpoint on the story. The commentary is another instance where I didn't care for the film, but found listening to the director's opinions and tales to be quite an interesting trip. Parker is energetic about sharing comments, and he has quite a lot to say.
He shares quite a lot about filmmaking in general, and his opinions on the process. As for the movie, he tells the viewer quite a lot about the locations and sets that had to be chosen for the film, as well as the look that he had to create for the film. He talks about the actors, but doesn't spend too much time on them. That kind of illustrates the commentary as a whole - Parker offers solid information on a subject, then quickly moves on, which is a pleasing way of discussing a film, since some commentary tracks seem to go off on a topic for too long before they realize they've gone off too far.
Like the other commentary, Parker's discussion is quite good, and there are few pauses of silence throughout the track. Although I didn't really like the movie, I found this commentary to contain some interesting information about not only the film, but the story and novel as well.
Trailers: The theatrical and teaser trailer, both presented in Dolby 2.0
"Ashes To Ashes: The Making Of "Angela's...": Sort of promotional in nature, this documentary still is very nicely produced, with informative interviews with the cast and crew, as well as Author McCourt. There are some very nice clips watching the production at work, as well. Worth a look - its at its best when it talks about and shows the process of filming. The documentary runs about 26 minutes or so.
Reflections on Angela's Ashes: Similar to the interview segements that were offered on Paramount's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" DVD, this section offers 17 minutes or so worth of interview clips where the actors as well as the director talk about their feelings on the story as well as their roles.
Final Thoughts: Although I didn't care for the film, I did appreciate that this is Paramount's first really special Special Edition, with 2 good commentary tracks and some other features. Those who liked the film will be very pleased with Paramount's work; those who haven't seen the film should probably rent it first.
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