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Sweet Revenge
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
In Hitchcock's "Strangers On A Train", a chance encounter between a tennis player and a millionaire's son sets into motion a plot where the two swap murders. As the two are complete strangers to one another, there would be no apparent motive and an alibi for each -- the perfect crime. That's oversimplifying it a bit, but "Sweet Revenge" takes that general premise and adds a darkly comedic spin to it.
Much like Bruno and Guy's encounter on a train, recently-fired workaholic Henry Bell and aristocratic mistress Karen Knightly (Sam Neill and Helena Bonham Carter respectively) meet while trying to leap to their deaths from a bridge in London. Karen convinces Henry to switch revenges, though not intended to have the same fatal consequences as in "Strangers..." -- Karen will take care of Bruce Tick, the man who stole Henry's job, and Henry has to deal with Imogen Staxton-Billing (Kristin Scott Thomas), the wife of the man with whom Karen had been carrying on an affair. (At first, I thought the name 'Imogen' was an in-joke; I incorrectly believed that was the name of the company that had cloned the dinosaurs in Sam Neill's "Jurassic Park".) Karen gleefully makes short work of Tick, convincing his paranoid wife that he's carrying on an affair, while Henry becomes increasingly interested in Imogen, having a difficult time participating in Karen's game. Though viewers expecting a rapid-fire "Naked Gun" approach to humor may be disappointed, fans of quirky, dark British humor will likely find "Sweet Revenge" to be wildly entertaining.
Video: Around a year ago, I theorized that if any part of a transfer looks awful, it'll be the few minutes. I'm not knowledgable enough about telecine and the like to explain why that is exactly, but I've noticed it on a number of discs, "Sweet Revenge" among them. The first few minutes of the film are marred by a considerable amount of dust and specks, and although these marks aren't extremely distracting, there are far more than I'd expect from such a recent film. The early moments of the film after the title sequence are a bit grainy and the brightness seems to fluctuate slightly. This clears up quickly, with the remainder of "Sweet Revenge" looking much like a relatively-low-budget import typically does. Some of the wider exterior shots are really eye-catching, particularly shots of the Knightly estate and a quick glance at a pond in the woods, right before Henry re-encounters Imogen.
Audio: Presented in Dolby stereo surround, "Sweet Revenge" features a rather nice score that roars from the speakers, particularly the surrounds. As is typical for a comedy, the audio is very dialogue-heavy, and although "Sweet Revenge" is free of hiss and distortion, the dialogue doesn't sound quite as rich or full as I'm used to hearing from DVD. The score aside, "Sweet Revenge" sounds little different than watching a movie on cable.
Supplements: The only extras are trailers for "Princess Mononoke", "Love's Labour Lost", "Boys And Girls", "A Hard Day's Night", "An Ideal Husband", and "The Cider House Rules".
Conclusion: I really enjoyed "Sweet Revenge", but at the astonishingly high price point of $32.99, I can't really recommend it as a purchase unless the price drops significantly sometime in the future. British humor enthusiasts will definitely find "Sweet Revenge" worth a rental.
Much like Bruno and Guy's encounter on a train, recently-fired workaholic Henry Bell and aristocratic mistress Karen Knightly (Sam Neill and Helena Bonham Carter respectively) meet while trying to leap to their deaths from a bridge in London. Karen convinces Henry to switch revenges, though not intended to have the same fatal consequences as in "Strangers..." -- Karen will take care of Bruce Tick, the man who stole Henry's job, and Henry has to deal with Imogen Staxton-Billing (Kristin Scott Thomas), the wife of the man with whom Karen had been carrying on an affair. (At first, I thought the name 'Imogen' was an in-joke; I incorrectly believed that was the name of the company that had cloned the dinosaurs in Sam Neill's "Jurassic Park".) Karen gleefully makes short work of Tick, convincing his paranoid wife that he's carrying on an affair, while Henry becomes increasingly interested in Imogen, having a difficult time participating in Karen's game. Though viewers expecting a rapid-fire "Naked Gun" approach to humor may be disappointed, fans of quirky, dark British humor will likely find "Sweet Revenge" to be wildly entertaining.
Video: Around a year ago, I theorized that if any part of a transfer looks awful, it'll be the few minutes. I'm not knowledgable enough about telecine and the like to explain why that is exactly, but I've noticed it on a number of discs, "Sweet Revenge" among them. The first few minutes of the film are marred by a considerable amount of dust and specks, and although these marks aren't extremely distracting, there are far more than I'd expect from such a recent film. The early moments of the film after the title sequence are a bit grainy and the brightness seems to fluctuate slightly. This clears up quickly, with the remainder of "Sweet Revenge" looking much like a relatively-low-budget import typically does. Some of the wider exterior shots are really eye-catching, particularly shots of the Knightly estate and a quick glance at a pond in the woods, right before Henry re-encounters Imogen.
Audio: Presented in Dolby stereo surround, "Sweet Revenge" features a rather nice score that roars from the speakers, particularly the surrounds. As is typical for a comedy, the audio is very dialogue-heavy, and although "Sweet Revenge" is free of hiss and distortion, the dialogue doesn't sound quite as rich or full as I'm used to hearing from DVD. The score aside, "Sweet Revenge" sounds little different than watching a movie on cable.
Supplements: The only extras are trailers for "Princess Mononoke", "Love's Labour Lost", "Boys And Girls", "A Hard Day's Night", "An Ideal Husband", and "The Cider House Rules".
Conclusion: I really enjoyed "Sweet Revenge", but at the astonishingly high price point of $32.99, I can't really recommend it as a purchase unless the price drops significantly sometime in the future. British humor enthusiasts will definitely find "Sweet Revenge" worth a rental.
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