| Reviews & Columns |
|
Reviews DVD TV on DVD Blu-ray 4K UHD International DVDs In Theaters Reviews by Studio Video Games Features Collector Series DVDs Easter Egg Database Interviews DVD Talk Radio Feature Articles Columns Anime Talk DVD Savant Horror DVDs The M.O.D. Squad Art House HD Talk Silent DVD
|
 DVD Talk Forum |
|
|
| Resources |
|
DVD Price Search Customer Service #'s RCE Info Links |
|
Columns
  
 
|
|
|
Duets: Special Edition
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
It sounded weird, and it is weird. "Duets" is a movie about Karaoke - yes, Karaoke, the act of getting up on stage and trying to follow along to various pop tunes - making a fool of yourself while countless (some probably drunk) strangers stare at you from the audience. Sounds like fun, and apparently (according to this movie) some people make a living from it, but does that mean that it's something that is worthy of being made into a film?
But, it's not only a karaoke picture, but it's two - two - two genres in one; we also get a bit of a "road trip" picture, as well. The plot centers around a group of six individuals from various backgrounds heading off to Nebraska to compete in a karaoke contest. One pairing is Ricky Dean (Huey Lewis, suprising with the best performance in the film) and Liv (Gwyneth Paltrow), the daughter he's never seen; also we have salesman Todd(Paul Giamatti) and convict Reggie(Andre Braugher) and last, but not least, there's Suzy(Maria Bello) and cab driver Billy(Scott Speedman).
If at first it seems odd that Paltrow would participate in such a off-center project, but after looking at the credits, the reason becomes apparent - "Duets" is directed by Paltrow's father, Bruce. For such an accomplished individual, one might wonder what he saw in the film's screenplay, which takes forever to get thinly written and poorly developed characters from point A to point B. The film often goes absolutely nowhere quickly, simply cutting back and forth between the inane or embarassingly cliched drama that goes on between the three "duets".
None of the performances are particularly good, with the exception of the suprisingly decent Lewis. Giamatti has been far better in other roles, Paltrow has hardly anything to do with her one-note character, and the rest of the performers are so flat as to be hardly memorable at all; I find especially hard to believe that Bello would take on such a lame character. They can all sing (especially Paltrow - who does particularly well and has nice presence on stage), but that's about all the movie has to it.
"Duets" has a couple of good moments, but the moments in-between are often such a dull mess that the majority of the film becomes simply tedious to sit through - and it gets worse as it goes along.
The DVD
VIDEO: This is a decent presentation from Buena Vista, offering the film in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic, although not one of the studio's better recent efforts. Sharpness and detail are generally good, although some scenes in the film have a rather soft feel to them - especially some of the dimly lit interiors, which were visibly murky.
Problems appear besides the softness throughout the show - edge enhancement is noticable on occasion and slightly irritating. Pixelation doesn't appear, but there are some print flaws that show up on occasion - certainly nothing heavy, but a few minor marks and speckles.
Colors appeared okay, but not great. Colors seemed slightly smeary in some of the interior scenes, but generally appeared acceptable. It's a mediocre effort from Disney and the so-so quality made the film even tougher to watch.
SOUND: "Duets" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but the great majority of it is rather uninspired in terms of audio. It's really all about the singing - when characters sing, their strong voices do carry very nicely and the front speakers open up pleasingly with the music - with a little surround re-inforcement to boot. But once the music stops, so does the audio, which folds back up into an essentially mono/dialogue-driven affair.
Quality seemed to be very good, but not outstanding or exceptional in any way. The music came through warmly and clearly, and singing/dialogue sounded strong. A decent presentation that really only comes alive (and slightly) during the singing sequences.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic film-themed images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary track from director Bruce Paltrow and producer Kevin Jones. After really not wanting to sit through the film again, I did check out this commentary track and did find it moderately informative as Paltrow and Jones take the viewer through a tour of the production scene-by-scene. There's also quite a history behind the project, with different actors involved and other elements, and those are discussed here. There are a few pauses of silence throughout the track, but when Paltrow does speak, he does speak rapidly and with a good deal of energy. Although I didn't care for the film at all, I found it moderately interesting to hear about the many goings-on and obstacles that the production had to go through to get the film to the screen.
Deleted Scenes: 3 scenes, with no optional commentary - two are rather dark and are rightly cut out; the third one goes nowhere - and is also rightly deleted.
Multi-Angle Music Video: A neat addition, this offers the music video for "Crusin" in its edited form, or a multi-angle feature that offers either the two stars in the recording studio, behind-the-scenes or the final scene in the film.
Also: 8 minute interview "Conversations with Bruce Paltrow", trailer (full-frame/2.0).
Final Thoughts: "Duets" recieves a fair DVD with average audio/video quality and some good extra features, but even if it was a wonderful DVD (and not overpriced - as this one is at $32.99), I don't think I could recommend the film, which is a mess that keeps getting worse as it goes along.
It sounded weird, and it is weird. "Duets" is a movie about Karaoke - yes, Karaoke, the act of getting up on stage and trying to follow along to various pop tunes - making a fool of yourself while countless (some probably drunk) strangers stare at you from the audience. Sounds like fun, and apparently (according to this movie) some people make a living from it, but does that mean that it's something that is worthy of being made into a film?
But, it's not only a karaoke picture, but it's two - two - two genres in one; we also get a bit of a "road trip" picture, as well. The plot centers around a group of six individuals from various backgrounds heading off to Nebraska to compete in a karaoke contest. One pairing is Ricky Dean (Huey Lewis, suprising with the best performance in the film) and Liv (Gwyneth Paltrow), the daughter he's never seen; also we have salesman Todd(Paul Giamatti) and convict Reggie(Andre Braugher) and last, but not least, there's Suzy(Maria Bello) and cab driver Billy(Scott Speedman).
If at first it seems odd that Paltrow would participate in such a off-center project, but after looking at the credits, the reason becomes apparent - "Duets" is directed by Paltrow's father, Bruce. For such an accomplished individual, one might wonder what he saw in the film's screenplay, which takes forever to get thinly written and poorly developed characters from point A to point B. The film often goes absolutely nowhere quickly, simply cutting back and forth between the inane or embarassingly cliched drama that goes on between the three "duets".
None of the performances are particularly good, with the exception of the suprisingly decent Lewis. Giamatti has been far better in other roles, Paltrow has hardly anything to do with her one-note character, and the rest of the performers are so flat as to be hardly memorable at all; I find especially hard to believe that Bello would take on such a lame character. They can all sing (especially Paltrow - who does particularly well and has nice presence on stage), but that's about all the movie has to it.
"Duets" has a couple of good moments, but the moments in-between are often such a dull mess that the majority of the film becomes simply tedious to sit through - and it gets worse as it goes along.
The DVD
VIDEO: This is a decent presentation from Buena Vista, offering the film in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic, although not one of the studio's better recent efforts. Sharpness and detail are generally good, although some scenes in the film have a rather soft feel to them - especially some of the dimly lit interiors, which were visibly murky.
Problems appear besides the softness throughout the show - edge enhancement is noticable on occasion and slightly irritating. Pixelation doesn't appear, but there are some print flaws that show up on occasion - certainly nothing heavy, but a few minor marks and speckles.
Colors appeared okay, but not great. Colors seemed slightly smeary in some of the interior scenes, but generally appeared acceptable. It's a mediocre effort from Disney and the so-so quality made the film even tougher to watch.
SOUND: "Duets" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but the great majority of it is rather uninspired in terms of audio. It's really all about the singing - when characters sing, their strong voices do carry very nicely and the front speakers open up pleasingly with the music - with a little surround re-inforcement to boot. But once the music stops, so does the audio, which folds back up into an essentially mono/dialogue-driven affair.
Quality seemed to be very good, but not outstanding or exceptional in any way. The music came through warmly and clearly, and singing/dialogue sounded strong. A decent presentation that really only comes alive (and slightly) during the singing sequences.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic film-themed images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary track from director Bruce Paltrow and producer Kevin Jones. After really not wanting to sit through the film again, I did check out this commentary track and did find it moderately informative as Paltrow and Jones take the viewer through a tour of the production scene-by-scene. There's also quite a history behind the project, with different actors involved and other elements, and those are discussed here. There are a few pauses of silence throughout the track, but when Paltrow does speak, he does speak rapidly and with a good deal of energy. Although I didn't care for the film at all, I found it moderately interesting to hear about the many goings-on and obstacles that the production had to go through to get the film to the screen.
Deleted Scenes: 3 scenes, with no optional commentary - two are rather dark and are rightly cut out; the third one goes nowhere - and is also rightly deleted.
Multi-Angle Music Video: A neat addition, this offers the music video for "Crusin" in its edited form, or a multi-angle feature that offers either the two stars in the recording studio, behind-the-scenes or the final scene in the film.
Also: 8 minute interview "Conversations with Bruce Paltrow", trailer (full-frame/2.0).
Final Thoughts: "Duets" recieves a fair DVD with average audio/video quality and some good extra features, but even if it was a wonderful DVD (and not overpriced - as this one is at $32.99), I don't think I could recommend the film, which is a mess that keeps getting worse as it goes along.
|
| Popular Reviews |
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Release List | Reviews | Shop | Newsletter | Forum | DVD Giveaways | Blu-Ray | Advertise |
|
Copyright 2024 DVDTalk.com All Rights Reserved. Legal Info, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use,
Manage Preferences,
Your Privacy Choices 
| |||||||