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Spitfire Grill, The
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
An audience favorite at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, writer/director Lee David Zlotoff's "The Spitfire Grill" found itself in a bidding war only to fail miserably with critics and general audiences alike. No wonder. Percy Talbott (Alison Elliott) is a young woman who has just been released from prison after serving five years. A place to live and job opportunity for her, post-release, are found and she boards a bus to Gilead, Maine, where she'll live with Hannah Ferguson (Ellen Burstyn), owner of the Spitfire Grill, where Percy will be working.
The recognizable elements of what will become an incredibly shameless melodrama by any standard (think overwrought TV movie, only with good acting) include the mystery surrounding why Percy was in prison, Hannah's grief over her son, who was long ago presumed to have died in Vietnam, a secretive figure living in the woods surrounding the Grill, and Hannah's nephew, a jerk who sells real estate and his timid wife (played by Marcia Gay Harden).
Of course, the nephew is immediately suspicious of Percy, who has befriended his wife and slowly eases into life in Gilead. Percy is pursued by a quiet local man, but alas it isn't meant to be because Percy is doomed by one of the worst scripts of the 90s. I won't reveal what Percy did that landed her in the slammer, but things only go downhill from there and the ridiculous dialogue and actions that follow are expectedly contrived and demeaning to the characters. Until that point, however, as predictable as it is "The Spitfire Grill" will gain the attention of those who enjoy quiet melodramas due to the cinematography and performances of Elliott and Burstyn.
Warner has released "The Spitfire Grill" as an average looking and sounding DVD with little supplementary feature content. The transfer, which is anamorphically enhanced, is nowhere near horrible to look at, but it is at times soft and some tree shots aren't that detailed. There is an English Dolby Surround Stereo soundtrack and all dialogue is intellegible, as is the score, but doesn't stand out as above average. Special features include interactive menus, a theatrical trailer, scene access, a French Dolby Surround Stereo soundtrack, and English and French subtitles. In addition to being available in widescreen the disc also contains a standard version.
The recognizable elements of what will become an incredibly shameless melodrama by any standard (think overwrought TV movie, only with good acting) include the mystery surrounding why Percy was in prison, Hannah's grief over her son, who was long ago presumed to have died in Vietnam, a secretive figure living in the woods surrounding the Grill, and Hannah's nephew, a jerk who sells real estate and his timid wife (played by Marcia Gay Harden).
Of course, the nephew is immediately suspicious of Percy, who has befriended his wife and slowly eases into life in Gilead. Percy is pursued by a quiet local man, but alas it isn't meant to be because Percy is doomed by one of the worst scripts of the 90s. I won't reveal what Percy did that landed her in the slammer, but things only go downhill from there and the ridiculous dialogue and actions that follow are expectedly contrived and demeaning to the characters. Until that point, however, as predictable as it is "The Spitfire Grill" will gain the attention of those who enjoy quiet melodramas due to the cinematography and performances of Elliott and Burstyn.
Warner has released "The Spitfire Grill" as an average looking and sounding DVD with little supplementary feature content. The transfer, which is anamorphically enhanced, is nowhere near horrible to look at, but it is at times soft and some tree shots aren't that detailed. There is an English Dolby Surround Stereo soundtrack and all dialogue is intellegible, as is the score, but doesn't stand out as above average. Special features include interactive menus, a theatrical trailer, scene access, a French Dolby Surround Stereo soundtrack, and English and French subtitles. In addition to being available in widescreen the disc also contains a standard version.
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