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Yellow
Sony Pictures // R // July 31, 2007
List Price: $24.96 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
It's a crusty old Hollywood cliché: an actress hopes to grow as an artist by tackling challenging, daring material, so she winds up playing a stripper. The excuses range from "it's sexually empowering" to "it helps me shake my fear of sexually charged roles," but really, has such a decision ever led to anything beyond "oh, so here's the movie where we get to see so-and-so nekkid"?
For Roselyn Sanchez, best known from the TV series "Without a Trace" (not to mention sizable roles in misfires such as "Rush Hour 2" and "Boat Trip"), her trip to Stripperville can be seen in the wholly ridiculous melodrama "Yellow." It's rather depressing to learn that Sanchez herself co-wrote the film's story (along with makeup artist-turned-rookie scribe Nacoma Whobrey, who then penned the final screenplay) and served as a producer, as much of the movie consists of little more than dopey male fantasies about exotic dancers with hearts of gold and the gallant club patron who could rescue her. Here is a movie that should be all about empowerment - or, at least, tell this story strictly from a female perspective - but winds up being yet another in a long line of laughably phony, mostly sexist fairy tales.
Sanchez plays Amaryllis Campos, aspiring dancer and daughter of a world famous ballet dancer/teacher. The father (Jaime Tirelli) is now wheelchair-bound, and his increasing need for care leaves Amaryllis working in a San Juan pizza parlor, struggling to support her family. Alas, the father takes his own life, and soon after Amaryllis discovers her no-good boyfriend is being, well, no good, and so it's off to New York. Naïve enough to believe those "dancers wanted" ads are looking for the classically trained, she soon finds herself working at a gentlemen's club, where her ballet/striptease combo routine becomes a hit with the patrons, who of course are there solely to appreciate the artistry of the striptease.
One of those patrons is a rich, kind doctor played by D.B. Sweeney, whom I suppose is meant to be a poor man's Richard Gere, although here, he's not even much of a poor man's Richard Basehart. Anyway. The thrust of the plot has Amaryllis - nicknamed "Yellow" by the schlumpy strip joint manager - eventually falling for Sweeney's lonely doc, a regular at the club. The whole thing reeks of male fantasy, what with the morally pure, physically stunning strippers, women who aren't really strippers but just doing it to get by until their white knights sweep them off their feet. Oh, but then comes the big choice: shall she fly off to Australia with her hero, or will she go to the prestigious ballet audition? Who cares?
To keep the plot busy, we're tossed in a side story involving a former poet/scholar (Bill Duke) who's gone a little nutty and now barely gets by working as a stock boy at the local supermarket. He has a deep dark secret, but then, so does everybody in this movie (characters repeatedly stop to share longwinded monologues detailing their troubling personal history), and he needs Amaryllis to fix what's wrong. Of course, he's crazy enough to be friendly, not so crazy that he's ever a threat. He's "movie crazy."
Duke's take on the character, a poetry-spouting mumble machine, is quirky enough to always earn our curiosity. It's tempting to say I wish the whole movie was about him, but then I remember how poorly written the character is, and how the only reason he works is because of Duke's interesting, off-kilter performance.
The same can be said of Sanchez. Her character is one-dimensional and uninteresting, but at least the performance fares well. Sanchez proves herself to be a decent enough dancer to get by (even if too many scenes linger far too long on her performances, perhaps the result of a vanity project gone awry - at times the film plays less like a story and more like a demo reel), and in early scenes featuring the sort of high-pitched melodrama not often seen outside of Telemundo, she maintains enough restraint to keep the story from falling completely off the tracks.
And yet, what a wreck anyway. "Yellow" is misguided and corny, and its approach to feminist values is questionable at best. The drama never clicks, the characters never feel real, the romance never takes off. Storylines feel rushed and undercooked, coming and going with little sense for story rhythms, character development, or at times even logic itself. The only audience that could fully admire this one would be those renting just for the skin.
The DVD
Video & Audio
Director Alfredo De Villa and cinematographer Claudio Chea managed to pull some dazzling visuals out of this otherwise mediocre film, and the lush anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer does their work justice. Colors burst of the screen with great vibrancy, while the seedier corners of town crackle with darker tones. For such a small-scale feature, this one looks outstanding.
The film's original soundtrack, which combines Spanish and English dialogue, also pops in Dolby 5.1. The disc also offers a full English dub and a full Spanish dub, for those not wanting the realism of juggling between languages, as well as a French dub - all of which come in Dolby 5.1.
And how about them subtitles? Pick from English, Spanish, French, Korean, and Chinese. Not listed on the menu page but accessible through your DVD's remote is a second English subtitle track. It's identical to the first, and I have to wonder if that's a flub - the English subs run through the entire film, no matter what language is being spoken, and I'm guessing one of the two tracks was meant to supply subtitles over the Spanish dialogue only. Instead, English subs run over the entire picture. Same with Spanish subs - it's either all or nothing. Huh.
Extras
An interview with Sanchez (12:21) details the making of the film, which she insists on calling a "dance movie," as if deluding herself into believing it's all about the few teeny ballet scenes, and not about all that stripping. Presented in 1.33:1 full frame.
A large collection of deleted scenes (28:51 total) do little to improve the story, although seeing so many ditched storylines here explains why so much of the movie feels half-baked. Presented in a drab 2.35:1 flat letterbox.
A collection of previews for other Sony titles is also included. Several of these trailers also play as the disc loads; you can skip past them if you choose.
Final Thoughts
There's nothing here that helps the picture overcome its generic trappings. I'm sure its intentions were good, but that still doesn't make it anything more than a lame-brained T&A-drenched soap opera. Skip It.
For Roselyn Sanchez, best known from the TV series "Without a Trace" (not to mention sizable roles in misfires such as "Rush Hour 2" and "Boat Trip"), her trip to Stripperville can be seen in the wholly ridiculous melodrama "Yellow." It's rather depressing to learn that Sanchez herself co-wrote the film's story (along with makeup artist-turned-rookie scribe Nacoma Whobrey, who then penned the final screenplay) and served as a producer, as much of the movie consists of little more than dopey male fantasies about exotic dancers with hearts of gold and the gallant club patron who could rescue her. Here is a movie that should be all about empowerment - or, at least, tell this story strictly from a female perspective - but winds up being yet another in a long line of laughably phony, mostly sexist fairy tales.
Sanchez plays Amaryllis Campos, aspiring dancer and daughter of a world famous ballet dancer/teacher. The father (Jaime Tirelli) is now wheelchair-bound, and his increasing need for care leaves Amaryllis working in a San Juan pizza parlor, struggling to support her family. Alas, the father takes his own life, and soon after Amaryllis discovers her no-good boyfriend is being, well, no good, and so it's off to New York. Naïve enough to believe those "dancers wanted" ads are looking for the classically trained, she soon finds herself working at a gentlemen's club, where her ballet/striptease combo routine becomes a hit with the patrons, who of course are there solely to appreciate the artistry of the striptease.
One of those patrons is a rich, kind doctor played by D.B. Sweeney, whom I suppose is meant to be a poor man's Richard Gere, although here, he's not even much of a poor man's Richard Basehart. Anyway. The thrust of the plot has Amaryllis - nicknamed "Yellow" by the schlumpy strip joint manager - eventually falling for Sweeney's lonely doc, a regular at the club. The whole thing reeks of male fantasy, what with the morally pure, physically stunning strippers, women who aren't really strippers but just doing it to get by until their white knights sweep them off their feet. Oh, but then comes the big choice: shall she fly off to Australia with her hero, or will she go to the prestigious ballet audition? Who cares?
To keep the plot busy, we're tossed in a side story involving a former poet/scholar (Bill Duke) who's gone a little nutty and now barely gets by working as a stock boy at the local supermarket. He has a deep dark secret, but then, so does everybody in this movie (characters repeatedly stop to share longwinded monologues detailing their troubling personal history), and he needs Amaryllis to fix what's wrong. Of course, he's crazy enough to be friendly, not so crazy that he's ever a threat. He's "movie crazy."
Duke's take on the character, a poetry-spouting mumble machine, is quirky enough to always earn our curiosity. It's tempting to say I wish the whole movie was about him, but then I remember how poorly written the character is, and how the only reason he works is because of Duke's interesting, off-kilter performance.
The same can be said of Sanchez. Her character is one-dimensional and uninteresting, but at least the performance fares well. Sanchez proves herself to be a decent enough dancer to get by (even if too many scenes linger far too long on her performances, perhaps the result of a vanity project gone awry - at times the film plays less like a story and more like a demo reel), and in early scenes featuring the sort of high-pitched melodrama not often seen outside of Telemundo, she maintains enough restraint to keep the story from falling completely off the tracks.
And yet, what a wreck anyway. "Yellow" is misguided and corny, and its approach to feminist values is questionable at best. The drama never clicks, the characters never feel real, the romance never takes off. Storylines feel rushed and undercooked, coming and going with little sense for story rhythms, character development, or at times even logic itself. The only audience that could fully admire this one would be those renting just for the skin.
The DVD
Video & Audio
Director Alfredo De Villa and cinematographer Claudio Chea managed to pull some dazzling visuals out of this otherwise mediocre film, and the lush anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer does their work justice. Colors burst of the screen with great vibrancy, while the seedier corners of town crackle with darker tones. For such a small-scale feature, this one looks outstanding.
The film's original soundtrack, which combines Spanish and English dialogue, also pops in Dolby 5.1. The disc also offers a full English dub and a full Spanish dub, for those not wanting the realism of juggling between languages, as well as a French dub - all of which come in Dolby 5.1.
And how about them subtitles? Pick from English, Spanish, French, Korean, and Chinese. Not listed on the menu page but accessible through your DVD's remote is a second English subtitle track. It's identical to the first, and I have to wonder if that's a flub - the English subs run through the entire film, no matter what language is being spoken, and I'm guessing one of the two tracks was meant to supply subtitles over the Spanish dialogue only. Instead, English subs run over the entire picture. Same with Spanish subs - it's either all or nothing. Huh.
Extras
An interview with Sanchez (12:21) details the making of the film, which she insists on calling a "dance movie," as if deluding herself into believing it's all about the few teeny ballet scenes, and not about all that stripping. Presented in 1.33:1 full frame.
A large collection of deleted scenes (28:51 total) do little to improve the story, although seeing so many ditched storylines here explains why so much of the movie feels half-baked. Presented in a drab 2.35:1 flat letterbox.
A collection of previews for other Sony titles is also included. Several of these trailers also play as the disc loads; you can skip past them if you choose.
Final Thoughts
There's nothing here that helps the picture overcome its generic trappings. I'm sure its intentions were good, but that still doesn't make it anything more than a lame-brained T&A-drenched soap opera. Skip It.
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