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Isn't She Great?
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Is she great? Not really. A film that was barely given much of a release, after watching this film I'm somewhat suprised video isn't where it premiered. The cast certainly makes the film look like a promising viewing, but this look at the life of writer Jacqueline Susann is a slow, not funny comedy that becomes tedious after a short while due to some flat performances.
Again, it's the life of Susann, who is played by Bette Middler. It's a loud character who is taken a few leaps louder by Midler's overacting. She meets a publicist named Irving Mansfield(Nathan Lane) and oddly, the two very different people eventually get married. She is diagnosed with cancer, and they have other problems which aren't given much focus on by the story. Soon, Irving comes up with an idea: why not write a book? So, she does - writing about what she knows, she comes up with "Valley of the Dolls", a trash epic that no publisher wants.
The film gives us no reason to care about any of it. Midler's Susann is an annoying, unsympathetic character that takes the film down whenever she's on-screen; she seems like she's having fun and that's great - but her attempts to be a foul-mouthed woman seem overdone and even phony. I suppose that the screenplay is partially at fault, as well. The film attempts to tell this woman's life, and with its 96 minute running time, it runs through events with such little detail that sequences hardly seem to matter.
The film suffers further from a weirdly light tone that the entire film has, making for a flat feeling to the dramatic scenes. There certainly is a talented cast here, but none of them do anything too new - Nathan Lane as Irving is dragged around by Susann; David Hyde Pierce does well as Susann's editor with a performance that he does each week on "Frasier". Also on hand is John Cleese(in yet another in a line of quite a few weak films).
The life of Susann could certainly have been made into a fine film, but this isn't it. I didn't think the film could be quite as bad as its reception at the box office would have indicated, but I guess I was wrong. "Isn't She Great" has a great story buried far underneath, but it's not revealed in this attempt.
The DVD
VIDEO: This is a respectable transfer from Universal of the film in it's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio(there's a pan&scan transfer included as well). The letterboxed transfer is pretty enjoyable, with fine sharpness - the film seems soft at times, but that apparently is intentional. Detail is good, but not great. Colors are appropriately bright and vibrant for the 60's time period, and that's really the highlight in terms of picture quality. Flesh tones are natural and accurate, as well.
There are some problems here and there; the picture occasionally seems the slightest bit dark, but that's not too noticable. There's no shimmering, but some trace amounts of pixelation during a scene or two. The print used is generally clean and clear, with the exception of a couple of minor flaws. This is a pleasing presentation from Universal, but nothing too exciting.
SOUND: The sound is particularly dissapointing, a dull presentation that sounds clear, but barely has anything to it - almost completely coming from the front, the only thing beyond the dialogue is the music, which sounds unremarkable and uninvolving. Surrounds are used a couple of times, but so subtle that their use is barely noticable. I certainly wasn't expecting anything agressive from a film like this, but even the music has a very lifeless feel to it. Dialogue is clear and easily understood, though. That's about all there is to this film.
MENUS:: Colorful menus with basic film art; no animation, but music playing in the background.
EXTRAS:: All you get here is a trailer, cast&crew bios and production notes.
Final Thoughts: "Isn't She Great" didn't get much of a DVD from Universal - I'd complain that it didn't get a special edition, if I thought it deserved one. Lucky to get the treatment that it did, Universal deserves praise for generally fine audio/video quality on this DVD release. A weak film at best, "Isn't She Great" isn't recommended.
Is she great? Not really. A film that was barely given much of a release, after watching this film I'm somewhat suprised video isn't where it premiered. The cast certainly makes the film look like a promising viewing, but this look at the life of writer Jacqueline Susann is a slow, not funny comedy that becomes tedious after a short while due to some flat performances.
Again, it's the life of Susann, who is played by Bette Middler. It's a loud character who is taken a few leaps louder by Midler's overacting. She meets a publicist named Irving Mansfield(Nathan Lane) and oddly, the two very different people eventually get married. She is diagnosed with cancer, and they have other problems which aren't given much focus on by the story. Soon, Irving comes up with an idea: why not write a book? So, she does - writing about what she knows, she comes up with "Valley of the Dolls", a trash epic that no publisher wants.
The film gives us no reason to care about any of it. Midler's Susann is an annoying, unsympathetic character that takes the film down whenever she's on-screen; she seems like she's having fun and that's great - but her attempts to be a foul-mouthed woman seem overdone and even phony. I suppose that the screenplay is partially at fault, as well. The film attempts to tell this woman's life, and with its 96 minute running time, it runs through events with such little detail that sequences hardly seem to matter.
The film suffers further from a weirdly light tone that the entire film has, making for a flat feeling to the dramatic scenes. There certainly is a talented cast here, but none of them do anything too new - Nathan Lane as Irving is dragged around by Susann; David Hyde Pierce does well as Susann's editor with a performance that he does each week on "Frasier". Also on hand is John Cleese(in yet another in a line of quite a few weak films).
The life of Susann could certainly have been made into a fine film, but this isn't it. I didn't think the film could be quite as bad as its reception at the box office would have indicated, but I guess I was wrong. "Isn't She Great" has a great story buried far underneath, but it's not revealed in this attempt.
The DVD
VIDEO: This is a respectable transfer from Universal of the film in it's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio(there's a pan&scan transfer included as well). The letterboxed transfer is pretty enjoyable, with fine sharpness - the film seems soft at times, but that apparently is intentional. Detail is good, but not great. Colors are appropriately bright and vibrant for the 60's time period, and that's really the highlight in terms of picture quality. Flesh tones are natural and accurate, as well.
There are some problems here and there; the picture occasionally seems the slightest bit dark, but that's not too noticable. There's no shimmering, but some trace amounts of pixelation during a scene or two. The print used is generally clean and clear, with the exception of a couple of minor flaws. This is a pleasing presentation from Universal, but nothing too exciting.
SOUND: The sound is particularly dissapointing, a dull presentation that sounds clear, but barely has anything to it - almost completely coming from the front, the only thing beyond the dialogue is the music, which sounds unremarkable and uninvolving. Surrounds are used a couple of times, but so subtle that their use is barely noticable. I certainly wasn't expecting anything agressive from a film like this, but even the music has a very lifeless feel to it. Dialogue is clear and easily understood, though. That's about all there is to this film.
MENUS:: Colorful menus with basic film art; no animation, but music playing in the background.
EXTRAS:: All you get here is a trailer, cast&crew bios and production notes.
Final Thoughts: "Isn't She Great" didn't get much of a DVD from Universal - I'd complain that it didn't get a special edition, if I thought it deserved one. Lucky to get the treatment that it did, Universal deserves praise for generally fine audio/video quality on this DVD release. A weak film at best, "Isn't She Great" isn't recommended.
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