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Movie In Hollywood there's really two groups of professionals that will often get movie goers to the theater based on name value alone. These are actors and directors. I myself for one for example will go to any picture starring Liv Tyler. It could look like the biggest piece of junk ever created but Liv's presence guarantee's my movie dollars. She's not alone in this either as I have a list of many stars that I'll plunk down good money to see in a movie. The same can be said about directors as there's a number of legendary directors whose name ensures a certain level of quality. However while actors and directors are a key part of the equation there is one part that is often overlooked and that's the writer. You can have the best director and cast under the sun but if the material is bad then your movie is going to suffer. Writer's have always gotten the short end of the stick with regards to just about everything. The major strike threat recently that almost shutdown tinsel town was that the writers wanted more royalties and objected to directors getting to use the credit "A Film by" claiming they were just as important to the film as the director. I agree with the writers here as I've seen so many movies that were good but could have been great if the writing had been that much better. So while they lack name recognizability with most of the general public there are a few writers out there who have a good shot at getting my butt in a seat . These include Kevin Smith and one writer who I was lucky to be exposed to by a high school English teacher playwright David Mamet a veteran whose had his hands in some fairly big pictures as well as smaller ones like "Oleanna". It doesn't seem to matter the size or the scope of the picture as with Mamet's involvement with a picture it will ultimately have a certain quality to it. "Oleanna" is set at a small New England college where John (William H. Macy) is a liberal arts professor who is just mere days away from acquiring tenure and purchasing a new home for his family. He appears to have some problems with both his personal and private life as the stress of closing the deal on the house and being under scrutiny from the tenure board looks to be getting to him. Everything is under control though until a failing female student Carol (Deborah Eisenstadt) comes to office to discuss how she can raise her grade. Carol doesn't understand the course material and feels that John may have purposely not made an effort to make the material understandable to her. She begs and begs for him to try again and tell her what she's doing wrong. His responses seem vague and not to the point. During their meeting the phone rings many times as there are problems with the closing on the house. He keeps saying he will go but instead he stays with Carol as they are engaged in a rather interesting discussion. The discussions between Carol and John touch upon a number of concepts he believes in regarding how society expects one to go college to receive a higher level of education. As well as he feels the system is a joke and the value attached to it is too great. She is clearly frustrated by some of the concepts and ideas he presents and their is a great detail of arguing back and forth as things get rather heated at times. Eventually they part company on what appears to be amicable terms. This is however not the case as she later returns to his office to bring sexual harassment charges against the professor. "Oleanna", which originated as a play in 1992, is structured in a distinct two act style. Act one focuses on Carol a student whose unsure of herself and is naive in her quest for answers on how to pass the professor's course. This act has John as the strong authority figure and Carol with less control over her situation. Act two reverses the roles with Carol obviously upset about the events that occurred allowing her to gain control of the situation by threatening his job and lively hood. John is now in the position to have the terms dictated to him as he now trying to savage his personal and professional lives. The only person to blame for him being in this predicament is himself as if he had simply been more careful with his words it wouldn't have happened. Carol, who now has the upper hand, clearly doesn't want to be in this situation either but feels she must stand up for herself and women like her and disagree with John's slanted approach to the concept of higher education and his sexual advances. Not unlike the structure of the film. This film has two central themes that are discussed both of which have merit in today's modern society. The first is the value of gaining a college or university education. Is going through the motions of taking tests, making notes and doing projects the best way of learning or is it better for one to explore their interests independently. As someone who felt bored and uninterested throughout high school I knew that continuing my education at College wasn't the solution for me. I never felt as if I learned anything of use. I've learned more through independent study on subjects that I'm interested in then I ever did in my five years of high school. I now do self study on things that interest me like the radio industry and the movie industry and film in general. Through discussion and reading and trial and error I've built up a vast knowledge base that will help me if and when I decide to go to continue my education which will likely occur at a broadcasting school. I will have a jump on my fellow students by having experience with all aspects of the trade. So based on nothing more then my personal experiences I've found that college is not for everyone and in this modern age where your not even promised a job when you get out one should consider long and hard before going. The second issue the film discusses is sexual harassment. A crime which has come into the forefront in the past ten or so years both through high profile court cases and through movies like "Disclosure". This is something that has changed the workplace environment considerably and resulted in strict corporate policies. It is now one of the worst crimes that someone in a working environment can commit and while it's easy to look at it from a standard point of view that is not what Mamet has done here. There is no clear right or wrong in the case. The arguments presented by both parties are extremely valid and in a way the alleged incidents can be viewed as both innocent or offensive. To frame the events in this way allows the viewer to see both sides of the events they may otherwise missed out upon. The cast of two is comprised of William H. Macy and making her screen debut Debra Eisenstadt. Both are excellent in thier roles which can likely be contributed to them appearing in the stage version before tackling them on film. Chemistry between the two is very strong and they are able to play off each other quite well. David Mamet's regular William H. Macy is one of the most talented performers out there and can do both serious drama and comedy with ease. David Mamet who is fast becoming one of my favorite screenwriters crafts a thought provoking look at the relationship between a professor and a student and shows that what one may see as innocent to can and may be taken differently by another. Although my previous Mamet experiences have been with his more recent comedic pictures this one proves to me that he is able to handle films of all genres. Despite the near brilliance of this film's message it's not for everyone as most mainstream movie goers will find the movie slow and boring. Mamet's exploration of these two concepts is not only fascinating but thought provoking as well which are qualities every good drama should have. Movie Rating : 8/10 The DVD VIDEO: Seville presents "Oleanna" in a widescreen transfer at approximately 1.66:1 which is sadly not enhanced for anamorphic displays. For an up and coming studio Seville is catching up with the big boys pretty quickly. Although not perfect by any means this is a fairly good transfer. Since "Oleanna" was originally a play this film has been structured the same way and is set primarily in two locations. Visually speaking an office and a class room are not the most exciting things to look at and as such don't lend themselves to an enormous range of colors. Colors are natural looking and capture the feel of a college professors office accurately. Sharpness and detail are quite good and black level is solid throughout. There isn't much in the way of film grain although there are a rather high number of dust specks on the print. Also about an hour into the film there is a video oddity when during a scene the occasional cut-away shot on the female lead appears to be at 1.33:1. This is distracting as the scene in question has dialogue going back and forth between the two characters. I'm not sure why these few almost random shots were not in the same ratio as the rest of the disc and to some it might be hardly noticeable but to those with widescreen sets or keen eyes it's very noticeable. Other then that only problem is that the disc is not enhanced for anamorphic displays. Seville's transfer for "Oleanna" is above average and perfectly fine if not for an overly high number of print specks and the odd inclusion of 1.33:1 footage in the 1.66:1 film. Video Rating : 7.5/10 SOUND: David Mamet is a playwright first and a film writer/director second. Throughout his body of work one thing has come to be his trademark and that's his smartly written often insightful dialogue. "Oleanna" is no exception to this and as such the most important aspect of the soundtrack is the dialogue. Originally staged as a play the use of sound in that setting would be limited compared to what one could do with a motion picture soundtrack. When "Oleanna" was made into a movie changes could have been made to expand on the sound aspect but that doesn't seem to be the case here which I find to be a positive aspect rather then a negative one. Presented in a simple Dolby Digital Stereo track "Oleanna" sounds like it would in a playhouse. Dialogue is at the center of the soundtrack and is easily heard coming from the left and right channels. Sound effect use is minimal but natural and music by Mamet's wife Rebecca Pidgeon is presented with excellent clarity. Make no doubt about it though the dialogue is the most important part of his mix as this film is a dialogue driven affair if ever there was one. There are very few instances where the characters are not speaking. While this mix isn't very exciting it doesn't need to be as it does what it should do in bringing the most important part of the film viewing experience to the forefront. The visuals aren't the important part of this film as the key to enjoyment and understanding is found in Mamet's excellent dialogue. A simple yet effective mix with no real problems to speak of. Audio Rating : 8/10 EXTRAS: Seville Pictures is a studio on the rise in Canada that also won some fans in the United States with it's recent release "Lost and Delirious". This is the 3rd disc from the studio and the first catalog title that I've had the pleasure of reviewing. Although this is not a special edition by any means Seville who could have just as easily slapped on the film on a disc and released it have once again chosen to take the high road and offer what limited special features they had available to them on this disc. First up we have a 6 minute long featurette on the making of "Oleanna". It's length may seem short but there is a lot of information crammed into the running time. It contains all the usual elements of a making of featurette the film clips and interview clips etc but this piece succeeds where many fail by actually being informative instead of the cookie cutter promotional garbage that usually dominates this type of feature. Interviews with stars William H. Macy and Deborah Eisenstadt are brief but interesting however the most interesting interview is with acclaimed writer and director David Mamet. Mamet explains how he took a rather risque subject and wrote an outstanding play which later turned into this film. Making up the remainder of the special features content is a trailer gallery which includes trailers for other Seville titles including Mamet's "The Spanish Prisioner" and "American Buffalo" and non Mamet titles "Swimming with Sharks" and "Eye of the Beholder". All trailers are Full-Frame with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. Also included are cast/crew biographies on Macy, Eisenstadt and Mamet and a stills gallery. There's always room for more special features and in this case a clip comparing the movie to the play would have made a good bonus feature but I'm just happy that some care was taken to include the featurette. Extras Rating : 6.5/10 Final Thoughts "Oleanna" is a smartly written engaging piece of motion picture cinema. It's 89 minute running time goes by in a heartbeat. Featuring strong performances from it's two person cast it tackles important but controversial concepts. Seville's DVD edition offers above average video quality, excellent audio quality and a featurette that's well worth watching as well as a handful of interesting trailers. Fans of William H. Macy, David Mamet or smart thought provoking films in general would do well to pick up Seville's DVD edition of "Oleanna". Recommended. Disc Rating : 7.5/10 Reviewed by Mark McLeod December 10, 2001 Note: This is a Canadian release. It can be imported from Videoflicks.com |