DVD Review:Jawbreaker

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The Movie:

Jawbreaker
Columbia/Tristar
Rose McGowan
Rated R

"Jawbreaker" was just another teen film this year, out of theaters a few moments after it's release. It's an interesting mix of styles on the outside, trying to be as bright as "Clueless" and as dark as "Heathers"- unfortunately, there's not much existing on the inside; the film is as empty as some of the characters that exist within this universe.

The film stars Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart and Julie Benz as a trio of popular girls who accidentally kill the 4th member of their "in" group with the candy of the title during a "birthday joke" that opens the film. They're found out by one of the school's least popular, a girl named Fern and to keep her quiet, they promise to make her over into one of the "popular" kids.

Things go awry when Gayheart's character decides that she can't keep the truth covered, leading to an in-fight between the "popular" kids. The biggest problem with "Jawbreaker" is that there really isn't anything there. The film clocks in at just under 90 minutes and it doesn't really become anything. Is it a comedy? If it's trying for that, it's not funny. Is it a drama? The dramatic moments are on the laughable side. It's trying to be, of course, "Heathers", but definitely doesn't succeed at that.

The characters here aren't easy to like, so why should we care if they get caught? The only character that is somewhat likable is Gayheart's, but she's hardly given anything to do. The film covers up the fact that there's nothing inside it with a lot of silly and excessive style and camera tricks.

"Jawbreaker" has a couple of funny moments, but there's so little to this film and even less that I found enjoyable. When a film is 87 minutes and it begins to feel too long, that's a sign that something's amatter with it. This could have been a better film- there certainly are good actors involved, but there just isn't much to the film itself, and it certainly could have used a bit more energy beyond Rose McGowan's performance.

VIDEO: A really good anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer by Tristar that captures the electric, vibrant colors exceptionally well. Colors are well saturated, contrast is fine and flesh tones are natural and accurate. Images are stunningly sharp and clear throughout and detail in the image is really quite nice. I find it kind of hard to get terribly excited about this film, but I do think that Tristar did a really nice job on this disc. There are no artifacts present, not even any instances of aliasing. The best thing about the image quality is how wonderfully and accurately the color palette is captured. A full-frame side is also included.

SOUND: There's nothing really wrong with the sound mix itself: there are a lot of nicely defined smaller sound effects and a rock score that comes across richly and agressively. Dialogue is always clear and natural. If you want to take a look at the score itself, it's just another teen film built to sell the "hip" soundtrack.

MENUS: Basic film-themed menus.

EXTRAS: Commentary: A commentary by director Darren Stein that takes the film way too seriously. He talks about how things are "metaphors" and how objects(such as earrings) "represent" emotions and ideas of the movie. He does provide some interesting production details about the film itself and how the screenplay was worked on many times during the production(still didn't get it right, in my opinion) and what it was like working with the actors. It reminds me of the commentary that director Neil Ambramson did for the Jerry Springer film "Ringmaster"(a worse film than this), talking about how hard it was to choose the "lighting" for that film, as if the film was an artistic statement. Stein talks about this film as if it's grand art. He has a few interesting things to say about the actors and production, but when he talks about things as "metaphors", I couldn't help but laugh a bit.

Trailers Included: Urban Legend, Gattaca(a far better film that's kinda out of place here), Can't Hardly Wait(which is still, in my opinion, the most fun of the "teen" films) and Jawbreaker.

GRADES:
The Film: 70/C- = (350/500 possible points)
Video: 92/A = (368/400 possible points)
Audio: 92/A = (368/400 possible points)
Extras: 85/B = (255/300 possible points)
Menus: 75/C = (150/200 possible points)
Value: 87/B = (261/300 possible points)
Presentation:86/B = (86/100 possible points)

TOTAL POINTS:1839/2200
Overall:83.59/B
Final Thoughts: An alright commentary track, good audio/video, but the film isn't great.Maybe worth a rental.

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DVD Information

Jawbreaker
Tristar Home Video
1.85:1/ Dolby Digital 5.1&2.0
Side B Is a Full-Frame Edition
Subtitles:English
87 Minutes
Dual Layer:No
Rated:R
Release Date:6/22/99
Chapters:28
Anamorphic:Yes
Region:1