DVD Review: Little Voice

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The DVD:

Movie:
"Little Voice" is light entertainment livened up by some excellent performances, especially by Michael Caine and in the title role, Jane Horrocks(who also does all of her own singing). If you've seen Horrocks on "Absolutely Fabulous" it probably never occurred that she's a singer(or at least I didn't know), but the talent that she displays here is absolutely amazing, imitating many famed singers with a perfection that is incredible to hear.

The film is a remake of the stage play(which also starred Horrocks) about a shy young girl named Laura(nicknamed "Little Voice") who lives with her loud, sleazy mother, spending her days up in her bedroom, listening to great records over and over again, getting down the details of each performer. The mother, Mari(played by Brenda Blethyn of "Secrets and Lies") runs into a sleazy promoter played by Michael Caine and for a while, everything seems fine.

Soon enough though, Ray(Caine) learns of the young girl's talent for singing and finally gets her to perform at the local club. At first she's shy, but soon she's belting out classic numbers like a true performer. Little Voice also sparks the interest of the local telephone operator("Trainspotting"'s Ewan McGregor).

The end of the film falls apart as characters become angered with each other, but there's a middle part of the film that works: tender, funny and entertaining. Throughout, though, it's Horrocks that amazes. Her singing is really quite excellent.

VIDEO: Another good Disney transfer, but again, not without some flaws. The scenes in the countryside or in the city streets look good- detailed, with accurate and well saturated colors.The only problem I found is that some of the interior scenes have a tendency to look a little soft, or even a little hazy in some of the smoky indoor scenes. The print used has its share of a few problems- a few little scratches that I found noticeable. Other than that, there aren't any major artifacts such as pixelization or aliasing.

There are some portions of the film that look quite pleasing- scenes on the streets during the day are clear and crisp and actually, have quite good detail. The scenes where Little Voice is on the stage singing look crisp and well defined. Black level is good throughout, and the DVD generally portrays the color scheme of the film accurately. Shadow detail and flesh tones are pleasing as well.

SOUND: A great little sound mix, full of wonderful old tunes from Judy Garland, Billie Holiday and other greats. Some scenes, such as the club scenes, include nice background details of people talking, etc; but Dialogue is slightly inconsistent; occasionally I had to watch the subtitles to make sure I heard everything. What really matters here is the music and when it makes an appearance, it sounds great- clear, clean and great. Jane Horrocks's singing sounds especially fantastic-clean, crisp and wonderful.

MENUS: Non-anamated film-themed menus that are cute, but nothing special.

EXTRAS: Nothing. Not even a trailer.

GRADES:
The Film: 84/B = (420/500 possible points)
Video: 89/B+ = (356/400 possible points)
Audio: 91/A = (364/400 possible points)
Extras: 0/F = (0/300 possible points)
Menus: 77/C = (154/200 possible points)
Value: 79/C+ = (237/300 possible points)
Presentation:70/C- = (70/100 possible points)

TOTAL POINTS:1601/2200
Overall:73%/C
Final Thoughts: Otherwise entertaining film and pleasing transfer gets ruined by total lack of even a trailer. Worth a look, but I'd wish Disney would include some additional features for the price.

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DVD Information

Little Voice
Miramax Home Video
1.85:1/ Dolby Digital 5.1
96 Minutes
Release Date:7/13/99
English Captions
Dual Layer:Yes
Rated:R
Anamorphic:No
Region:1