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Living Out Loud
New Line
2.35:1(Anamorphic)/Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0
100 Minutes
Rated:R
Region:1
Dual Layer:No
Subtitles:English
Reviewed on a Panasonic A110

The Film:
"Living Out Loud" is the directorial debut of accomplished screenwriter Richard LaGravenese, who also contributed to this year's "Beloved". The film tells the story of newly divorced Judith, played by Holly Hunter, as she sets off into the depths of New York City, only to be revived in her search for spirit by an elevator operator(Danny Devito, whose Jersey Films produced this film) and a nightclub singer(Queen Latifah).

The film starts off with a rather fascinating conversation as Judith is about to break up with her husband; she knows he's been cheating because he took time to tell "their" story; a joke that the two know all too well, and that's just a taste of the rather interesting dialogue that LaGravenese has brought to the table; there are frequent dream sequences and other such directorial touches that make the film fascinting to watch. All the sudden, Judith finds herself alone in her Manhattan appartment and then, the voices begin. Some of the most hilarious exchanges in this film seem to be between Judith and herself as she sits in her apartment remarking to herself on the events of the world around her. I'll admit that I frequently found it hard to relate to the general story of Judith. As a 20 year old male, it's somewhat hard to understand completely what this character is going through, but the performances by Hunter and Devito carry the film. It's also unfortunate, though, that pacing, in my opinion, doesn't always work in the film and frequently, it seems a little slow as it switches from comedy to dramatic scenes somewhat frequently. Maybe it's also because, although I felt that I saw the growth of Judith as a character drawn out well throughout, some of the scenes don't feel like they link well to the scenes before; the whole thing seems to feel like a collection of various scenes. The addition of the dream sequences only add to what I felt was somewhat a fractured viewing experience.

Maybe it's not a bad thing. I think that this film didn't work for audiences because it doesn't have the traditional story structure. I'm thankful as well that it didn't have the traditional romantic formula that we see in most of the Hollywood films of this type, but at times this film tries to go for too much and becomes confusing. It's the sort of line that we draw as an audience and also in our daily lives. How much structure do we need or want? "Living Out Loud" tries to present a story in more of the structure of life itself. It's not always set out in front of us and frequently, it's confusing. There isn't always the easy answer. But that didn't quite work for me in a cinematic structure, here.

There are little pleasures in the film, though. Some of the dialogue works very well and there are definitely some great performances. And, unlike a lot of films, this one tries exceedingly hard to succeed. I'd rather have a film work hard to entertain and not always work than have not tried at all. And also hear Danny Devito do a decent job singing.

IMAGE: Another very good anamorphic transfer from New Line home video. The 2.35:1 image is presented on a single layer disc. The image quality is rich and handsomely presented; all of the reds and browns and various colors of the interior scenes are presented with excellent attention to detail. Images are clear and crisp throughout, even in some of the lower-light club scenes, which never lose any definition. In fact, I was suprised at how accurately and naturally the lighting was rendered in these scenes; the neon lighting and varied tones and colors look simply wonderful and detailed. There are also no instances of bleeding in these colors. There are no instances of compression artifacts on this disc, and there really aren't any problems with the exception of a tiny bit of shimmering here and there, but it's definitely not to the level where it becomes distracting; it's so infrequent as well that most probably won't notice it. Back to the positives: the flesh tones are wonderfully natural and radiantly rendered. There are instances of great images in this film and this presentation showcases them in a way that I felt was very close to the quality of the film I watched in theaters when this movie was released last year.

SOUND: I found this to be a very enjoyable presentation. Although not full of action, I found this to be a very pleasant presenation with occasional fine touches. The sound in the various clubs that Judith visits in the story sound wonderful; the songs are presented with that bass that you only feel in a jazz or rock club. Amibent noise sounds natural and detailed as well. As this film is based upon mostly dialogue, I was quite pleased with the dialogue quality on this presentation; dialogue sounds clear and natural, never compressed for an all around very entertaining presentation. Also, Queen Latifah's songs sound excellent.

EXTRAS: I enjoy two things when it comes to extras on a DVD. I like quality. What I mean to say by that is that I've seen discs that had every single thing you could think of, but I didn't find them as interesting as a disc with a truely great commentary track that I found to be educational, interesting and fun. There's also creativity; I like to see that thought went into the making of the extras section on a disc, chosing extras that were appropriate for the film and tied in well. New Line has done something that, while it isn't really something that I am interested in, I find it a fascinating idea. They have recruited writers Steven Schiff("True Crime" and "Deep End Of the Ocean" are two recent films he's written and I believe he is also a film critic) and Claudia Shear to read the two stories that inspired this film. They start from the begining and read through each story. Schiff starts first and reads "Misery", then Shear reads the complete story "The Kiss". These stories are read one and then the other and are stored on one commentary track. They run for about 50 minutes and then that track is silent. I think this is a wonderfully creative idea for an extra and I think most people will find it quite enjoyable. There are also 6 deleted scenes; two of them I found quite interesting and would be scenes I would have enjoyed seeing in the film; the other four are interesting, but weren't needed in the film, but they're nice to have included. I also liked the way that these deleted scenes were presented. You go to a menu and when you highlight the scene, a large picture from it comes up along with a discription of exactly what it is. Also there is a running commentary from director and writer LaGravenese that is quite interesting, although a little too free-flow at times when the director goes from talking about psychology issues in terms of the characters, then details on the making of the movie then other details within the span of a few minutes, although this isn't a problem as the film goes on. Frequently, though, it's fascinating to listen to the director, who is a highly articulate, eloquent and educated writer and it shows on this commentary track. There is also the letterboxed trailer, looking great and also presented in Dolby Digital 5.1

MENUS: Menus are frequently a hard aspect to grade. If the menu isn't animated, is it well thought out? Is it creative? Is it stylish? The menus for "Living Out Loud" aren't animated, but they look very, very nice. Some of the more memorable scenes provide the backgrounds for the very well done menus that are easy to navigate. The scene selections are not animated, but they are very well set-up and the quotes from the books that inspired LaGravenese are listed with the chapter that corresponds with the point where they were listed in the screenplay.

OVERALL: I think that, to be honest, this is a women's film. Women will enjoy it and relate to it and there's nothing wrong with that at all. As a male, I thought it was a good film, but I couldn't relate to the characters and their stories. Is it a good disc? Yes, I definitely think it's a quality presentation by New Line, but if you aren't sure about a purchase or didn't see it in theaters, try it as a rental before you buy. I am going back and forth between a B+ and an A- as the overall grade for this disc and I'm going to have to give it the A-. New Line really should be highly praised for their support of DVD, which has never stopped since they started producing DVD material, and with this disc, it's definitely sure that they are still going strong with the format. A lovely anamorphic widescreen presentation, some creative and interesting extras as well as a $24.95 retail price, this is a very good value, especially compared to the job that Fox has done with their DVDs, which aren't anamorphic widescreen, contain no extras and are as much as 10 dollars more. New Line deserves support and praise for the job they do, which continues on this disc.

Grades:
The Movie:B
Video Quality:A-
Audio Quality:B+
Extras:A-
Menus:B+
Overall:A-