Go!

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Dom Robinson reviews

Go! A weekend wasted is
never a wasted weekend.
Distributed by

Columbia TriStar

    Cover

  • Cat.no: CDR 28019
  • Cert: 18
  • Running time: 98 minutes
  • Year: 1999
  • Pressing: 1999
  • Region(s): 2, PAL
  • Chapters: 28 plus extras
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Languages: English, German
  • Subtitles: 15 different languages available
  • Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
  • 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
  • Macrovision: Yes
  • Disc Format: DVD 5
  • Price: £19.99
  • Extras : Scene index, Filmographies, International Trailer, 3 Music Videos, Behind-the-scenes Featurette, 14 Deleted scenes, Director’s Commentary, Animated Menus

    Director:

      Doug Liman

    (Getting In, Swingers)

Producers:

    Paul Rosenberg, Mickey Liddel and Matt Freeman

Screenplay:

    John August

Music:

    BT

Cast:

    Claire Montgomery: Katie Holmes (Disturbing Behaviour, The Ice Storm, Teaching Mrs Dingle, Wonder Boys, TV: Dawson’s Creek)
    Ronna Martin: Sarah Polley (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, eXistenZ, Guinevere, The Hanging Garden, Last Night)
    Adam: Scott Wolf (Cross Country, Double Dragon, The Evening Star, White Squall, TV: Party of Five)
    Zack: Jay Mohr (200 Cigarettes, Jane Austen’s Mafia, Jerry Maguire, Playing By Heart, Small Soldiers, Suicide Kings)
    Burke: William Fichtner (Albino Alligator, Armageddon, Contact)
    Irene: Jane Krakowski (Dance With Me, TV: Ally McBeal)
    Victor Sr.: J.E. Freeman (Alien Resurrection, Copycat, It Could Happen To You, Miller’s Crossing, Till Death Us Do Part)
    Simon Baines: Desmond Askew (Give My Regards To Broadstreet, TV: Grange Hill)

Go! takes the simple premise of a weekend as experienced by a number of people and expands upon it by seeing just what happens as they meet up, interact, then each go their separate ways and the inexplicable situations that befall them.

The film is told, with well-crafted character introductions, in three separate sections which cross over, each of which centre around not only a pivotal point in the storyline where Ronna (the Uma Thurman-esque Sarah Polley) is asked to swap her shift at the convenience store with Simon (Desmond Askew), but also the character of drug dealer Todd Gaines (Timothy Olyphant).

Ronna and Claire (Katie Holmes) work at the same store, but the former needs to work extra hours to pay for the rent that’s due otherwise she’ll be evicted in time for Xmas. Simon (Desmond Askew) doesn’t care about his weekend shift as he’s off to Vegas for a laugh with his friends, Marcus (Taye Diggs), Tiny (Breckin Meyer) and Singh (James Duval), but they make enemies with a bouncer Victor Jr. (Jimmy Shubert) and his father Victor Sr. (J.E. Freeman).

Finally, Adam (Scott Wolf) and Zack (Jay Mohr) are two of TV’s hippest and youngest stars, but a dalliance with the law means that they owe the cops a favour and help out cop Burke (William Fichtner) with a bit of business. After that, he invites them to dinner with his wife Irene (Jane Krakowski) but they get a lot more than they bargained for.

The picture is mostly excellent, only suffering in a few scenes with the hazy look that affects a number of Columbia discs. However, this is only noticeable in slow-moving scenes and there aren’t many of those. The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 ratio and is anamorphic. The average bitrate is a fine 6.43Mb/s, occasionally peaking above 9Mb/s.

The sound is absolutely first rate. A thumping dance soundtrack from BT and plenty of background music including those for which music promos are later provided, Len, No Doubt and Steppenwolf. It comes in Dolby Digital 5.1 flavours for English and German languages.

Extras :

Chapters/Trailer : The usual 28 chapters are applied here and the International theatrical trailer is also included.

Languages/Subtitles : Dolby Digital 5.1 in English and German, plus subtitles in FIFTEEN languages : English, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic, Hindi, Hebrew, German, Turkish, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian and Dutch.

And there’s more… : Once again, a round of applause to Columbia UK for producing a feature-packed disc and is one that, as far as I know, contains all the extras of its American counterpart.

Filmographies are available for many of the main characters in the film, plus director Doug Liman along with 14 Deleted Scenes, although they’re not always exactly what it says on the tin, since those such as Ronna and the beer or Mannie on drugs are more like depictions of work-in-progress.

3 Music Videos are also included :

  • No Doubt: New: A fast, frentic offering from the band who no longer are making the dent in the UK charts that they should be doing. This track made No.30 in the charts in June 1999.
  • Len: Steal My Sunshine: A hip and up-beat track that introduced this band to the UK when it made No.8 in December 1999.
  • Steppenwolf & Philip Steir: Magic Carpet Ride: A funked-up cover version of the classic rock tune by ageing rockers Steppenwolf, whose only hit in the UK has been their anthem, Born To Be Wild (No.30, June 69).

A feature-length Director’s Commentary track is included with not only chat from director Doug Liman, but also the editor Stephen Mirrione. Finally, the package is rounded off with a six-minute featurette featuring clips from the film and interspersions from several cast members, making it seem more like an extended trailer.

If I had any complaint here, it would be the growing trend for the extras to feature subtitles only in languages other than English. Any reason why?

Menu : An excellent menu system with subtle animation and sound, the former scoring big points with some impressive screen wipes between menus.

Overall, this is one of the most impressive films I’ve seen so far this year. It shows that every junction in life can create a new set of circumstances that off-shoot in any number of separate directions and by expertly mixing together a set of intertwining stories where even the tertiary characters are given an interesting persona, this easily makes Go! a Pulp Fiction for the brat-pack generation.

It also contains all the extras from the Region 1 DVD, so you have no reason not to buy this disc. FILM : ***** PICTURE QUALITY: ****½ SOUND QUALITY: ***** EXTRAS: **** ——————————- OVERALL: *****

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.

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