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DVDfever.co.uk – Is Anybody There? Blu-ray reviewDom Robinson reviews
Optimum Home EntertainmentBlu-ray: 
DVD:
- Cert:
- Running time: 94 minutes
- Year: 2008
- Cat no: OPTBD1637
- Released: September 2009
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 12 plus extras
- Picture: 1080p High Definition
- Sound: DTS 5.1 HD Master Audio
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 2.35:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: BD25
- Price: £24.99 (Blu-ray); £17.99 (DVD)
- Extras: Interviews, Trailer
Director:
- John Crowley
(Boy A, The Dangerous Husband, Intermission, Is Anybody There?, TV: Celebration, Come and Go)
Producer:
- David Heyman, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub
Screenplay:
- Peter Harness
Music:
- Joby Talbot
Cast :
- Clarence: Michael Caine
Edward: Bill Milner
Mum: Anne-Marie Duff
Dad: David Morrissey
Ena: Thelma Barlow
Tanya: Linzey Cocker
Elsie: Rosemary Harris
Mr Kelly: Ralph Ineson
Mavis: Angie Inwards
Vicar: Miles Jupp
Reg: Leslie Phillips
Lilian: Sylvia Syms
Bob: Peter Vaughan
As Is Anybody There? begins,an old man called Arnold dies in a seaside nursing home.
Edward (Bill Milner) had the room bugged and recorded the conversations that wenton in there, as well as Arnold’s heavy breathing just before he passed away. Clearly not all there and trying toestablish his own early version of Most Haunted, he is then seen walking down the road with headphones on- not playing music, but the sound of the heavy breathing, at which point he steps into the middle of the road andcauses retired magician Clarence’s (Michael Caine) van to crash.
Clarence then moves into the home and both he and Edward do not get on at first, partly because Clarence takes Arnold’sroom and it used to be Edward’s, but the paying guest takes precedence. By the time 15 minutes of the film has passed,Clarence has tried to kill himself in his van with carbon monoxide poisoning but, of course, you know they’re goingto get on more, once they’ve resolved their diffrences, though.
Is Anybody There? is set between Christmas 1986 and early 1987, for the most part, but it feels much more ’70sthan that, since although the decor of some homes were still quite dated in the ’80s, they weren’t so bad that everyonewas still wearing plenty of brown clothes, certainly I wasn’t as a kid, so why is Bill Milner?
Overall, the film meanders a bit too much at times and needs some tightening up. Also, the elderly famous faces aresadly underused, even if it is all about the relationship between the two leads. That said, there is great acting fromthe key cast members – including Anne-Marie Duff and David Morrissey, who are simply known as Mum and Dad- and also a small role from The Office‘s Ralph Ineson as Edward’s teacher.
Oh, and one niggle – Edward and his Dad go to see Back to the Future at the cinema in 1987. Erm… I remembergoing to see it in December 1985!
For the most part, the picture is nicely detailed throughout whether it’s conveying the dull interiors of the nursing home,or the bright outdoors, and the anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen image is well filled.For the record, I’m watching on a Panasonic 37″ Plasma screen via a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.
The sound is in DTS 5.1 HD Master Audio and there’s some split-surround FX during a seance – which is one of themeanings of the title in this film – and out on the road, but nothing else.
The extras are as follows:
- Interviews: Various Q&A-style questions with Michael Caine (8:28), Anne-Marie Duff (6:57), Bill Milner (4:38) and directorJohn Crowley (9:13).
There’s nothing particularly revelatory here, and you won’t watch them more than once, but they’re certainly worth alook.
- Trailer (2:04): In anamorphic 2.35:1.
The menu mixes footage from the film with a small portion of the theme.There are English subtitles but the chaptering is, again for Optimum, appalling with just 12 over the94-minute running time.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.