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- Cert:
- Cat.no: EDV 9036
- Running time: 105 minutes
- Year: 1999
- Pressing: 2000
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 20 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras : Trailer, Cast Biographies, Alternative Ending
Director:
- Rand Ravich
(The Astronaut’s Wife)
Producer:
- Andrew Lazar
Screenplay:
- Rand Ravich
Music:
- George S. Clinton
Cast:
- Spencer Armacost: Johnny Depp
Jillian Armacost: Charlize Theron
Sherman Reese: Joe Morton
Nan: Clea DuVall
Natalie Streck: Donna Murphy
Alex Streck: Nick Cassavetes
Shelly McLaren: Blair Brown
Jackson McLaren: Tom Noonan
When a man you’ve never met before gives you flowers,that’s Impulse, but when you’re The Astronaut’s Wife and your man’sdangerous space mission goes tits-up, losing contact with NASA for a whole two minutes,that’s a sign for some bizarre shit to start happening.
Spencer Armacost (Johnny Depp) and his colleague Alex Streck (Nick Cassavetes)come back very-changed men indeed. At a “welcome home” celebration party, Streck bites thebig one as his body suffers a horrendous stroke. Spencer seems fine at first, but after hearingthe seemingly-paranoid ramblings of the now ex-NASA suit Sherman Reese (Joe Morton),Jillian (the achingly-gorgeous Charlize Theron) begins to suspect her husband is notthe man he used to be.
Jill’s sister, Nan (Clea DuVall), claims early on: “Men are like parking spaces -all the good ones are taken, all the available ones are handicapped”, as she’s without abeau, but she soon realises she has nothing to be envious about as Spencer gets Jill up theduff and we’re not sure what’s lurking inside.
The picture is marred by the same artifacts that affectedMagnolia which give it a very grainy look for some ofthe dark scenes while bright scenes look fine. It’s in the original anamorphic widescreenratio of 1.85:1 and the average bitrate is 6.21Mb/s, occasionally peaking over 8Mb/s.
Dolby Digital 5.1 is the order of the day in the sound dept. which is used to excellenteffect and often, mostly in the supernatural scenes when things begin to be not of thisEarth.
Extras :A 2-minute Trailer, Cast Biographies for the four main participants, pluswriter/director Rand Ravich who made his directorial debut with this film,as well as the Original Ending in non-anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Stereo, sincethe alternative one is attached to the end of the film. Between the two I prefer the alternativeone. The original one has a touch of the cartoon strip’s The Numbskulls about it…
The menus have some weird sounds to mimic parts of the film – with animation – and the20 chapters on the disc accommodate the length well. I still can’t understand why we can’thave a wealth of chapters for all films from EiV though and the timings of these in thebooklet are still an hour out (!)
Overall, this film does make for an entertaining near-2hrs, but it’s still absolute bloodynonsense with everyone playing their part convincingly enough to warrant this a rental,if not a purchase. It’s a film that’s sure to find a home on Channel 5 though.
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.