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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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28
Days
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Reviewed
by: |
Rachel
Hughes |
| Genre: |
Anamorphic
1.85:1 Widescreen |
| Video: |
Dolby
Digital 5.1, 2.0 |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
5.1, 2.0 |
| Language: |
English |
| Subtitle: |
English |
| Length: |
l
hr and 44min |
| Rating: |
PG-13 |
| Release
Date: |
September
19, 2000 |
| Studio: |
Columbia
Tristar |
| Commentary:
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Featuring
Director Betty Thomas, Producer Jenno Topping, Composer Richard
Gibbs |
| Documentaries:
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None |
| Featurettes:
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HBO
Making of Special |
| Filmography/Biography:
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Yes
|
|
Interviews: |
In
making of special |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
For
28 Days and Big Daddy |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
Five
deleted scenes |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
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"Santa
Cruz" The Lost Episodes, How to make a gum wrapper chain, and
Isolated Music Score. |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Sandra Bullock,
Viggo Mortensen, Dominic West, Diane Ladd, Elizabeth Perkins
and Steve Buscemi. |
| Screenplay
by: |
Written by
Susannah Grant |
| Produced
by: |
Jenno Topping |
| Directed
By: |
Betty Thomas |
| Music: |
Richard Gibbs |
| The
Review: |
This movie
did not find it's a large audience in the theaters. In part
because it is a bit of a tough sell. It is about Gwen (Sandra
Bullock) an alcoholic journalist who wrecks a limousine at her
sisters wedding and is sentenced to 28 days in a rehab center
where she meets a wide variety of characters. Where is the fun
in that? However in the hands of director Betty Thomas (Dr.
Dolittle) she has created a wonderful quirky comedy/drama. When
people are uncomfortable and vulnerable it is a human tendency
to deflect those feelings with humor. That is what we see here,
a wide variety of people who need help with a multitude of problems.
Each person uses humor in a different way to cope with what
is going on in his or her lives, but she doesn't go overboard.
There are plenty of emotional scenes to balance out the movie.
This is after all about rehab and the seriousness of addiction.
Thomas does an incredible job at realism She, along with most
of the cast, spent time at an actual rehab center in order to
portray the experience as accurately as possible. . She walked
that fine line between comedy and drama and didn't falter. Thomas
has created a group of people that you genuinely care about
without pitying. That is quite a feat. |
| Image
and Sound |
The sharpness
and clarity of movie are what one comes to expect from DVD.
The colors are great. Bullock wears a lot of black, but you
can distinguish all the shades, and they never run together.
There are a few night scenes and you can see everything clearly
in each of them. The color of the woods surrounding the center
gives an added element of realism to the film. The flashback
scenes were made to look like home movies shot on an old super
8 and add real depth to the film. One can listen to the movie
in either 2.0 or 5.1 surround sound. Since this is a dialogue
driven movie there really isn't much of a difference of the
two. You can hear everything clearly and the score never over
powers the dialogue. There is also an isolated music score featured
in 5.1. |
| The
Extras |
This disc
has a lot of great extras. · First there is the HBO Making of.
This runs for about 15 mins and features the directors along
with the major actors. You get to hear why they did the picture
along with different experiences on the set. · The patients
in the center are addicted to a fictional soap opera called
"Santa Cruz". For our enjoyment there is a 25mins of additional
footage in the form of lost episodes that was not included in
the film. They were shot on the "Days of Our Lives" set and
feature real soap opera actors playing really really bad soap
opera actors. It is a hilarious addition. · There are directions
for making a gum wrapper chain, which Bullock's character does
in her spare time. · The deleted scenes can be found in two
sections. The first is Character Testimonials. This features
Daniel, Bobbie Jean, and Roshanda each doing a scene in which
they are in group and telling more about themselves. The other
two scenes are the Guitar Guy (singer/songwriter Loudon Wainwright
III) lost songs. There are two songs that he sang at different
points in the movie that didn't make it into the final cut.
· Also included are the standard Talent Files, which features
the highlights of the careers of Betty Thomas, Sandra Bullock,
Steve Buscemi, Biggo Mortensen, Elizabeth Perkins and Diane
Ladd. Along with the talent files is the theatrical trailer
for "28 Days" as well as "Big Daddy" which also featured Steve
Buscemi. The production notes are not on the disk itself, but
in the flyer inside the case. |
| Commentary |
The commentary
featured the director, editor, producer, and composer. As a
result there was never a lack of information. This is more of
a technical commentary than just funny stories, though there
are some of those as well. There is a lot of talk about what
mood they were trying to evoke, why they used certain shots,
how the music contributed to the mood and such. This is an interesting
commentary. It is like you get to sit next to the director during
the making of the film and she tells you why she did what she
did. This commentary certainly adds a lot to the film and shouldn't
be missed. |
| Final
Words: |
Hopefully
this movie will get its due with this release. Everyone does
an incredible job in the movie, and are a joy to watch. If you
haven't seen it yet then go out and rent it. Once you have then
you will want to own this DVD. Columbia/Tristar did an excellent
job of packing it with enough quality extras that is difficult
to resist. |
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