DVD Picks & Pans: March Madness pt 2

Military.com - Tom Miller

Selection Sunday is history, and the drama begins in earnest this week with the opening round of March Madness.  By Sunday, the original 65 teams will have been winnowed down to a more manageable Sweet Sixteen.  Counting the play-in game, that adds up to forty-nine contests over four days—or 12 games per day. 

If you're one of those who believes that you can get too much of a good thing, maybe you should plan for some breaks away from basketball during the week.  We would suggest some quality time with the spouse, but most of you can time that with a 35-second clock.    With that in mind, here are some suggestions culled from recent DVD releases.
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"No Country for Old Men," DVD-2008 ($29.99, Buena Vista Home Entertainment/Miramax) Also available in Blu-ray edition.

The Coen Brothers (Joel and Ethan) already have one of the classic Hollywood crime sagas, "Fargo," on their resume.  In fact, the Coens and Quentin Taratino—and their imitators—have reinvented the crime drama for the twenty-first century. 

Like "Fargo," "No Country for Old Men" is a brilliantly-imagined and executed—if gruesomely violent—morality tale about the dangers of playing with fire.  Here, the neophyte fire starter is Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), who comes upon the scene of a drug deal gone bad and absconds with the cash: some $2 million.  The drug cartel, of course, wants its money back and dispatches Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a sociopathic killer, to get it.  It falls to small-town sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), who's as weathered as the harsh West Texas backdrop, to try to sort it all out. 

Adapted by the Coens from a Cormac McCarthy's novel, the film is like watching a car wreck.  It's often ghastly but you can't look away.  It's also tightly crafted and relentless.  Besides Jones, Bardem, and Brolin, the outstanding cast includes Woody Harrelson and Kelly MacDonald.

A favorite among critics, the film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won four, including Best Picture, Best Director (the Coens), Best Screenplay (the Coens) and Best Supporting Actor (Bardem). 

 Military.com Rating: *** ½

(DVD extras include featurettes "Working with the Coens: Reflections of Cast and Crew," "The Making of No Country for Old Men," and "Diary of a Country Sheriff.")
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"Atonement," DVD-2008 ($29.98, Universal Studios Home Entertainment) Also available in HD DVD and DVD Combo edition.

Like "Dan in Real Life" (see below), this is a throwback to an earlier era.  Director Joe Wright's adaptation of Ian McEwan's acclaimed novel, "Atonement" is driven by character development and story, not action.  If that means that's it unfolds leisurely, so be it. 

The story begins in England in 1935 and revolves around the reckless act of a precocious thirteen-year-old girl that changes several lives—and not for the better.  The girl is Briony Tallis (played by Saoirse Ronan as a youngster), and she wrongfully accuses Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), a servant's son and her sister Cecilia's (Keira Knightley) lover, of sexually molesting a young cousin. 

Robbie is jailed and Cecilia rejects her wealthy family after they turn against him.  When World War II breaks out, Robbie is released from prison to join the army in France.  Cecilia already works as a nurse in London, and Briony (Romola Garai), grown now and tormented by what she did, enters nurse's training instead of university in an attempt to atone for her deed. 

Wright is mostly faithful to McEwan's dark story of spite, guilt, and suffering.  The cast is solid, and Knightley, McAvoy, and Ronan (who received a Best Supporting Actress nomination) are excellent.  (The movie received six Oscar nominations including Best Picture and won for Best Original Score.) 

Military.com Rating: ***

(DVD extras include audio commentary with director Joe Wright, deleted scenes, and two featurettes: "Novel to Screen: Adapting a Classic," and "Bringing the Past to Life: Making of Atonement.")
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"Dan in Real Life," DVD-2008 ($29.99, Buena Vista Home Entertainment/Touchstone) Also available in Blu-ray.

Director and writer Peter Hedges ("Pieces of April") scores with a gentle, old-fashioned romantic comedy about an advice columnist whose personal life could benefit from his own counsel.   This is the kind of thing that once upon a time would have paired Rock Hudson and Doris Day. 

Dan Burns, a popular newspaper advice columnist, is the widowed—and pathetically overprotective—father of three young daughters—17-year-old Jane (Alison Pill), middle child Cara (Brittany Robertson), and fourth-grader Lilly (Marlene Lawston).  The uptight Dad obviously doesn't get out much and hasn't had a relationship since the untimely death of his beloved wife.

Most of the action takes place in the claustrophobic surroundings of Dan's parents' beach house in Rhode Island where the entire Burns' extended family has gathered for its semi-annual reunion.  Trying to give Dan some space, his Mom (Diane Wiest) sends him into town to buy a newspaper.  As luck would have it, he meets and falls for the captivating Maria (Juliette Binoche), who just happens to be his brother Mitch's (Dane Cook) visiting girlfriend.  That, of course, sets the stage for some anxious situations as Dan and Maria try to keep their attraction a secret. 

The formula here is traditional, as is the happy ending, but that's not a bad thing.  The ensemble cast is uniformly solid, and Emily Blunt adds a little spice as a former classmate of Dan's who's matured into quite a sexpot. 

This is for all of you who wonder why they don't make movies like they used to.

Military.com Rating: ***

(DVD extras include deleted scenes with commentary by director/writer Peter Hedges, audio commentary with Hedges, real-life outtakes, and two featurettes: "Just Like Family: The Making of Dan in Real Life," and "Handmade Music: Creating the Score.")
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Military.com March Madness Rating Scale
*       Air ball
**     NIT
***   Final Four
**** Dick Vitale with laryngitis

 

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Copyright 2012 by Tom Miller