  
| 
| ||||||||||||
  EW review: 'Capote' DVD needs moreAlso: Honest 'Squid' and formula 'Derailed' By Ken Tucker  YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(Entertainment Weekly) -- In the tantalizing but frustrating commentary provided by star Hoffman and director Bennett Miller for "Capote," Miller refers to "our anguished process" of bringing Truman Capote to the screen. Miller, working from actor Dan Futterman's screenplay, agreed that there was only one person to play Capote, and that was Philip Seymour Hoffman. To be sure, Hoffman took a big risk: Working with relative rookies in his director and writer and reproducing Capote's mannered public persona -- a whiny-voiced whiplash wit -- might have been nitpicked by those old enough to remember Capote's nasal drawl on the talk-show circuit or giggled at by those too young to believe such a gnomic gnome existed. Instead, Hoffman arrives on DVD smothered in Oscar glory -- which gives the "anguished process" remark added piquancy, as does Miller saying Hoffman had a "complete meltdown" during a scene of Capote talking on the telephone. Just what went on in Winnipeg, where most of the film was shot? "I don't think either of us ever masked discontentment," teases Miller. Come on, guys, what gave? Alas, then Hoffman and Miller make nicey-nice. But they are willing to discuss the depiction of New Yorker editor William Shawn, a legendarily polite, sedentary sort, but portrayed by Bob Balaban as a pushy guy with a yen for hype and glory. Hoffman explains this as dramatic license, that the character is really a cross between Shawn and Capote's publisher, Joseph Fox. Sheesh -- seems like a big gaffe to me, lessening our trust in the filmmakers. How much does a biopic suffer when a commentary tips you off to the truth? Or is this, shrewdly, the movie version of Capote's innovation, the nonfiction novel? EW Grade: B 'The Squid and the Whale'Reviewed by Chris Willman The title of Noah Baumbach's first feature film, "Kicking and Screaming," was later appropriated for an unrelated Will Ferrell fiasco. So when he's artfully rationalizing "Squid's" unwieldy moniker, you imagine him really thinking: Steal this one, cheerleader boy! The name refers to a museum diorama of sea creatures in combat, symbolizing the movie's acrimoniously separating academic/writer couple (Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney). They vie for their sons' affections, and vice versa, in a wrenching drama that should be legally mandated viewing for any child rearers considering splitsville. Did we say drama? The Globes put what may be the most truthful divorce movie ever up for "best comedy" -- a decision more puzzling than that title, though "Squid" does sport some of 2005's most gratifyingly pitiful laughs. EXTRAS Baumbach hates scene-specific commentaries, so he offers a 52-minute monologue, set to stills. Curiously, he says that a performance of Pink Floyd's "Hey You" -- a key plot point -- was always scripted, while a documentary shows Jesse Eisenberg arriving on location prepared to sing "Behind Blue Eyes," only to be told a rights hang-up will force him to learn Floyd, fast. EW Grade: A 'Derailed'Reviewed by Jeff Labrecque Not since Henri tried to steal Woody's girlfriend on "Cheers" has an actor portrayed a vile Frenchman as gleefully as Vincent Cassel in "Derailed." In "Ocean's Twelve," he smugly played the preening French cat burglar, and in this pedestrian morality tale, he's stalking Owen's philandering husband with Snidely Whiplash-like menace. An odd combination of Sean Penn and Rupert Everett, he swipes every scene from Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston, and the film drags during the stretches that lack his twinkling maliciousness. Claude Rains would be proud. EXTRAS Five minutes of extended footage provide more violence and heavy breathing, but they're hardly "unrated"-worthy (Owen slugs a drunk in a bar, Aniston drops an F-bomb). Three deleted scenes focus primarily on Owen's character's strained marriage and relationship with his sick daughter, while in a hurried eight-minute making-of (eight whole minutes?), Aniston says director Mikael Hafstrom didn't go down "the formula road of how a normal thriller would be shot." Actually, that's just what he did. EW Grade: C+ Click Here 
|
| ||||||||||||
| © 2007 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
 |
|
to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
