Movie Reviews

This touching movie from Tim Burton is very un–Tim Burton. It’s the story of a son trying to get to know his father, whose stories of his life have been nothing but tall tales. It’s an almost surreal journey and worth it for anyone who has ever had a father. It stars Ewan McGregor, but there are small parts from a host of great actors like Danny DeVito, Steve Buscemi, Robert Guillaume, Jessica Lange, and more. I saw this movie on an airplane the first time. Even on a 4-inch LCD screen, I loved it, so that should say something.

The 1.85:1 image is a little noisy and a little soft. Some of the latter seems to be stylistic in certain parts, but, in others, it isn’t. Colors in many scenes are purposely oversaturated, but not as much as you’d expect, which, in this case, is disappointing. There is nothing overly wrong with the transfer; it just isn’t that impressive. Audio choices are uncompressed PCM 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1. Overall, the mix is rather flat, although Danny Elfman’s score and the dialogue come through fine. There isn’t much activity in the surrounds.

As is typical of many releases from Sony, there is a dearth of extras. The only one is a commentary track by Burton. I guess you could consider subtitles in seven languages an extra. This is a great movie but a pretty lame disc. Skip the buy; go for the rent.