Home Media Magazine - May 25 - 31, 2008 - (Page 32)

REVIEWS I THE WITNESSES Prebook 5/29; Street 6/24 Strand, Drama, B.O. $0.08 million, $27.99 DVD, Unrated. In French with English subtitles. Stars Emmanuelle Béart, Sami Bouajila, Michel Blanc, Johan Libéreau. www.homemediamagazine.com S o many films about the dawn of the AIDS epidemic are trite. It’s refreshing to see one that, while touching on ground that is wellcovered by now, doesn’t feel old or maudlin. The Witnesses is intimate and genuine. The characters are likeable, and first-rate acting makes viewers feel like we’ve known the characters for a long time. Split into three parts aptly titled “Summer,” “Winter” and “Summer Returns,” the film follows free-spirited Manu (Libéreau) from a promising youth to his untimely death. While trolling a park for anonymous hookups, Manu meets middle-aged Adrien (Blanc), a doctor who is immediately smitten. Their friendship blossoms, though Adrien’s growing love is unrequited. One of their summer outings leads them to visit Sarah (Béart) and Mehdi (Bouajila), friends of Adrien’s whose happy open marriage is feeling the strain of new parenthood. Manu feels like Adrien is getting too possessive and refuses to move in with him, even though Adrien swears he won’t try to interfere in Manu’s affairs. Mehdi, a high-ranking vice detective and a Muslim, runs into Manu while surveilling the brothel where Manu lives because of cheap rent. He warns Manu to move or be subject to suspicion himself. But they become friends, and then lovers. Jealous Adrien finds Manu and, after a fight, sees the sores emerging on Manu’s body. After a brief inspection, he knows what’s causing them and what is in store. Manu retreats to his camper and refuses, without explanation, to see Mehdi. So begins “Winter.” Mehdi finds out why Manu won’t see him and must cope with the possibility that he also is infected, and may have infected others. As Manu, now living in Adrien’s care, deteriorates, Mehdi must deal with his shame and self-loathing, and others must deal with their feelings of betrayal. Ultimately it’s Manu’s death that forces resolution. Maybe it’s hindsight that allows such a thoughtful examination of the havoc AIDS wreaked on so many lives, especially before much was known about prevention and treatment. But it’s also about redemption, as those left behind mend and move on. This film is frank and definitely not for youngsters, but any adult who’s not homophobic can appreciate the quality storyline and delivery. – Holly J. Wagner I 2 MINUTES LATER Prebook 5/27; Street 6/24 TLA, Thriller, $19.99 DVD, NR. Stars Jessica Graham, Michael Molina, Ben Sander, Peter Stickles, J. Matthew Miller. irst, get past the fact that our victim could probably have escaped if he’d run off the road instead of on it. Then you can pretty much enjoy the detective thriller 2 Minutes Later. The plotline holds up pretty well as insurance adjuster Michael Dalmar (Molina) goes looking for his estranged twin brother, famous Philadelphia photographer Kyle Dalmar, who specializes in sex and humiliation. He disappeared before Michael arrives in town. What we know is that Victor (Stickles) killed Kyle because he “saw too much” and apparently had pictures. References to the 1966 thriller Blowup (which Brian de Palma remade as Blowout in 1981 with John Travolta) abound. Kyle’s agent calls in P.I. Abigail Marks (Graham) to find him, and after she mistakes nice guy Michael for Kyle — a notorious jerk — they continue the ruse so they can work together to find him. They track down models from a digital-camera chip Kyle sent to himself just before his death — two minutes earlier, in fact. With each model they learn more about Kyle, but it’s his assistant Joey (Miller) who inadvertently F sends them in the right direction. One of the hallmarks of better G&L films is that the characters don’t all have to be gay (here, they are) for the story to work. This passes that test. A scene about downloading the photo chip plays particularly well, and another poking fun at the pretentious art scene is amusing. Writer-director Robert Gaston delivers a competent mystery, if one can overlook anomalies such as the fact that Kyle probably could have escaped to start; people running through rain without getting wet; and Michael’s mental leap that Joey is in danger when he hears a gunshot that could have come from anywhere. Otherwise production values are mostly good. Much of the acting is middling, but Graham stands out as sexy, sassy Abigail, and Molina holds up in the dual role of Kyle and Michael, even if he seems in a perpetual state of bewilderment. – Holly J. Wagner 32 Home Media Magazine May 25–31, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.thecuriosityofchance.com http://www.tlareleasing.com http://www.thecuriosityofchance.com http://www.tlareleasing.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - May 25 - 31, 2008

Home Media Magazine - May 25 - 31, 2008 Contents News Hardware Commentary TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - May 25 - 31, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.