DVD Round-Up: December 31, 2008

Should you spend the last week of 2008 with Shia and Michelle, Ricky and Greg, Keira and Ralph or a dude with a bag over his head?

Eagle Eye
Paramount
Single Disc: $29.98
Two Disc: $34.98
Blu-ray: $39.99

Plot: Two ordinary people (Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan) are forced to carry out a top-secret mission on behalf a secret government agency.  But who–or what?–is the real mastermind behind this plan?

Opinion: There’s a good movie lurking somewhere in Eagle Eye’s almost two-hour runtime, but unfortunately it is largely drowned out by one of the most inane plots I’ve seen all year.  According to one of the featurettes included on the DVD, exec producer Steven Spielberg dreamed up the idea for the movie several years ago while marveling at the way we’ve allowed modern-day technology to run our lives for us.  And, to be fair, the movie’s hook is intriguing: what if the computers that handle our banking, communication and other needs one day decided to start acting for themselves?  Of course, that idea has been explored before, most notably in Stanley Kubrick’s seminal sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which Eagle Eye’s four credited screenwriters clearly spent a lot of time watching and “borrowing” (re: stealing) ideas for this script.  While there’s no way Eagle Eye could ever have measured up to that groundbreaking picture, it could have been a zippy conspiracy thriller along the lines of The Parallax View.  But a film like that requires an airtight story and this one is filled with gigantic plot holes that render it incomprehensible.  The filmmakers also deserve some time in movie jail for assembling a great supporting cast–including Michael Chiklis, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie and Rosario Dawson–and then giving them nothing to do besides intone some truly inane Z-grade level dialogue.  If you do end up renting Eagle Eye this weekend, I recommend turning it off after the first half-hour.  That way you get to see the film’s lone bright spot–a fun chase sequence that finds LaBeouf leaping from a high-rise onto a subway car–without having to put up with any of its nonsensical twists.

Extras: Both the two disc and Blu-ray editions come with deleted scenes (including a lame alternate ending), a gag reel and multiple featurettes.

Verdict: Skip It

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Baghead
Sony Pictures Classics
$28.96

Plot: Four actors looking for their big break hole up in a remote cabin for the weekend with plans to write a horror movie about a killer who wears a paper bag over his head.  Funnily enough, they soon find themselves living out their screenplay in real life.

Opinion: The first five minutes of this ultra low-budget comedy offers one of the most dead-on parodies of an independent film festival I’ve ever seen.  That’s not a huge surprise since Baghead’s directors, Jay and Mark Duplass, have spent much of their careers on the indie festival circuit and know that world inside and out.  The hilarity continues for much of the movie’s slender 80-minute runtime, as our four hapless “heroes” struggle in vain to write the script that will change their lives, but discover its easier–and far more entertaining–to get drunk and flirt with each other.  At a certain point though, the Duplass brothers switch up the tone in an effort to push Baghead in a more dramatic direction and that’s about when they started to lose me.  That said, I have to admit that the directors do wrangle a few genuine scares out of the seemingly ridiculous sight of a guy with a paper bag on his head.  Maybe they need to sell that character to Wes Craven in case he decides to restart the Scream franchise…

Extras: The Duplass brothers provide a commentary track and also appear in a funny 15-minute Q&A where they answer the questions they were asked throughout their press tour for the film.

Verdict: Rent It

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Ghost Town
Paramount
$29.98
Blu-ray: $39.99

Plot: After dying for seven minutes during a routine surgery, perpetually pissed-of dentist Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) is brought back to life with the power to see the hundreds of spirits loitering around the Big Apple.  One of these ghosts–a recently deceased businessman named Frank (Greg Kinnear)–enlists his help in trying to break up his ex-wife’s new marriage.

Opinion: Like most of the world, I skipped Ghost Town in theaters based on the lackluster previews and the suspicion that Gervais–who I usually adore by the way–would seem out of place in a straightforward Hollywood studio comedy.  And while its true that the comic is best served in self-generated material like The Office and Extras, it turns out that Ghost Town is actually a charmer with plenty of big laughs and some real emotional heft.  It’s the kind of kooky New York story that Woody Allen might have penned back in his post-Annie Hall, pre-Husbands & Wives days.  Credit writer/director David Koepp for bringing a light touch to the material and giving Kinner and Gervais plenty of room to develop a great comic rapport.  In fact, I’d love to see the two of them reunite for another comedy very soon.  If Gervais ever revives Extras, he’d be wise to get Kinner in there as his new sidekick.

Extras: Gervais and Koepp team up for a yak track and also appear in three middling featurettes.

Verdict: Rent It

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The Duchess
Paramount
$29.98
Blu-ray: $39.99

Plot: One of the most recognizable figures of her day, Georgina, The Duchess of Devonshire (Keira Knightley) was the toast of 18th century London for her forward-thinking fashion sense and devotion to important political causes.  But her private life was considerably less pleasant…

Opinion: Maybe it’s just British costume-drama fatigue talking, but I could have sworn I’d seen The Duchess before when it was called Pride & Prejudice or Bleak House.  As it turns out though, this is the first film to be made about the Duchess of Devonshire, who led what sounds like a very interesting life.  Too bad the movie turns that life into a bland porridge of warmed-over period drama cliches.  While it is interesting to see this era depicted entirely from a female perspective–all too often men take center stage in historical movies–The Duchess ultimately doesn’t bring anything new or exciting to the genre.  It’s beautiful to look at and intermittently involving, but for the most part, this is pretty dry stuff.

Extras: A five-part making of documentary and two additional featurettes, one of which is devoted to the real Georgina’s actual writings while the second examines the movie’s lavish costumes.

Verdict: Skip It