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Reviews of Cadillac Records, Role Models, Rachel Getting Married and Synecdoche, New York

Cadillac Records
Sony
$27.96
Blu-ray: $39.95

Plot: The story of Chicago’s famed Chess Records label, told through the eyes of some of its most famous performers, including Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright), Howlin’ Wolf (Eamonn Walker) and Etta James (Beyonce Knowles).

Opinion: If nothing else, Cadillac Records deserves to be seen for its loving recreation of a bygone era of musicianship, when black blues players from the Deep South started crossing over into the mainstream on the sheer strength of their skills.  Writer/director Darnell Martin had the entire ensemble cast perform their own songs and the results are pretty terrific, from Beyonce’s now-famous rendition of “At Last,” to Wright’s blazing performance of “Hoochie Coochie Man.”  Unfortunately, Cadillac Records falls prey to the conventions that mar most musical biopics, from the tired “rise-and-fall” three-act narrative structure to certain contrived subplots that Martin admits to inventing for dramatic reasons.  It’s still a solid movie, but with this cast and this subject, it could have been so much more.

Bonus Features: A soothing commentary track from writer/director Martin; a handful of deleted scenes and two behind-the-scenes documentaries.

Verdict: Rent It

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Role Models
Universal
$29.98
Blu-ray: $39.98

Plot: Facing jail time for an ill-advised bit of public property destruction, sarcastic buddies (Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott) are ordered to join a big-brother organization and mentor two strange kids (Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Bobb’e J. Thompson).

Opinion: Based on the awful ad campaign Universal mounted for Role Models, I wouldn’t blame you if you thought David Wain’s third directorial effort looked about as appealing as root canal surgery. But I’m here to tell you that this is a very funny movie that finally gives Rudd the breakout star turn he’s been looking for.  While Role Models isn’t as delightfully weird as Wain’s previous films—which include Wet Hot American Summer and The Ten—there’s a cleverness to the dialogue here that’s immediately recognizable for fans of those movies.  And then there’s the movie’s awesome, climax—a loving homage to (and dead-on spoof of) the epic fantasy battles in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, played out in a public park with an army of teenage dorks and equally dorky adults dressed up in homemade costumes, fighting each other with foam swords.

Bonus Features: An unrated cut that adds three minutes of footage to the theatrical version; a commentary track from Wain and other members of the cast and crew; two making-of featurettes; a very funny gag reel; a trio of short films about three of the supporting characters and almost 20 deleted and extended scenes.

Verdict: Buy It

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Rachel Getting Married
Sony Pictures Classics
$28.96
Blu-ray: $39.95

Plot: Released from rehab to attend her sister’s wedding, Kym (Anne Hathaway) arrives home and stirs up plenty of melodrama.

Opinion: After a pair of big-budget remakes that few critics seemed to like (save me), Jonathan Demme goes back-to-basics with this stripped-down ensemble drama that feels so genuine and spontaneous, it’s hard to believe it wasn’t completely improvised on the spot.  Hathaway was singled out for an Oscar nod, but everyone in the cast does exemplary work, from New York theater veteran Bill Irwin to rising star Rosemarie DeWitt, who plays the title character.  While Jenny Lumet’s script does get occasionally get overheated, particularly whenever the specter of a dark family secret is raised, but the performances and Demme’s deft direction make this an easy movie to recommend.

Bonus Features: A Q&A featuring the cast and crew; a commentary track from the always fascinating Demme; deleted scenes and two featurettes.

Verdict: Buy It

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Synecdoche New York
Sony Pictures Classics
$28.96
Blu-ray: $39.95

Plot: Hoo boy—where to begin?  Afraid that he’s dying, a small-town theater director (Philip Seymour Hoffman) starts planning his greatest play yet.  And that’s when things get really weird.

Opinion: Not a film for the faint of heart, Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York demands patience, an open mind and a high tolerance for more experimental approaches to storytelling.  If you’re able to give yourself over to the movie’s spell though, you’ll come away eager to see it over and over again.  In the past, Kaufman has pushed his films to the edge of madness, but always pulls back before they careen over the edge.  There’s no such caution in Synecdoche, New York, a movie that gleefully challenges conventions and the audience’s expectations.  At times, Kaufman’s ambitions exceed his execution and one could argue that he takes too much pleasure in being inscrutable.  But at a time when both studio and independent productions are growing increasingly homogenized, a bold artistic risk like Synecdoche, New York seems like something to celebrate.

Bonus Features: The highlight of the DVD’s copious bonus features is a 40-minute roundtable featuring five well-known film critics/bloggers discussing the movie.  Funnily enough, their comments are more interesting than anything Kaufman says about the film in a 30-minute Q&A also included on the disc.  Other extras include a 20-minute making-of documentary, a conversation with Hoffman and full versions of the strange cartoons that play in the background during certain scenes.

Verdict: Buy It

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Also on DVD:

Not so long ago, I wrote a column where I confessed that I consider Walt Disney’s Pinocchio to be the scariest movie ever made.  As if to taunt me, the Mouse House now releases Pinocchio: 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition (Disney, $29.99), a two-disc behemoth that offers a digitally restored version of the movie and tons of extras, from retrospective featurettes, to never-before-seen deleted scenes and interactive games for the kiddies.  At least my kid will get some enjoyment out of this, because I’m still not sure I’ll ever be able to watch it again.  Also out this week from Disney are the cult sci-fi adventures, Escape to Witch Mountain and Return From Witch Mountain (Disney, $19.99 each), available on DVD just in time for the release of Race to Witch Mountain starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Elsewhere, South Park: The Complete Twelfth Season (Paramount, $49.99/Blu-ray, $69.99) arrives on DVD and marks the first time the long-running Comedy Central series is being released in Blu-ray.  High-def extras include a peek behind the scenes of how every episode of South Park is produced (i.e. at the last minute) and mini-commentaries from creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.  Two underseen 2008 titles hit disc as well this week, the Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In (Magnolia, $26.98) and Mike Leigh’s delightful slice-of-life comedy Happy-Go-Lucky (Miramax, $29.99), starring the shoulda-been-nominated Sally Hawkins.  For viewers interested in less highbrow fare, there’s also Transporter 3 (Lionsgate, $34.98), the third installment in the Jason Statham action franchise.

Fans of Edward Norton should have a blast revisiting the movie that catapulted him to fame, Primal Fear: Hard Evidence Edition (Paramount, $14.98), a re-release of the 1996 thriller with new bonus features.  And I can’t close out this week’s column without mentioning Howard the Duck: Special Edition (Universal, $14.98), the long-awaited DVD release of the notorious 1986 flop, produced by George Lucas and based on the old Marvel Comics character.  I must have seen this movie a dozen times growing up (in my defense, it was on cable all the time) and even though I know its terrible, I’m thrilled to finally add it to my DVD collection.  What can I say?  Like the song goes, you just can’t tame Howard the Duck.