MARVIN'S ROOM
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Sound formats: Dolby Digital / SDDS
Jerry Zaks' dry, unobtrusive direction threatens to derail this soapy drama about estranged sisters (Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton) who are reunited when one of them (Keaton) develops leukaemia. However, Zaks keeps things moving at a sprightly pace, and he's well-served by an all-star cast (including Leonardo di Caprio as Streep's rebellious teenage son, and Robert De Niro in a significant cameo as the doctor who diagnoses Keaton's condition). Of them all, however, Gwen Verdon steals the show as a slightly dotty aunt who utters the film's best line ("Which one of you handsome boys is in a mental institution?"). Overall, the characters ring true and their conflicts have an authentic emotional charge, but the film never reaches boiling point and ends ambiguously, with the situation only partially resolved. Fine score by Rachel Portman.
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Sound formats: Dolby Digital / SDDS
Jerry Zaks' dry, unobtrusive direction threatens to derail this soapy drama about estranged sisters (Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton) who are reunited when one of them (Keaton) develops leukaemia. However, Zaks keeps things moving at a sprightly pace, and he's well-served by an all-star cast (including Leonardo di Caprio as Streep's rebellious teenage son, and Robert De Niro in a significant cameo as the doctor who diagnoses Keaton's condition). Of them all, however, Gwen Verdon steals the show as a slightly dotty aunt who utters the film's best line ("Which one of you handsome boys is in a mental institution?"). Overall, the characters ring true and their conflicts have an authentic emotional charge, but the film never reaches boiling point and ends ambiguously, with the situation only partially resolved. Fine score by Rachel Portman.