DVD Review Alex & the Gypsy DVD Review (1 Viewer)

Alex & the Gypsy DVD Review

Stars Jack Lemmon and Genevieve Bujold are at the mercy of poor writing and lackluster direction in John Korty’s Alex & the Gypsy. Attempting something offbeat and quirky in the way of a romantic comedy-drama, the director and his screenwriter have come up short in plotting an unmotivated mess that never engages the viewer, and the stars are thus scuttled with little to play worth watching and none of it very entertaining or endearing.

Studio: Fox

Distributed By: N/A

Video Resolution and Encode: 480I/MPEG-2

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Audio: English 2.0 DD

Subtitles: None

Rating: Not Rated

Run Time: 1 Hr. 39 Min.

Package Includes: DVD

Amaray case

Disc Type: DVD-R

Region: All

Release Date: 07/29/2014

MSRP: $19.98

The Production Rating: 2.5/5

Bail bondsman Alexander Main (Jack Lemmon) waffles between bailing out his former girl friend, gypsy Maritza Hammond (Genevieve Bujold), or not since her bail is $30,000 and her trustworthiness to appear in court four days later for sentencing in the stabbing injury of her current lover is in serious question. But he eventually relents and bails her out assuming custody of her over the period while the wily gypsy tries several different maneuvers to escape his clutches. Over the course of these days, Alex takes a serious look at his current life and doesn’t like what he sees thinking maybe it’s time for a fresh start and maybe with Maritza along for the ride.The bondsman character in the film originated in a novel by Stanley Elkin, but the plot with the wild and free gypsy is completely the creation of screenwriter Lawrence B. Marcus who tries to spice up his storytelling by jumping back and forth in time to the original relationship between the two misfit lovers some six years in the past. (Director John Korty, actor Jack Lemmon, and the make-up personnel on the project don’t make it that easy for us to note the time shifts since Lemmon looks the same in each timeline even though Maritza mentions when she first sees him how much he’s changed; they were only together for three months.) While they’re sexually compatible, their different world views make than an incompatible match for anything long term, but that doesn’t stop the writer from plotting an entire film where the two try to make a go of it: in bed (of course), at a Greek festival, at a gypsy funeral. In each instance, there is conflict and emotional combustion, and yet the film’s conclusion is that the two are meant for each other? Hardly. Korty does infuse a little fun into the movie especially during the festival sequence, and there’s a subplot with James Woods’ eccentric office accountant Crainpool that has the best payoff in the movie near the conclusion when we finally understand about some of his eccentricities, but most of the movie is a dispiriting slog.Jack Lemmon can’t seem to find anything particularly likable in the character of Alex despite giving him idiosyncrasies like going comatose immediately after sex or bringing back the quirkiest things from his shopping excursions. Moreover, his character seems regressive throughout the film: from an in-control and intelligent professional to a jibbering, befuddled muddle by the end who has made a life-changing decision in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. Genevieve Bujold is similarly stymied by the poor writing, but she seems fiercely determined to create a character as unpredictable and uninhibited as possible. James Woods gives the most enjoyably offbeat performance in an offbeat movie as the browbeaten office help who puts up with his boss’s demands for unknown (until the end) reasons. Robert Emhardt as a world weary judge, Bill Cort as an overworked public defender, and Todd Martin as a subtly nasty bounty hunter add some spice to the unconventional proceedings.

Video Rating: 2/5 3D Rating: NA

This is another of Fox’s bottom-of-the-barrel transfers offering what appears to be an open matte VHS-era transfer (1.33:1) of sadly lacking quality. The film is very soft with next to no fine detail, and the color looks weak and particularly dated with a brownish overall tint that’s unappealing (the included trailer looks far better with at least discernible flesh tones and stronger contrast). Contrast is milky throughout, and there are spots and specks though not in great abundance. Of course, without anamorphic enhancement, there is plenty of aliasing to be seen. The film has been divided into chapters every ten minutes so this transfer has 10 chapters.

Audio Rating: 3.5/5

The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound is thankfully free from age-related hiss and noise artifacts. Dialogue has been well recorded and is not compromised by the sound effects or by Henry Mancini’s barely adequate but less-than-engaging musical background score. The music especially seems to lack fidelity in the mix.

Special Features Rating: 1/5

Theatrical Trailer (1:47)

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Once a top ten box-office star, Jack Lemmon hadn’t appeared on the list since 1970, and this 1976 comedy-drama Alex & the Gypsy did nothing to reinstate him in the eyes of moviegoers. With more motivation for the characters' actions and some common sense added to the screenplay to make the decisions reached more palatable, the film might have had a chance of working, but as it stands now, it’s rather lackluster, and the pitiful Fox Cinema Archive transfer doesn’t even give the film a fighting chance of engaging the viewer.

Reviewed By: Matt Hough

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I have always wanted to see this movie and never forgot it, not because of the movie itself but about the story I heard about what happened at its first preview screening in Hollywood.

Jack Lemmon had invited his best friend Walter Matthau to the preview -- the movie ended and everyone was leaving the theatre and Jack saw Walter and asked what he thought of the movie.

"Get out of it!!" Walter yelled in that high pitch of his -- and then took off, leaving Jack somewhat anticipating the reception the movie would get....

This is pretty much the only Bujold movie I care never to see.