Matt Stone
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Carried Away
Directed By: Bruno Barreto
Studio: New Line
Year: 1996
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Anamorphic)
Running Time: 109 minutes
Rating: R (For nudity, strong sexuality and language)
Audio: 5.1 DTS (English), 5.1 Dolby Digital (English), 2.0 Dolby Digital (English)
Subtitles: English and Spanish
MSRP: $19.97
Street Date: 14 June, 2005
Review Date: 29 May, 2005
(Ratings are out of five stars)
Summary
Carried Away tells the story of a small-town teacher, Joseph (Dennis Hopper) and his longtime girlfriend (Amy Irving). Their lives are thrown into a great upheaval when a sexually charged 17-year-old girl (Amy Locane as Catherine) moves to town and into Joseph’s class. Catherine sets her sights on Josesph, and a predictable love triangle gets put into motion. The setup may have been a generic Hollywood convention, but the execution and aftermath are very refreshing.
Performances are very good in this film. Dennis Hopper plays completely against type as a slow teacher with a bum leg. He spends most of the movie as an unmotivated man with very little confidence, but his charisma begins to break through after his romance with Locane’s character. Still, it’s great seeing him playing something other than a raving lunatic madman. Gary Busy (Catherine’s father) also plays down from his normal level. His role is small and understated, and he does a good job of not playing over-the-top. Amy Locane’s Catherine is the least developed of the “main” characters in the film. This is understandable since she is more of a plot device to spark Hopper’s character rather than a three-dimensional character of her own.
In the end, Hopper is able to carry the film with great supporting work from Amy Irving and the rest of the cast. When other films would play up the melodrama, Carried Away plays it straight. The film doesn’t come across nearly as pretentious as it could have. Still, with its quiet, subdued, small-town atmosphere, I had to wonder how differently it would have turned out with David Lynch at the helm. Things would have been a little more stylized and a little less generic.
Film Rating: :star::star::star:1/2
Video
Overall, the video quality is pretty solid. The film is moderately grainy, but it looks like an accurate representation of the original film. The transfer is soft, but it looks very film-like. Colors are mostly subdued, but that fits well with the overall tone of the film. Taking place in the country, browns and greens dominate the landscape. In any event, the color palette is represented well.
Video Rating: :star::star::star:1/2
Audio
This was primarily a talking-heads film. I briefly switched between the DD and DTS tracks, but didn’t notice much of a difference. The soundstage is produced well, but with the subject matter, it’s far from demo material. The quality was as good as can be expected.
Audio Rating: :star::star::star:
Extras
Carried Away features a commentary with director, Bruno Barreto, and actress Amy Irving. I did not listen to the entire track, but what I did hear was pretty insightful. Barreto is very engaging and provides interesting thoughts on the overall production of the film. He tells interesting anecdotes and provides a lot of information regarding his artistic intentions with the film. Amy Irving doesn’t talk as much as Barreto, but she usually has something interesting to say and always comes across as interesting. The commentary does hit a few dead spots (especially toward the end), but Irving usually thinks of something to ask Barreto about the production. Not the best commentary I’ve listened to, but far from the worst.
This DVD also features the original theatrical trailer presented in 1.85:1 (anamorphic) widescreen.
Extras Rating: :star::star:1/2
In Closing…
Here’s another film that I had no idea existed. Dennis Hopper puts on another career performance, and Bruno Barreto’s direction keeps the film from sliding into to many predictable pitfalls. The film may be sparse as far as extras are concerned, but New Line is doing a hell of a job with their older catalog releases. Audio and video quality have been as good as I could have hoped for films that don’t get mainstream attention. I’d recommend this film if you’re looking for a quiet drama that you may not have seen before.
Overall Rating: :star::star::star:1/2
Matt Stone
29 May, 2005
