Intro
We’ve just had one recent battle-of-the-rogues release with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Here’s a more recent film in a similar vein, with Martin Lawrence and Danny De Vito duking it out. Curiously, Glenne Headly features in both.
Synopsis
Martin Lawrence is a charming thief. Danny De Vito is a charmless businessman. When De Vito catches Lawrence robbing his home, he turns the tables and steals Lawrence’s precious ring. This, of course, means war, as the two men use all the means at …heir disposal to destroy each other.
Audio
The audio is superb. The music, naturally enough, has a very strong surround mix, and the same goes for the sound effects. The effect is one of completely ambient sound, but the dialogue is never drowned out. A terrific transfer.
Video
The picture is just as nice. The colours are strong, the flesh tones natural, the contrasts dead-on. I saw no grain or noticeable transfer flaws. The picture is presented in both 1.85:1 widescreen and 1.33:1 full screen. The picture quality in the outtakes is a little more variable, serving largely to emphasize how good the picture of the main feature is.
Features
The main page of the menu is fully animated and scored, but all the other pages are silent and still. There are enough features that MGM saw fit to split them up over two sides. I don’t think this was strictly necessary, and that does created the inconvenience of having to turn the disc over, but there you are. There are two commentary tracks. The first is by director Sam Weisman and producer David Hoberman, who spend much of the time discussing the script, the actors and how they worked on the story. Nothing too technical. The second commentary features cast members Danny De Vito, William Fichtner, Bernie Mac, Carmen Ejogo, Nora Dunn, Sasha Knopf, Siobhan Fallon, GQ and Glenn Headly. This can be a little confusing, and the commentary is, at times, very sparse. Most of the comments are production anecdotes or reflections on the characters.
Side Two features a music video, the theatrical trailer, an outtake featurette, a “Scene Stealers” featurette (the usual puff piece), and eight deleted/alternate scenes and an alternate ending. The extra scenes feature did not work at all on my disc: the picture broke up and the scenes simply refused to play. This may be a problem with this disc alone, but I couldn’t see any surface flaws.
Closing Thoughts
Quite a few extras packed on to a comedy that came and went without too many people noticing. But if you’re a Martin Lawrence fan, you’ll be pretty happy.
Special Features List
- Commentary with Drector Sam Weisman and Producer David Hoberman
- Cast Commentary
- Deleted/Alternate Scenes and Alternate Ending
- Outtake Featurette
- “Scene Stealers” Featurette
- Theatrical Trailer
- Music Video – “Music” by Erick Sermon Featuring Marvin Gaye
