Synopsis
Danny Morgan (Rhys Ifans), a concrete layer in Australia, is very excited about his upcomingholiday, but then his girlfriend (Justine Clarke), who thinks she’s better than he is, scraps theirgetaway so she can close a real estate deal and flirt with a local newscaster. Danny is despondent,and during his week off has too much time on his hands, which means trouble. At a barbecue, heattaches helium balloons to his deck chair, and then sails off into the big blue yonder. He come…down in a country town. There he adopts a new identity (university lecturer) and begins aromance with parking cop Miranda Otto.
Though the characters fall largely into the expected rom-com types, there is a warmth to thefilm that wins one over, and there are some interesting wrinkles. Justine Clarke’s character, forinstance, may be a rhymes-with-witch (on wheels), but she is also genuinely upset when Dannydisappears into the sky. A gently amusing, very appealing film.
Audio
The sound comes in both 5.1 and 2.0 versions. The music sounds fine, and the dialogue isperfectly clear and undistorted. The surround effects are very low key. A little too low key, infact, as there are numerous missed opportunities for a more immersive experience (the barbecuescene being a case in point).
Video
The colours are extremely bright and cheery, very much in keeping with the mood of thefilm. the image is sharp, and there is minimal grain and no edge enhancement at all. The blackslook fine, too. A bright, attractive transfer, then.
Special Features
Director Jeff Balsmeyer and Rhys Ifans handle the commentary, and the result, thoughinformative, is pretty par for the course. The same goes for the making-of featurette — very muchthe usual thing. Also present are the theatrical trailer and trailers for Beyond the Sea,Stage Beauty, Inspiracion and Eulogy. The menu’s main screen, intro andtransitions are animated and scored, while the secondary screens are scored.
Closing Thoughts
The features aren’t spectacular, but the disc looks great and the film is very upbeat.
Special Features List
- Audio Commentary
- Making-of Featurette
- Trailers
