Review of Relative Values

Introduction

The film is set in England during the 1950s and tells the story of the Earl of Marshwood (Atterton) who plans to get married to American film star Miranda Frayle (Tripplehorn). The Earl`s mother (Andrews) is publicly delighted by the news of her son`s marriage, but is privately horrified at the thought of an upper class Earl marrying a common movie star – she enlists the help of her butler (Fry) and housekeeper (Thompson). Complications arise when Frayle`s ex boyfriend, movie star Don Lucas (Baldwin) heads over the Atlantic to get her back

Video

The video is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and is of a reasonably high standard. The picture is crisp and clean, with no sign of film grain or dirt. The image remains stable throughout the film and is colourful with plenty of contrast and no compression problems.

The film is set in the 50s and the décor, clothing, locations and vehicle all look quite authentic.

Audio

The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and whilst as ever, I would have preferred a full multi-channel remix, the sound reproduction is more than adequate for the type of movie. This isn`t the sort of film with noisy flypasts etc, and although some of the party scenes etc would have benefited from more ambient sound from the rear channels, the soundtrack in no way detracts from the film.

The dialogue is always clear and understandable.

Features

The extras consist of a director`s commentary track and the film`s trailer.

The disc is packaged in an Amaray case.

Conclusion

The box proclaims this movie as "outstandingly funny" and "guaranteed to keep you roaring with laughter", however I don`t think I managed even a small smile through what is a dreadfully tedious and uninteresting movie. The film is well made, and the period detail looks good, but the good cast is wasted on a story which really doesn`t get moving, and offers little of note.

Video and sound aren`t bad and the disc features a director`s commentary track and the trailer.

In summary, this is a well-presented DVD that might appeal to fans of this sort of movie, but it certainly wasn`t my cup of tea.