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DVD REVIEW FOR
"SIMON BIRCH"

(1998) (Joseph Mazzello, Ian Michael Smith) (PG)

Length Screen Format(s) Languages Subtitles Sound Sides
114 minutes Letterbox (1.85:1)
English
French
English Dolby Digital 5.1 1

PLOT & PARENTAL REVIEW

VIDEO:
(A) For the most part, this disc looks great, but it does have a few problems. A few scenes have over-saturated whites or near-whites, such as those during the opening credits where the sky is completely washed out while the white titles look okay. Although one would thus expect that to be the fault of the original theatrical release, film is far more tolerable of that as it has a greater range of white than does video.

Some compression-related pixelation is also noticeable — but not distracting — in solid, lighter colored parts of the picture. Otherwise, the video quality looks great. It's quite sharp with plenty of detail — especially in the brightly lit outdoor scenes — and the colors (vibrant green and the deep blue of the kids' baseball caps, etc...) are lush and never over-saturated.

AUDIO:
(A) While the audio track certainly won't push anyone's stereo or home theater system to the limits, it's decent nonetheless. Featuring a fun and lively score as well as some period songs, the audio always sounds good and the dialogue never fails to be crisp and intelligible.
EXTRAS:
  • Scene selection/Jump to any scene.
  • Theatrical trailer.
  • COMMENTS:
    Loosely working from John Irving's novel, "A Prayer For Owen Meany," writer/director Mark Steven Johnson (who penned the "Grumpy Old Men" movies) has fashioned an interesting, old fashioned and often touching tale with this picture. Exuding a certain innocent charm often found in movies set in pre-Vietnam America (that war has been excised from the original story), the film also focuses on a range of theme-heavy subjects such as what constitutes religious faith, searching for one's parent and tragically losing another, and justification of physical abnormalities by those challenged with them.

    Bearing similarities to 1997's brilliant "The Sweet Hereafter" -- in more ways than one --, this film deals with children and tragic events involving them. In fact, I was surprised at the amount delivered by this film, and one immediately feels sorry for the character of Joe who experiences many tragic events in less than a year's worth of screen time.

    While that sounds rather heavy for a PG rated film -- and such material often nearly derails the films "feel good" mood and momentum -- the picture manages to pull it off due to a winning cast and decent performances. In addition, the entire film has something of a fantasy or near fable like quality in its often whimsical storytelling approach that prevents such events from making the film a depressing event.

    When I first heard about this film and its diminutive lead, I assumed that the title character was going to be created by using special effects to "shrink" a young actor down to the appropriate size. Instead, the filmmakers chose Ian Michael Smith -- who reportedly has Morquio's Syndrome that, among other things, leads to a form of dwarfism -- to play the part.

    While Smith's appearance may initially be somewhat unsettling to some viewers, the way in which he plays Simon quickly dissipates any such reaction. Like many others with physical challenges, this character is self-deprecating about this condition and otherwise acts like a normal, hormone- charged preteen.

    That creates some of the film's more humorous moments as words and phrases unexpectedly come from this kid's mouth that you'd never expect from someone his size or in his condition. While some may be somewhat shocked at what he says, it's refreshing to see that the character hasn't been given, nor expects, any preferential treatment. While Smith's performance won't win him any awards in his debut role, and some of his lines feel forced and far too clever for their own good, he exudes a ton of charm that makes up for any of that.

    The rest of the film's performances, as delivered by Joseph Mazzello, Oliver Platt, and David Strathairn are all quite good, but it's the radiant Ashley Judd who clearly stands out. Although her sudden "removal" from the story is shocking -- and eliminates possibly the best character in the story -- the moments when she does appear on screen are wonderful.

    While writer/director Mark Steven Johnson's manipulative efforts to toy with our emotions are often too visibly apparent -- especially since we know something's going to lead to Simon's death and the boys' farewells to each other at seemingly uneventful partings carry more resonance than they really should -- for the most part they still mange to work nonetheless.

    With a sweet and sweeping (and also occasionally manipulative) score from Oscar nominated composer Mark Shaiman ("The American President"), one can't help but be swept away by this film's happy and touching moments, and only the most hardened of cynics won't find something to like in this picture.

    It's good to see a film featuring a physically challenged child who's confident and gets to be the hero in the end. While that may sound syrupy sweet to some, for the most part it's effectively managed here. Touching on a wide variety of subjects and themes, this pleasant little film is a funny, charming, and often heartfelt experience.

    As far as the transfer to DVD, the picture quality, for the most part, is very good. Other than some pixelation and a few too "contrasty" moments, it often looks quite superb and is very sharp. While the audio is decent, the sparse supplemental materials -- a lone theatrical trailer -- certainly leave a great deal to be desired.

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