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  Directed by
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  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.78:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital Surround
  Subtitles
    English - Hearing Impaired
  Extras
  • Theatrical trailer

Auggie Rose

Franchise Pictures/Roadshow Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 104 mins . MA15+ . PAL

  Feature
Contract

It seems, of late, as though as lot of independent US movies are making their way to this country by way of DVD. And while the indie film world in the States is in many ways more vital and exciting than anything tired old Hollywood can drag out of the freezer for resuscitation, it sometimes seems that the only indie flicks that get a run on DVD in Australia are the ones that are desperately trying to BE the Hollywood that rejected them, but on a hundredth the budget. That’s only a passing impression, of course - one only has to look at recent eye-openers like Chris Nolan’s Memento and Darren Aronofsky’s Pi to get an idea of what a filmmaker can do if left alone to practice his or her craft.

Writer-director Matthew Tabak had only one large-sized work to his credit - a telemovie called The Investigator - when he launched himself into his first feature film. With a solid script and a cast including the star of ultra-budget effects movies (and constant friend to the small quirky picture) Jeff Goldblum, along with Anne Heche and Nancy Travis, Tabak was always going to get some level of attention for his first foray into features. But that film - Auggie Rose - isn’t the work of an amateur hack trying to replicate his role models; rather, it’s an exquisitely filmed and acted piece of cinematic cleverness.

Described by some as a thriller, Auggie Rose is more of a gentle musing on the fragility of life living inside an unsettling story of chance and consequence. John Nolan (Goldblum) is a typically ruthless and successful insurance salesman who, having achieved some modest success in his world, has acquired a nice car, a nice house and a nice live-in girlfriend (Travis) who he never really communicates with. When he stops at a liquor store to pick up a nice bottle of wine, though, he finds himself caught in the middle of an armed robbery and, as he lies petrified on the floor, the store’s assistant is shot. Nolan tries to save the man, whose name turns out to be Auggie Rose, but fails; from that point on, Nolan becomes obsessed with this man he never knew, as an attempt to track down someone who knew Auggie leads to more sinister things…

We’ve been careful not to give away too much of the plot here (and if you’re going to watch this disc, don’t read the back cover or watch the trailer beforehand); while not in the least a twist-a-minute affair, Auggie Rose works best if you go on Nolan’s journey with him, unravelling it as you go along. Matthew Tabak’s understated but compelling screenplay is beautifully captured on screen, the film having a distinctly elegiac quality to it - something that’s assisted greatly by Goldblum’s superb performance. If ever there was a film where the trademark Jeff Goldblum understatement was right on target, this is it. Anne Heche also turns in a terrific performance, and it’s obvious that all involved are relishing the chance to work with a challenging, character-driven screenplay.

The main story angle of Auggie Rose is actually one that’s been done a couple of times before in varying forms, but this isn’t a problem - it’s a film that’s really not about the events at all, but rather about the changing of John Nolan. Tabak is not necessarily playing all his cards upfront, though; the closing moments of the film make that perfectly clear.

This is sharp, intelligent filmmaking at its best, and as long as you’re not expecting a violent thriller (quite why this film scored an MA rating in Australia for “medium level violence” is a mystery) you’re going to be amply rewarded by Auggie Rose.

  Video
Contract

Presented in its theatrical 1.78:1 aspect ratio (comments on IMDB that this was a made-for-television effort are incorrect - it did screen in cinemas in the US), Auggie Rose is given a good, but not perfect, video transfer that generally serves the movie well. The main problem here (and it’s a minor one) is that the film has been transferred to video with a little too much contrast, stealing the detail from the darker areas of some scenes; in more evenly-lit sequences it looks perfectly fine. Colours are somewhat muted (this appears intentional) and the image is consistently clear and free of annoying edge enhancement. Aside from a bit of grain on occasion and a few white marks on the print used for the transfer, the film source is exceptionally clean.

Roadshow has squeezed this 104-minute film onto a single layered disc - and contrary to what some may have you believe, that’s not a foolish thing to do, as long as you know your MPEG encoding. Roadshow’s authoring people are becoming justifiably famous for their crystal-clean encoding, and the work here is superb; only some slight aliasing on some railings intrudes, and most won’t even notice it.

Subtitles in English for the hearing impaired are provided, with each subtitle displayed on the side of the screen where the character speaking is located; this has become standard Roadshow policy, and we’re sure it’s greatly appreciated by those who make use of subtitles on DVD.

  Audio
Contract

Don’t get too worried about the fact that there’s only a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio stream on this disc - the movie was made that way. One of the very few films in recent years to be made using Dolby SR audio (old-fashioned matrixed-surround analogue audio with some seriously good noise reduction), Auggie Rose makes the most of its obviously limited budget with a precise, clear sound mix that conveys the all-important dialogue clearly and presents Mark Mancina and Don Harper’s atmospheric music score to its best advantage; tape hiss is present but kept to perfectly acceptable levels. Surround activity is limited, mainly offering ambience and some (probably unavoidable) music support, but that’s to be expected from a matrixed surround track. Roadshow has correctly encoded this audio stream, by the way, with the Dolby Surround flag turned on for decoders that support it.

One small audio problem will probably pass unnoticed by all but those listening very carefully; throughout the film, but only on certain scenes, the perfectly synced dialogue is preceded by an extremely quiet, barely-noticeable pre-echo of itself. More clearly audible in headphones, this strange effect (which we presume was unintentional) fortunately isn’t prominent enough to annoy most viewers.

  Extras
Contract

While a director’s commentary would have been nice, the only extra material you’ll find on this disc is a solitary theatrical trailer, which is 16:9 enhanced at 1.78:1 with “fake” stereo sound (the trailer’s mono music track has been phase-shifted to give the impression of stereo, but it’s not). This trailer gives away almost everything about the film - do not watch it before you’ve seen the film right through.

In the US, where this film has been dumbly renamed Beyond Suspicion for video release, it's available on DVD as a “Special Edition” complete with a commentary featuring Tabak and Goldblum, director and cast interviews and an alternate ending. Presumably those extras went missing here due to “rights issues” - 20th Century Fox owns the US video rights.

Aside from the Dolby “Rain” trailer (with 2.0 surround sound, appropriately - oddly, Dolby’s special surround trailer hasn’t been seen for a while now), the only other “extra” here is a one-minute version of the TV commercial that Roadshow have been running to promote DVD. 16:9 enhanced and with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound (!) this commercial plays immediately after the opening Roadshow logo on the disc - but thankfully, you can skip it using the next-chapter button on your remote and head straight for the menu (another just-released Roadshow title that also sports this ad uses the menu button to skip the commercial, oddly).

Quite why anyone watching this DVD would need to be convinced of the benefits of DVD is a mystery best known to Roadshow’s marketing gurus. But then, these are the people that describe DVD herein as a “one hundred and eighty degree visionary experience that will expand your horizons.” Like, y’know, whatever.

  Overall  
Contract

A subtle and genuinely original debut feature that makes the most of its limited budget, Auggie Rose is a thoroughly satisfying and fascinating film that will have particular appeal to those who think Peter Weir’s Fearless is an underrated masterpiece (which it is!)

Roadshow presents the movie on DVD with a solid - but not stunning - video transfer and their usual near-flawless disc authoring, but sadly little in the way of either extra material or information.


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=1263
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      And I quote...
    "...sharp, intelligent filmmaking at its best..."
    - Anthony Horan
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Sony DVP-NS300
    • Receiver:
          Sony STR-AV1020
    • Speakers:
          Klipsch Tangent 500
    • Surrounds:
          Jamo
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          Monster s-video
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