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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 2.35:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Layer ( )
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • English: Dolby Digital Stereo
  Subtitles
  • None
  Extras
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Featurette
  • Interviews

Crush

Magna/Magna . R4 . COLOR . 108 mins . M15+ . PAL

  Feature
Contract

Three professional women in their early 40s, all with something missing from their lives – a mate. Oh goody, here comes another boring, by the numbers chick flick, right? Nuh-uh.

While every promotional bit and bob for Crush implies that it’s almost a Bridget Jones’s Diary for those who’ve broached that supposed “life begins at” age, and indeed the film potters along nicely on such a track for at least the first half, it suddenly takes a dramatic turn into darker territory, and is all the more exciting because of it.

Molly (Anna Chancellor), Janine (Imelda Staunton) and Kate (Andie MacDowell) are our three heroines (as such). A doctor, cop and headmistress respectively, they look forward to their weekly get togethers for plenty of gin, cigarettes and chocky – and to discuss their endeavours man-wise, in order to discover who is the saddest of the three. With pickings quite slim, residing in one of those atypical picturesque but small and provincial English towns as they do, they still manage to get up to quite a bit, tragic as it may be, however one day Kate trumps them all. After a quick tumble on a tombstone at a funeral with Jed, a rough-around-the-edges, incredibly self-assured church organist and former student who’s 15 years her junior, she is elated – while Molly and Janine are just plain shocked, after all, this is no way for a respectable school ma’am to behave (and perhaps they’re a touch jealous?). Still, they’re certain it was only a one-off fling, so where’s the harm? Then this apparent one-off shag becomes two, three, four – more – with Kate keeping her tales of bonking everywhere from Volvos to most any nook or cranny the church has to offer firmly to herself for fear of her friends’ reproval.

But then Kate is quite embarrassingly sprung doing the do, and she was certainly right about her friends not approving. Labelling her newfound beau “King Unsuitable of the Totally F*cking Unsuitable People”, full of unwelcome advice they set about trying to distract Kate from Jed. With the relationship intensifying, a quick jaunt to Paris seems to be the order of the day – divert Kate to get her mind off this folly of a toy boy and all – however little do they count on the bond the two have already formed. So then Molly, and to a lesser extent Janine, turn the meddling up to 11... Women Behaving Badly anyone?

Crush is a remarkably realistic exploration of that intimate – sometimes perhaps too much so - female friendship bond that usually completely flummoxes those of the male species, which is all the more impressive as it was penned by a bloke. As well as writing it, John McKay also directs, and he’s concocted a tale which combines gentle English humour featuring the odd surprise laugh-out-loud bit with something altogether more sinister and dark. The two English leads are great in Chancellor, doing the all-bravado-on-the-surface toff thing with much aplomb, and Staunton giving another fabulously down to earth turn, and MacDowell – well, has anybody else ever noticed that as an actress she makes a great former model? Still, with a strong cast around her she doesn’t ruin things as much as could be expected, and we’re left with something which while definitely one for the chick flick category, covers more interesting, entertaining and often exciting territory than any typically predictable American flick of a similar ilk would ever have the balls to venture into.

  Video
Contract

Delivered via a delightfully expansive 16:9-enhanced, 2.35:1 image, Crush comes up quite well, with a few reservations. Colour is rather fabulous, with a vivaciousness often lacking in films with an English setting. There’s quite the tinge of yellow to most of the film, which seems to be intentional, while black levels are as perfect as they tend to get – black is black, and you can’t ask for more. The area of shadow detail lets the side down a little, on occasions when it’s relevant it tends to be reasonable without being great, pretty much in keeping with the detail level of the rest of the film, with quite a filmic, slightly soft look to things. The amount of speckles and occasional blobs is a little alarming for a film that’s not even two years old at the time of writing – they’re not in plague proportions, but are much more prevalent than they should be. Otherwise the odd touch of shimmer here and there is a little distracting at times, however the layer change is well-placed and scarcely noticeable.

  Audio
Contract

Despite the packaging claiming only a Dolby Digital 2.0 mix, there is also one in DD5.1 - and quite the decent mix it is, too. The subwoofwoof has very little to do save for the odd minor grumble here and there, however surround usage is nicely subtle and effective. Naturally the talky nature of the film means it favours the front for most of the audio, and it does so very well, with no synch issues or the like to bugger things up.

The orchestral parts of the soundtrack often tend towards the overblown, tempered on the odd occasion with quick bouts of the likes of the quite wonderful Nick Drake and the very wonderful Divine Comedy (who nowadays are really just Neil Hannon flying solo).

  Extras
Contract

The static menus hold a few bonus goodies in store for those wanting more...

Trailer: An American promo for the film, this 1:34, 1.78:1 (enhanced) trailer does a good job of showing some restraint, by teasing us with the setup without giving away anything major about the plot.

Featurette: With the top and tail having been docked this just plops straight into an interview with Andie MacDowell. The 6:33 on offer here offers a selection of interview snippets with her, plus her co-actors and the writer/director John McKay, interspersed with scenes from the film and the odd bit of behind the scenes footage. Basically it’s just your typical EPK-styled fluff piece.

Interviews: Extended versions of those featured in the above extra, some of these are still quite harshly edited. Following a text question pursued by interview footage format, we get chats of varying lengths with Andie MacDowell, Imelda Staunton, Anna Chancellor, Kenny Doughty, Bill Paterson, John McKay and producer Lee Thomas, all adding up to around 24 minutes. The usual things are covered – thoughts on their own characters, others they interact with, the story, working with the director etc – after all, they’re hardly going to be carrying on about their shoe sizes or preferences when it comes to chip flavours, are they? Even if it would be a potentially interesting change for such things.

  Overall  
Contract

A great one to pick up if you’re in tune with that English way of playing with the often fine line between comedy and drama, Crush on DVD delivers decently enough in the visual and audio stakes, and throws in a few OK extras to sweeten things more than a box full of caramel chockies. Well, maybe not THAT much, but they’re worth a look.

Meanwhile, after viewing this some of us will be checking our own “sell-by” dates and starting to panic somewhat...


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=2579
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      And I quote...
    "A great one to pick up if you’re in tune with that English way of playing with the often fine line between comedy and drama..."
    - Amy Flower
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Pioneer DV-535
    • TV:
          Sony 68cm
    • Receiver:
          Onkyo TX-DS494
    • Speakers:
          DB Dynamics Eclipse RBS662
    • Centre Speaker:
          DB Dynamics Eclipse ECC442
    • Surrounds:
          DB Dynamics Eclipse ECR042
    • Subwoofer:
          DTX Digital 4.8
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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