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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 2.35:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
    English - Hearing Impaired
  Extras
  • Additional footage
  • Deleted scenes
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Audio commentary
  • Cast/crew biographies
  • 2 Music video - Our Lips Are Sealed - Poe, Mean To Me - Tonic
  • Outtakes
  • Filmographies

Gossip

Warner Bros./Roadshow Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 87 mins . MA15+ . PAL

  Feature
Contract

Gossip. As an avid (albeit rather ashamed at times) devotee of the likes of Who Weekly and NW I felt it my absolute duty to review this film.

From director Davis Guggenheim, the highlights of whose CV basically entail directorial duty on a number of television shows such as E.R., NYPD Blue and Party of Five, comes a sort of post-teen thriller that you could classify in a similar vein to Cruel Intentions. Whilst that hideously stage-like film's only saving grace (for me at least) was the inclusion of the great goddess Buffy (pause for the males (and probably half the females) reading this to swoon), Gossip is a much better entry into this genre.

The basic plot is this. Three college students who just so happen to be roomies, Derrick (the rich kid hunky one played by James Marsden), Cathy Jones (the studious one with a conscience played by English rose Lena Headey, who does a bang up job of a US accent - and also helps get some well-needed revenge for the recent casting of an American as Bridget Jones) and Travis (the arty, social flop type played by Norman Reedus) decide to start a rumour as the basis of an assignment for their media class. The target of this rumour is virginal snooty-type Naomi (the recently omnipresent Kate Hudson), and the inference that she and her beau, umm Beau (Joshua Jackson of Dawson's Creek), did the bonk-thing at a recent party. The only problem is that the truth of the matter is that she passed out and that was that, but you know what they say about letting the truth get in the way of a good bit of goss...

Naturally the rumour spreads, and in true purplemonkeydishwasher style it gets blown out of all proportion until Naomi believes that she was indeed raped and decides to press charges. I'll leave it at that as I'd be a bitch to divulge much more, anyway I'm sure you will have at least a vague idea where things start heading from here…

  Video
Contract

If anybody out there can find something to whine about with this transfer then congratulations, you are the ultimate pedant.

In yummy 16x9 enhanced 2.35:1 widescreen this truly looks wonderful. It is mostly quite a dark film, however the contrast, colour and detail is just fine, whilst the odd forays into the world of light scrub up brilliantly as well. What more can I say? I am truly impressed, and in what seems a rare instance I didn’t even notice the layer change.

  Audio
Contract

Gossip is mainly a dialogue-driven film, and to this end the sound is mixed fine, even during party scenes where the musical doof-factor is ramped up to eleven. The surround channels are used nicely, mainly for the music but also for the odd loud (and relevant) sound effect.

The soundtrack itself is quite a mixed bag. Ranging from the aforementioned doof from the likes of Propellerheads to the goddess that was Dusty Springfield (with the Bacharach/David tune The Look of Love) to a preposterously pretentious "cover" (as many liberties have been taken) of The Go-Go's/Fun Boy Three favourite Our Lips Are Sealed by the preposterously pretentious poseur prat Poe. The end-titles track Mean To Me (mercifully not a cover of the Crowded House tune) from Tonic is also remarkably good, especially considering their rather bland Bluetones/ShedSeven/Travis/Coldplay/TheVerve-style little indie boy lost pedigree - and also the fact that they are Americans.

The actual score suits this style of film perfectly, coming across oft times like a collaboration between latter day Depeche Mode and Bernard Herrmann (and if you don't know who he is then shame on you!)

  Extras
Contract

Bravo Village Roadshow, whilst some of the extra bits here are of limited interest after one viewing, it always makes me emit a contented little "aaah" when I see evidence that an effort has been made to gather as much bonus stuff to play with as appears possible. Especially when discs marked 'Collector's Edition' and the like often come up severely lacking when compared to this one. My only grumble would be the static and silent nature of the locally authored menus, especially for such a sonically active feature.

First up is a commentary featuring director Gugenheim (who is the hubby of Elizabeth Shue no less) and he who played Derrick, James Marsden. As commentaries go it's OK, the two seem to be having a fun time and offer some insight into the thinking behind the flick, however there are no incredibly startling revelations in store. For some reason Marsden is audible from both front speakers, whilst Guggenheim seems to be sitting plop in the middle of the right one. Surround activity also seemed to cease whilst playing the commentary.

Now it's deleted scene time. Firstly, we get three that were apparently removed to shorten the film and quicken the pace, none of which are greatly missed. It is worth noting though that at 87 minutes, Gossip is hardly a challenge to sit through anyway - however the film is aimed at the MTV generation I guess, so we must allow for infinitesimal attention spans. Following on are uncut takes of a certain "make-out" scene, demonstrating what the editors had to work with for the final cut, but in the end at six minutes or so in length it really is probably only of interest to the icky sticky raincoat brigade. Finally we have another cut scene, the reasons for its eventual chopping being quite understandable in the context of the film.

Just in case you were unsure where they came from, all of the deleted scenes are stamped with "Property of Warner Bros" or similar in mile high letters, and feature more timers than Flinders Street station, which I found incredibly distracting. The video quality of the cut stuff isn’t incredibly flash, but these are after all bits and pieces that were discarded, so I'd be a big meanie if I were to mark things down for that reason.

Elsewhere you can stumble across an alternate ending for the film, a near flawless copy of the film trailer (featuring a cool grunge cover of Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence by one of those "ooh, now haven't they kicked on?" type bands Failure that doesn't show up in the film), Travis's gossip interviews (video camera style footage which will make more sense if you see the film), brief biographies of the stars and a 'grab bag', which includes a shocking transfer of the equally as shocking Poe cover mentioned earlier (I'll avoid the incredible urge I have to start bagging it all over again) and a much better copy of the curiously busy clip for the Tonic track (which incidentally goes unmentioned on the disc's packaging). If you sit patiently through both music videos (for there is no chapter separation) you're in for a fun reward, the Gossip montage screen test, which when seen in this manner is a tad bizarre - but enjoyable bizarre.

  Overall  
Contract

Seemingly going against a critical tide I really enjoyed this film - even when sitting through it twice in the one evening.

For me it had just the right balance between "ooh, I didn't see that coming" and "a-ha I knew it!" that films of this genre need to keep your attention, and all in a visually gorgeous (forgiving the occasional wanky slow motion shot), often Hitchcockian (if Mr Guggenheim hasn’t seen Vertigo then I'll gladly eat this DVD) style.

If you enjoyed Cruel Intentions, and even to a certain extent the I Know What You Did... films, then you really should love this, although if the years have not been so kind to you then you may find it a bit too (adopts Ben Elton voice) "young adult" for your liking.

In all I feel that this is a quite fabulous package that offers decent value for money and is at least worthy of a rental for the vaguely curious. And Lena Headey has very nice hair, which is always a good thing.


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      And I quote...
    "I heard a rumour..."
    - Amy Flower
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Pioneer DV-535
    • TV:
          Sony 68cm
    • Speakers:
          Home Built
    • Surrounds:
          No Name
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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