Has anyone seen Straight Talk or Steel Magnolias? That’s how I remember Dolly Parton, and that was years and years ago. I was really able to enjoy that movie. However the 1999 tele-movie Blue Valley Songbird wasn’t as enjoyable. The story was full of bright characters, however some were shallowly written and the story was also fairly thin. Mind you saying that, the story was aided to by several songs written and performed by Dolly Parton. Parton is a real gem and does have potential both as a singer and an actor. This film wouldn't have been nearly as good as it is without her talent present.
The story is based around Leanna Taylor (Dolly Parton) who grew up with an abusive father which is one of the reasons why she hasn’t made it to the ‘big smoke.’ Boyfriend and Manager Hank (John Terry) helped her get to where she is today, but she is getting bored with her current life. She begins to fall for Bobby (Billy Dean), a guitarist in her band, and Hank is worried that he might loose her. She does discover though that the road to success does lie within her, no one else, and she ventures out, away from the managing boyfriend and troubled past.
The video is presented in an aspect of 4:3 and is not 16x9 enhanced. The colours are bright, yet aren’t very detailed. The same goes for shadow detail. Without good shadows, the entire video transfer just lacks depth on screen. There is some minor aliasing but nothing distracting from the film.
At times during the feature there are large amounts of grain which are distracting for the few scenes where they are apparent. There are some minor MPEG artefacts, but you need a quick and sharp eye to catch the flash of these, so nothing too distracting from the film. Film grain is very good, with only the occasional flecks flashing past. Problems such as aliasing, film and MPEG artefacts are very minute and not at all irritating nor incredibly noticeable.
There is no layer change, as this is a single-sided disc. There are four subtitle tracks, but none in English – only Spanish, French, German and Italian. This is disappointing for those who are hearing impaired and are unable to understand the film due to the lack of subtitles. Even the die hard fans will be disappointed as they are unable to sing along to the songs!
There are two audio tracks, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0.
The 5.1 track uses the soundstage very well, with a very active subwoofer track but very inactive surrounds. The surrounds were only used to play the music shared by the front speakers. This is a good soundtrack to listen to, however it is based primarily on the front end of the sound stage. Dialogue is based entirely in the centre channel and is audible throughout with no distortion or peaking of the recording equipment. The 5.1 track is definitely the soundtrack to listen to on this disc.
The 2.0 track is very low quality, with some dialogue being inaudible and a very low level of bass. Even if you don’t have the hardware for 5.1 sound, listen to that track by any means. The music on this track sounds muted and the entire mix of this track just doesn’t sound right.
The music in the film includes several songs by Dolly Parton which does boast her talent and add a nice touch to the film.
There are no extras on this disc, apart from the menu which is still with audio.
The movie is lacking in depth, but the disc has a reasonable video transfer and a good audio transfer. However the lack of extra features is a real pity, especially for the Dolly Parton fans. Can’t Warner Vision have found some music videos or interviews? This disc is a must-have for die hard fans only, and should only be grabbed if you are a fan of country and western music and/or Dolly Parton.
