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WIND
Review by Chastity Campbell
Stars: Mathew Modine, Jennifer Grey
Director: Carroll Ballard
Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
Video: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Studio: Columbia Tri-Star
Features: See Review
Length: 126 Minutes
Release Date: February 11, 2003
Film **
She’s like the WIND through my tree…yeah, I’m sure
Jennifer Grey was humming that tune while filming the movie Wind, and
wondering how she went from being the Dancing Queen to Popeye’s goyel!
Wind is a high sea yachting adventure centered
around, one man’s love of sailing and the America’s Cup race he’s dying to
win.
Will Parker is a sailor, and his dream is to be on the team
that will win the next America’s Cup Race.
Unfortunately for Will, his girlfriend is standing in his way.
When he is given the choice of realizing his dream or sticking by the
woman who loves him, Will says heave ho and watches as Kate walks the plank
right out of his life.
Race day arrives and Will’s cup runneth over, leaving him
drowning in misery as the America’s
Cup sails into the hands of the Aussies. Ashamed and alone, Will takes a break
from racing and heads out in search of Kate.
Mathew Modine was able to completely lose himself in the
character of Will. He did an
amazing job of bringing to the forefront the emotional struggle Will goes
through when his dream is lost, and later when it appears he may get that
coveted second chance everyone dreams of.
Jennifer Grey plays the headstrong sailor wannabe Kate
Bass. I really like Grey, who
always seems to be able to bring a lot of emotional depth to the characters she
plays. Given the right opportunity
she’s got what it takes to become one of the bigger names in Hollywood.
Unfortunately for her, the Wind was blowing in the wrong
direction, and it took her far out to sea with this flick.
Will and Kate hook up in Utah where she’s been living
with her new boyfriend, Joe Heiser. It
seems that Joe is a design engineer, and Will, sweet talks him into helping
design, and build a new boat for the next America’s Cup race. With a new boat,
a new attitude, and his girl by his side will it be enough for Will to finally,
bring it all home.
Wind is an amazing cinematography foray into the
world of sport sailing. The
gorgeous ocean scenes, and use of different camera angles, paint a breath taking
and often, heart stopping, picture you won’t be able to forget.
Carroll Ballard (The Black Stallion, Never Cry Wolf) did an
exceptionally wonderful job directing this picture, and photography director
John Toll (Thin Red Line, Braveheart) was able to capture the true beauty
of the ocean in each and every scene.
While the script was weaker than a sand crab at low tide, the actors were able to breathe a bit of life into the film. If you want to see some really cool sailing and enjoy some decent acting, then this is the DVD for you.
Video ***
Wind blows warmly, in a 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
format that is not only very nicely done, but, very easy to sit back and enjoy.
The colors were vibrant and alive in each and every scene.
The picture was very clean, with no visible flaws that I could see.
This DVD is a very nice viewing experience and one I would recommend to
just about anyone.
While the video experience was very nice, the audio tended
to be a little flat without any help at all from the soundtrack.
The Dolby Digital Stereo mix sounded hollow one minute and crowded the
next. Looped dialogue did not sync
up well in some scenes and it was obvious that not a lot of time was spent on
the digitization of this DVD’s audio.
While this DVD’s audio did have some good points, I was
really unimpressed with the over all mix.
English, and French subtitles as well as movie trailers for
Wind, Dogtown & Z-Boys, and Vertical Limit are the only thing
blowing around in this DVD’s bag of tricks.
Summary:
