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WUTHERING HEIGHTS (MTV)
Review by Chastity Campbell
Starring: Erika Christensen,
Mike Vogel, Katherine Heigl, Johnny Whitworth, Aimee Osbourne, John Doe, and
Christopher Kennedy Masterson
Director: Suri B. Krishnamma
Video: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio: Dolby Digital Surround
Studio: Paramount
Features: See Review
Length: 88 Minutes
Release Date: January 27, 2004
Film **
Wuthering Heights
has been remade time, and time again. After
viewing this version, I am forced to take a cue from a song on it's
soundtrack; “If it ain't broke, break it!” I think they took that premise
a bit too literally with their version of this classic.
Wuthering Heights
is a tragic tale, of love, loss, deceit, and ultimately betrayal.
There is no happy ending for a movie like this, and no matter what time
period you set this story in, it's going to take some pretty decent acting to
pull off the true emotional grit a film like this requires.
Erika Christensen (Swimfan,
The Safety Of Objects) plays the youthful and innocent Cate who falls in
love with Heath, the homeless boy, whom her father took in when they were
children.
Heath has grown into an
insecure, moody musician who wants nothing more than to play his guitar and love
Cate forever. Their world falls
apart around them when Cate's father dies, and leaves everything to her looser
brother Hendrix, who feels lost in the shadow of his family's love for Heath.
Erika Christensen is someone to
keep your eye on if you want to know who has a shot at being one of
Hollywood's next big things. She's
got all the right stuff and has been very impressive in almost every role
she's taken on. Her only problem in this film is the choppy editing and the
mediocre acting of her supporting cast mates.
Now before anyone takes offense
at my comment about the editing, let me say that I do believe in letting the
camera tell a story of it's own, instead of relying solely on the acting
and/or scripting. Symbolism
through visualization is a major part of today's society and it has become
commonplace in modern movie making ventures.
However, this movie felt like an eighty-eight minute music video with
stop-n-go photography, and a minimal amount of dialogue.
Audiences have become more
sophisticated over the last ten years and Hollywood would do well to take
notice. You can't just throw a
bunch of hot bodies onscreen anymore and expect people to ignore the other
aspects that make up a movie.
The supporting actors didn't
really seem to flow together very well. Their
interactions with each other felt forced and uncoordinated.
There were actors and actresses taking their first steps onto the big
screen with this one, but I think perhaps they should have waited a bit longer
before making that leap.
Now the one thing that stood up
and said HELLO about this film was the soundtrack.
The compilation of songs and music was very modern and fluid.
I will admit to popping the disk back in after viewing it, and scene
skipping to the points where Mike Vogel, who plays Heath, was singing.
He has one of the most beautiful voices I've heard in a while.
The songs he sings definitely pull at the heartstrings, and make you want
to cry at times. This DVD is worth
it if for no other reason than the soundtrack audio.
Video **
The video quality on this disc
was good. It wasn't spectacular
and nothing in particular seemed to stand out, so it's just good. The colors painted a balanced picture from scene to scene
without any bleeding or haziness. There
was a very tiny amount of dirt visible in scenes where the lighting was
brighter, but otherwise a very clean print.
Audio ***
This was one of the prettiest
Dolby Digital Surround mixes I've had the pleasure of listening to.
Not only was the audio crisp and clean, it truly resonated through my
speakers. The dialogue and music
bed balanced perfectly against the background effects, allowing this DVD to
shines dramatically in the audio department.
On a side note, the soundtrack
was absolutely full of great songs and wonderful music. I would definitely recommend picking up the soundtrack at a
music store near you.
Features ˝ *
Scene selection is the only
extra feature on this DVD.
Summary: