Review of Whole Nine Yards, The

Introduction

I`m a little bit suspicious of any film that stars Matthew Perry. Don`t get me wrong, I love Friends, and have no problems with Chandler - apart from every film Matthew is in features him as, er, Chandler. Bruce Willis on the other hand is in general a recipe for entertainment, and theres also a good supporting cast including the beautiful Natasha Henstridge, the girl-of-the moment Amanda Peet and Rosanna Arquette.

The liner notes give a basic clue about what is going on, but not enough to spoil the fun. Is it worth watching or even buying - and does it better the other recent hitman comedy "Grosse Point Blank"?

Video

The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is pretty good quality throughout and I didn`t spot any problems. The image is sharp and well-defined and the colours look good.

Being a comedy, the emphasis is on the dialogue and antics of the various characters, and there are no special effects etc. The movie is however well shot and there is some nice photography of Chicago and Niagra.

Audio

Sound comes in Dolby Digital 5.1 but for the most part you wouldn`t notice.

As with the video, the emphasis is on the characters - there`s little in the way of intense action to speak of - so the sound is centred on the dialogue - which is clear and understandable throughout.

Features

A reasonable range of features including a Director`s commentary although I wouldn`t listen to it for this type of movie - there`s really not enough going on to make me want to know how it was done.

Cast interviews, trailer and filmographies are also included.

Conclusion

This movie was pretty good fun. Yes, Perry does pretty much play Chandler, but he does play his part well. Bruce Willis is good as always and somehow seems comfortable playing a tough-guy with an attitude...the remainder of the cast all play their parts well despite Arquette having a dubious French-Canadian accent.

For a comedy there is actually a reasonable plot to keep interest up and there are plenty of good laughs on the way - and at no time was I thinking "how long is there to go?".

Video is nice, sound is perfectly adequate for the type of film and there is a good range of extra material on offer.