Review of 13 Conversations About One Thing

Introduction

It`s a good thing that this isn`t a British film, as thirteen conversations about the weather or last night`s Eastenders would hardly provide an edifying experience for the average cinemagoer. The setting of 13 Conversations is New York however, and the One Thing they are all talking about is nothing less than life. As the film shows, our lives aren`t as isolated as we care to believe.

A lawyer celebrates his successful career, and then makes a mistake that changes his entire life. A college physics lecturer turns his back on his marriage after being mugged. A young cleaning girl sees her faith in humanity and her natural optimism vanish after an accident. A manager in an insurance firm has to take stock when his company has to cut back, and his estranged son is arrested for petty crime. A spurned wife has to accept her husband`s infidelity, and move on. Five lives, five stories are related in this movie, and as the film unfolds we see these lives intertwine, simply touch, or briefly brush together to startling effect.

Video

13 Conversations About One Thing is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic ratio on this single layer disc. The image is pretty clear and colourful, although the odd instance of minor print damage did crop up. There is a hint of grain, and the film`s independent nature is confirmed by an overall lack of glossiness. It did seem that the image was slightly soft too, but it certainly wasn`t enough to detract from the viewing experience.

Audio

A simple DD 2.0 Stereo track is all that is available, but what a track! Apply a smidgen of Prologic and there is discernable separation and placement of effects. The sound design is more than evident with the film`s ambience coming through well, and subtle effects are used to punctuate the ethereal feel of the stories. The music is simple but effective, establishing the mood of the movie. Dialogue is clear and centrally placed, but the lack of subtitles is felt.

Features

Animated menus and a theatrical trailer do little to distinguish this from any other disc. However, there is an audio commentary that accompanies the film. Director/writer Jill Sprecher, co-writer Karen Sprecher and editor Stephen Mirrione contribute to the track. It`s a fairly run of the mill track, discussing the usual aspects, the actors, the making of, the budget and so on. However the speakers have a relaxed tone that made it easy to sit back and let their comments wash over me.

Conclusion

This kind of intertwining of stories, and the non-linear narrative used here has been used before, most memorably in Pulp Fiction, but in 13 Conversations there is a slightly otherworldly feel and a more thought-provoking centre to the stories. The film itself is divided into 13 sections, 13 chapters on the disc, book-ended by the tale of the physicist`s wife. We jump backward and forward in time, as each character`s story is told. Where the character arcs meet, there is a brief out of place moment, but by and large the individual stories unfold linearly.

The characters are brilliantly crafted, with mesmerizing performances from the leads. Matthew McConaughey plays lawyer Troy, who as it becomes apparent, is a supremely confident and self-assured man. His brief encounter with barfly Gene does little to dampen his spirits, but the car accident that follows changes his life. He makes a mistake that soon begins to haunt him. John Turturro is the quintessential embodiment of a physics lecturer, meticulous and organised. That is until an encounter with a street criminal convinces him to find some passion in his world. He then goes about meticulously destroying his life. Cleo Duvall plays cleaner Beatrice, who from an early age has felt blessed by her survival from drowning, and remains optimistic about her fellow man and the course of her life. That is until she is hospitalised by an accident, forcing her to re-evaluate her beliefs.

Gene English, the barfly that Troy encounters early on, is actually a Claims Adjuster. Played brilliantly by Alan Arkin, his ruminations on life typify what this film is all about. Events in his personal life and the changes taking place in his company force him to reassess his life. A natural pessimist, he distrusts those with a relentlessly positive outlook. He thinks he can disprove the `glass is half empty` theory when cutbacks force him to fire eternal optimist Wade Bowman. His view of luck is also challenged when a fellow colleague, who he had previously berated as a loser, wins the lottery. Luck, fate, optimism and pessimism, all these ideas turn the lives of these characters upside down, and as we watch them try to make sense of it all, we are granted an insight into our own lives.

In the end, luck and fate are just concepts that we use to describe a random world. We choose how to face what life deals us, but life doesn`t care how we face it, the end result will be the same regardless. What 13 Conversations About One Thing shows is that all of our lives are connected, even in the smallest of ways. It`s whether we choose to acknowledge those connections that makes all the difference.

The image quality on this disc is quite good, although the odd speck of print damage is unfortunate in such a recent film. While there is no 5.1 Surround track, the excellent Stereo track is the next best thing, and the only flaw is a lack of subtitles. The film itself is thoroughly worthwhile, and though you may not have a life changing experience, it is most definitely a life affirming film that I don`t hesitate to recommend.