Plot: What’s it about?
Teen angst is something that has been around for as long as anyone can remember, Rebel Without a Cause was the most widely-accepted movie that dealt with this issue. Now, some 45 years later, we are still confronted with the same issues and how to deal with them. This is the case with Sam (Hayden Christensen) whose parents have divorced some ten years ago. His father, George (Kevin Kline) and Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas) lived in a shack with a beautiful view, she divorced him and remarried a successful businessman and George still lives in the shack with a beautiful view. Robin has gone on to have two other kids with her new husband, but he’s not the same person as George. This could be good or could be bad. George makes his living as an architect, where he loves to build physical models of all of his creations. He has been reluctant to get into the computer generation and hence is fired from his job of 20 years.
After going on a rampage in his office, destroying all of the models that he has worked so hard to build, he faints outside the office and is rushed to the hospital. He divulges to the nurse (in a very unnecessary scene) that he only has a few months to live. Later on, we find out that he is fighting a losing battle with Cancer. George’s only dreams include getting his angst-ridden son, Sam, to love him and to tear down the shack he’s been living in (and that has been an eyesore to the neighbors for quite some time) and build a new "Dream House" on the very same property. So the story could be: Man builds house. Natually, there’s more here than meets the eye. Sam reluctantly moves in with his dad over the Summer and in addition to stealing his medication, Sam is doing some more precarious things on the side to earn some money.
Essentially, the movie is about the relationship between George and Sam. George is also still in love with his ex-wife (Robin), but has accepted the fact that she is most likely happier with her new husband. There’s a sub-plot about the neighbor (Mary Steenburgen) whom George has dated and whose daughter is dating Sam’s best friend (but longs to be with Sam). Packed with enough emotions to fill a warehouse, Life as a House is not an easy movie to watch. It deals with some pretty strong subjects including drug use, divorce, death, prostitution and others. Profane language abounds as well, and though I’m (we’re) all so desensitized to it, I felt it kind of out of place here. Though a good movie and great performances (the cast includes three Oscar Winners), the movie would like to play itself off as a "family movie", but I beg to differ. Still, it’s good filmmaking and if you’re sort of ready as to what to expect, then you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
Video: How does it look?
Presented in the somewhat odd aspect ratio of about 2.00:1, Life as a House has an anamorphic transfer that doesn’t live up to the standards that New Line has been known for. Maybe it’s just my television set, but movies with this aspect ratio (Lawrence of Arabia, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Top Gun and The Hunt for Red October are some I can think of) just do not look right on my TV. I have a 16:9 set and the bars always seem to be out of alignment (i.e. the top bar will be much thinner than the bar at the bottom). I’m not sure if it’s that way on a regular 4:3 set, but just be warned that this is the way these films appear on my particular set. Still, the image is fairly clean throughout, I noticed no artifacting and edge enhancement didn’t appear to be a problem. What did bother me, though, is that the film seemed to be very soft in spots, giving the characters an almost "fuzzy" appearance. This problem was few and far between, but noticeable nonetheless. I also noticed a spot in which the film seemed a bit overexposed and therefore appeared very dark. This was a test disc, so it’s possible that these problems have been fixed by the time the final version comes out, but I would doubt it. Overall, the image is very nice and you’ll be treated to some very nice visuals of the ocean and the general scenery of Southern California.
Audio: How does it sound?
Loud. Very loud. Almost too loud. The soundtrack has two 5.1 options in the form of a Dolby Digital track and a DTS track as well. I watched the movie in DTS mode and then switched to the Dolby Digital mode for a few key scenes. The menus were even loud. For a movie of this type, you wouldn’t think that the audio would be a factor, but it’s very dynamic and adds to some of the key scenes in it. The surrounds are almost constantly in use and the dialogue was free of any distortion (though Hayden Christensen tends to slur some of his words and is therefore kind of hard to understand). I don’t know, but the general ambiance of the movie just felt like it needed to be tweaked down a few notches. While it’s not loud to the point of annoying, it just didn’t fit with the theme of the movie. Still, it did sound nice and it’s a treat to have your speakers and receiver actually pump out some decent sound (after all the money we paid for them)!
Supplements: What are the extras?
While not featuring as many supplements as the typical offering from New Line, this does have some interesting supplements that will keep you occupied for a while. First up is the commentary by Winkler, Cowan, and Andrus who all have a lot of insight to offer here and seem pleased with the movie as a whole and the cast that he ended up with. Next up are some deleted scenes, presented in anamorphic widescreen no less, that are available with or without commentary from the director. I can see why these scenes were cut and the director also explains about the flow of the movie and how they ruined a few jokes in the final version. Still, it’s good to see this feature and the presentation of 16:9 deleted scenes is something that I really like. The first of the featurettes is Character Building: Inside Life As A House. Clocking in at 24:00, this is your basic “Making of” featurette like so many others we find on DVD’s. Not to say that it’s bad, just not original. I found the From the Ground Up featurette a bit more interesting. This ten minute featurette focuses on how the crew built the street that the house was on. Believe it or not, all of the houses were built for the movie. Winkler seems as impressed as anyone else. Movie magic…it’s unreal! Some production notes and cast bios are also included as is a theatrical trailer in anamorphic widescreen. Some DVD-ROM material is also included, with links to the original website and a script to screen viewer. A nice assortment of extras for a fairly decent movie.
