Reviewed from DVD.
No interactive menu. Navigation problems: each time you start the movie, you must fast-forward through all six commercials, one at a time. No chapters; if you want to reach the spot where you left off, you must fast-forward to it. There are subtitles, but the English ones are thoroughly hidden: surprisingly, you must hover over "Español" to see "English". And this is a Rob Reiner film? This can turn out to be important (see below).
Very lovely video quality. This is simply a very beautiful movie. The protagonist in particular -- also the narrator of the story -- played by Callan McAuliffe, does a fine job, especially for a fourteen-year-old. Unfortunately, this is not the case for his wannabe girlfriend, played by Madeline Carroll, a very unfortunate choice.
Since the plot is for the most part pretty drab, it is up to the director and the actors to make up for it, but Ms. Carroll's performance in a prominent role is truly annoying, making the film almost unwatchable, which only adds to the problem. After half an hour, I actually turned on the subtitles and muted the sound, so that I could avoid listening to her voice. It must be said, however, that the teenage girl she played is more than a little aggressive, which only aggravated the problem with her speaking voice.
I repeat, this is a visually very beautiful movie; I would even say stunning. If you feel you can somehow tolerate the annoyance of Ms. Carroll's interpretation of the protagonist's girlfriend and the unimaginative storyline, give it a try.
No interactive menu. Navigation problems: each time you start the movie, you must fast-forward through all six commercials, one at a time. No chapters; if you want to reach the spot where you left off, you must fast-forward to it. There are subtitles, but the English ones are thoroughly hidden: surprisingly, you must hover over "Español" to see "English". And this is a Rob Reiner film? This can turn out to be important (see below).
Very lovely video quality. This is simply a very beautiful movie. The protagonist in particular -- also the narrator of the story -- played by Callan McAuliffe, does a fine job, especially for a fourteen-year-old. Unfortunately, this is not the case for his wannabe girlfriend, played by Madeline Carroll, a very unfortunate choice.
Since the plot is for the most part pretty drab, it is up to the director and the actors to make up for it, but Ms. Carroll's performance in a prominent role is truly annoying, making the film almost unwatchable, which only adds to the problem. After half an hour, I actually turned on the subtitles and muted the sound, so that I could avoid listening to her voice. It must be said, however, that the teenage girl she played is more than a little aggressive, which only aggravated the problem with her speaking voice.
I repeat, this is a visually very beautiful movie; I would even say stunning. If you feel you can somehow tolerate the annoyance of Ms. Carroll's interpretation of the protagonist's girlfriend and the unimaginative storyline, give it a try.