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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Pan&Scan
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • French: Dolby Digital Stereo
  • Spanish: Dolby Digital Stereo
  Subtitles
    English, French, Spanish
  Extras
  • Theatrical trailer - Full Frame, Dolby Digital 2.0 surround
  • Production notes - 3 pages of text
  • Outtakes - 2:30 of bloopers

My Fellow Americans

Warner Bros./Warner Home Video . R4 . COLOR . 101 mins . M15+ . NTSC

  Feature
Contract

Jack Lemmon is a legend of the cinema. James Garner has done tremendous work throughout his career. Dan Aykroyd is... somewhat of a drawcard. If a production team has this cast, surely the film that they bring into being must be of a high standard, right? Well, yes and no. Unfortunately, even though these three great actors try their hardest to make the movie a success, there was not much they could do with a script this DOA.

The plot is simple. Two former Presidents, Russel P. Kramer (Lemmon) and Matt Douglas (Garner), one a Republican and one a Democrat, are bitter rivals, spewing insults at each other throughout the film. Meanwhile, the current President (Aykroyd) is mixed up in a scandal which threatens his position. A plan is devised to frame President Kramer, and before long the two former Presidents are on the run from the Secret Service. Of course, hilarity ensues, or at least attempts to ensue, as they flee by any means possible.

Lemmon and Garner do seem to complement each other quite well, and I must say it is refreshing to watch a modern comedy that does not rely heavily on slapstick humour. I did chuckle at a few of the gags, and I just love watching old men shout at each other, but I found myself sometimes wishing it would hurry up and get to the end.

  Video
Contract

Very important first point: this version is an NTSC region 4 disc, so if your system is incapable of playing NTSC, forget this one.

Whilst the original aspect ratio of the film was 1.85:1, the ratio on this disc has been changed to 1.33:1. This is a pan & scan format. Obviously it is not 16x9 enhanced.

There are no glaring errors in the transfer, but it does suffer from a variety of extremely minor defects. The sharpness suffers a little at times, but not regularly. There is a small number of film artefacts, although they are hardly noticeable. Minor background shimmer and a little bit of aliasing are also apparent at certain times throughout.

Clarity is not a problem, nor is shadow detail. The colour of the transfer is very good. There's no sign of any MPEG artefacts either.

There is no layer change due to the disc being single layered and single sided.

There are three subtitle tracks included, these being English, French and Spanish.

Overall the transfer is quite well done and very clean.

  Audio
Contract

The disc contains three soundtracks: English presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, French in 2.0 and Spanish in 1.0.

There are no obvious audio synch problems and the dialogue is crisp and easy to understand. The surround use is limited, though used well in the instances where it is employed. The subwoofer generally only comes into action during the musical score. Speaking of the score, it was created by William Ross, whose past orchestral credits include Lethal Weapon, Grumpier Old Men and Forrest Gump. It is quite simple, with a distinct taste of American patriotism. It does serve its purpose well, however.

Overall, this is not a soundtrack to show off the potential of your system, but for a movie like this that is to be expected.

  Extras
Contract

Five extras are included in the package, albeit quite minimal ones.

Outtakes: A short montage of bloopers which are quite amusing.

Production Notes: Just three pages of text from members of the crew.

Cast and Crew Bios: A series of short bios on the main actors and crew.

Theatrical Trailer: In full frame, with Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround sound.

Recommendations: Cover shots of four other movies.

  Overall  
Contract

Whilst this film has enough laughs to entertain, it will most probably be forgotten by most a few days after it has been viewed. If you are a fan of Grumpy Old Men then there is a good chance you will enjoy it, although My Fellow Americans does not quite live up to that standard. It's good for renting on a night when you don’t feel like having to think, and only worth purchasing if you are a true fan.


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      And I quote...
    "Grumpy old Presidents acting like grumpy old men being grumpy. Grumpy."
    - Robert Mack
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Sony DVP-NS300
    • TV:
          Sony 68cm
    • Receiver:
          Sony STR-DE475
    • Speakers:
          Sony
    • Centre Speaker:
          Sony
    • Surrounds:
          Sony
    • Subwoofer:
          Sony Active Superwoofer
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          standard s-video
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