Only You


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Details At A Glance

General
Extras
Category Romantic Comedy Theatrical Trailer(s) Yes, 1 - 1.33:1, non-16x9, Dolby Digital 2.0
Rating Other Trailer(s) Yes, 1 - Dolby Digital City
Year Released 1994 Commentary Tracks None
Running Time 104:03 minutes  Other Extras Featurette - Behind The Scenes
Filmographies-Cast & Crew
RSDL/Flipper No/No
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region 2,4 Director Norman Jewison
Studio
Distributor

Columbia TriStar Home Video
Starring Marisa Tomei
Robert Downey Jr
Bonnie Hunt
Joaquim De Almeida
Fisher Stevens
Case Transparent Amaray
RRP $34.95 Music Rachel Portman

 
 
Video
Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame No MPEG None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Dolby Digital 5.0
16x9 Enhancement Yes Soundtrack Languages English (Dolby Digital 5.0, 384 Kb/s) 
French (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192 Kb/s)
German (Dolby Digital 5.0, 384 Kb/s)
Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192 Kb/s)
Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.0, 384 Kb/s)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
Miscellaneous
Macrovision Yes Smoking Yes
Subtitles English
French
German
Italian
Spanish
Dutch
Arabic
Czech
Danish
Finnish
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Icelandic
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Swedish
Turkish
Annoying Product Placement Yes, mildly
Action In or After Credits No

Plot Synopsis

    I suppose the first question to ask is why all my favourite films are getting released in Region 4 after I have bought them on Region 1 discs? Quite sure that it is something to do with Mr Murphy! Whatever the reason, I am glad to see that the Region 4 discography is being expended with wonderful films such as these. And yes, Only You is one of the best romantic comedies around in my opinion.

    Faith Corvatch (Marisa Tomei) believes very much in destiny and soul mates and as a child obtained the name of her soul mate from a ouija board. Fourteen years later and she is about to marry a podiatrist when she answers a telephone call from a gentleman by the name of Damon Bradley - the name of her soul mate. She is determined to meet him before her wedding, but the only problem is he is at the airport on his way to Venice. Not to be deterred, Faith and her sister-in-law Kate Corvatch (Bonnie Hunt) set off in pursuit of Mr Bradley. They arrive in Venice too late, so pursue him further to Rome, where Faith bumps into a man. The man is smitten by Faith and this is a match made in heaven except for one teeny, weeny little problem - his name is not Damon Bradley but rather Peter Wright (Robert Downey Jr). Whilst in Rome too, Kate starts a bit of a fling with a seducer by the name of Giovanni (Joaquim De Almeida) who actually helps the slightly enlarged party find a Damon Bradley in Positano. But things turn out not to be as they seem, although everything eventually is sorted out to the satisfaction of all.

    If you are going to make a romantic comedy, there can be no better place to set it than Italy, and no better places in Italy than Venice, Rome and Positano. The setting of the film certainly helps no end with some wonderfully beautiful scenery as the backdrop to the story. Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr make a quite wonderful couple and there seems to be genuine chemistry between the two. Bonnie Hunt is well cast in the supporting role of sister-in-law with doubts about the fidelity of her husband. Well crafted in both story and finished film, this is another fine effort from Norman Jewison, better known probably for Moonstruck.

Transfer Quality

Video

    Once again we have another good transfer from Columbia TriStar, which is getting to be a little monotonous in the nicest possible way!

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.

    This is generally clear and sharp transfer throughout, although there are a few minor lapses to the inevitable soft focus used in romantic comedies. Shadow detail is generally very good. There were some hints of a little graininess to the transfer at times, but nothing too bothersome.

    The colours are mostly vibrant, with a nice richer tone to them. The colours during the scenery in Italy is at times very vibrant. The overall colourscape is very natural. There is no oversaturation of colour, even during the very bright sunsets filmed. The colours are a little sharper and more vibrant than in the Region 1 issue, judging by my direct comparison.

    There appeared to be some very minor MPEG artefacts in the way of a little loss of focus in some panned shots, but these are not especially distracting. Film-to-video artefacts comprised some extremely minor aliasing, which is not at all noticeable unless you are especially looking for it. Film artefacts were quite present during the transfer but were not at all distracting to the film.

Audio

    This is a very nice audio transfer, in a rather unusual 5.0 soundtrack.

    There are five audio tracks on the DVD: English Dolby Digital 5.0, French Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded, German Dolby Digital 5.0, Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.0. It should be noted that the German and Spanish 5.0 tracks are flagged to the DVD player as 5.1 tracks, but there is definitely no use made of the bass channel in the tracks from my sampling. I listened to the default English soundtrack.

    The dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times.

    There did not appear to be any problems with audio sync with this transfer.

    The music score is provided by Rachel Portman, but this is not an exceptionally noteworthy effort although it does contribute well to the film overall. It is a suitably romantic score making extensive use of strings.

    This is a quite nicely detailed soundtrack with the rear channels well used for the music score. The resultant sound picture is quite natural and you are well encompassed by it. At no time do you really notice the lack of the bass channel.

Extras

    A not especially inspiring collection of extras, but not too bad - and better than Region 1 definitely.

Menu

    Reasonably well themed to the film, lacking any enhancement.

Theatrical Trailer

    The trailer comes with a choice of German, French, Dutch, Spanish and Italian subtitles.

Featurette - Behind The Scenes

    A not especially illuminating effort, presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, not 16x9 enhanced and with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. It too comes with a choice of German, French, Dutch, Spanish and Italian subtitles.

Filmographies - Cast and Crew

R4 vs R1

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on:     The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on:     Unless the need for a Pan and Scan version of the film is absolutely necessary, there is little to prefer one version over another other than the slightly better transfer of the Region 4 release.

Summary

    Another of my favourite films and one that I would recommend to all incurable romantics!

    A good video transfer.

    A good audio transfer.

    A reasonable extras package.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ian Morris
14th November 1999

Review Equipment
   
DVD Pioneer DV-515; S-video output
Display Sony Trinitron Wega 84cm. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Audio Decoder Built in
Amplification Yamaha RXV-795. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Speakers Energy Speakers: centre EXLC; left and right EXLR; and subwoofer ES-12XL