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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Rennie's Landing (2001)

Rennie's Landing (2001)

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Released 9-Mar-2004

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Dolby Digital Trailer-Rain
Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2001
Running Time 100:16
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Marc Fusco
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Charlotte Ayanna
Ethan Embry
Peter Facinelli
Scott Foley
Jennifer Garner
Jeff Anderson
Debra Christofferson
Gabriel Olds
Charles Walker
Gary Werntz
Kiele Sanchez
Victor McCay
Annalouise Paul
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $39.95 Music Marc Fusco
Joey Newman


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Four college friends have finally finished uni and are heading off into the big bad world. Alec (Peter Facinelli), Trevor (Ethan Embry), Casey (Scott Foley) and Samantha (Charlotte Ayanna), are all extremely close, but are having to accept they will be going their own separate ways. All four soon realise that getting their dream job straight out of college is proving difficult. Casey ends up teaching girls soccer somewhere on the east coast. Charlotte is waiting tables in a cheap restaurant in Utah. Trevor and Alec are sharing a house in California, with both attracted to the film industry. Trevor is struggling to find acting work, while Alec is barely surviving as a production assistant to a ruthless and crass film producer.

    Move forward a year and eventually the four meet up again in California, seemingly by chance, but also for a reason. Casey has come west to search out an old flame (a small part for a pre-Alias Jennifer Garner), while Charlotte is following a life-long yearning to be a social worker. They roll up at Trevor and Alec's place and after a year of struggling since college things again seem right - just like old times. But all is not right. Alec has been behaving strangely lately, frequently prone to blackouts and dizzy spells. When he gets drunk one night and holds up a liquor store with a plastic gun and a cheap Groucho Marx disguise, the rest of the gang are convinced he has some serious mental problems. The plot takes a sudden and really quite ludicrous twist when Alec confronts the group and suggests the only way they can guarantee their future freedom and way of life is to perform the perfect bank heist (seriously!). Despite having no experience with organised or even petty crime, and having no real reason to get involved, the rest of the group agree and set about planning a heist of the local bank. It's at this point that it must be noted that Peter Facinelli is trying as hard as he can to sound and act like Tom Cruise.  The similarity is uncanny and I'd suggest that if he wants to be taken seriously he should try to lose the swagger and the faux-charm effect. Suffice it to say, the charm works and the last third of the film is dedicated to pulling off the bank heist.

    This film was originally titled Stealing Time (and has been released in Region 1 on DVD under that name). I'm not completely sure why the name change, but it appears the original distributor decided not to release the film and it was picked up by another. Directed by Marc Fusco, a first-timer whose only previous credits include a personal assistant role to super-director Steven Spielberg on Saving Private Ryan and Jurassic Park: The Lost World, it bears all the hallmarks of someone who is still learning the craft. It is an uneven story that loses its way in the last act after taking what seemed like an eternity to get there. When my wife commented at the one-hour mark "Is this film going anywhere", you can get some sort of idea about how slow the build up is. Unfortunately, all this detailed exposition and setup failed to deliver a decent climax. In fact I'd label the ending quite ridiculous.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

    This transfer presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.

    The picture exhibits an excellent level of sharpness all-round with no hint of edge enhancement. Shadow detail is more than acceptable. There is minimal scattered grain, but it is not disruptive. There is no low level noise.

    Set mostly in California, this is quite a bright, sunny, and colourful transfer with plenty of bright blues and yellows. Skin tones are excellent and black levels are deep and true.

    No MPEG artefacts were noticed. There are a small number of film artefacts present, but they are not at all disruptive to the viewer.

    There are English subtitles only and they are pretty accurate.

    This is a single-layered disc only so there is no layer change with which to contend.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The sole Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack which graces this disc is a fairly decent effort. It offers a wide soundstage, with some consistent surround channel use.

    Dialogue is excellent and there are no audio sync problems.

    Joey Newton's score is a little obvious at times, but still suits most of the mood of the film, especially the first hour.

    There is reasonably consistent surround activity and subwoofer use throughout. There are some excellent panning effects such as cars driving around that make use of all front and rear speakers.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Dolby Digital Trailer

Theatrical Trailer

    A 1:22 trailer that focuses almost exclusively on the bank heist part of the story (which accounts for only the last thirty minutes).

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    From what I can gather this film has been released in Region 1 under its original name, Stealing Time, and is a bare-bones disc. As a result I would favour the local version.

Summary

    Rennie's Landing suffers from a somewhat tedious build-up coupled with a quite-ludicrous climax. Overall this is a slick looking but really quite a dull film.

    The video and audio are quite excellent.

    The only extra is a trailer.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Darren Walters (It's . . . just the vibe . . . of my bio)
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDLoewe Xemix 5106DO, using RGB output
DisplayLoewe Calida (84cm). Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL).
AmplificationHarmon/Kardon AVR7000.
SpeakersFront - B&W 602S2, Centre - B&W CC6S2, Rear - B&W 601S2, Sub - Energy E:xl S10

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