3 Is a Crowd (Je Reste!) (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	98:36 (Case: 102)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (85:58)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Diane Kurys
Studio Distributor	Level Four Films Madman Entertainment	Starring	Sophie Marceau Vincent Perez Charles Berling
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	French Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English (Burned In)	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    I have recently reviewed a number of French films and enjoyed all of them so I decided to take a look at this recent local DVD release of a 2003 comedy from France. In France this film was known as Je Reste! which is directly translated as I'm Staying!, however, locally it is being released on DVD as 3 is a Crowd. Unfortunately, despite having a fairly interesting concept this film was a disappointment to me.

    The story revolves around a doormat housewife, Marie-Dominique (Sophie Marceau) who does not work because her pig of a husband, Bertrand (Vincent Perez) does not want her to. He cheats on her, treats her with derision and carries on like she is only alive to look after him and their young son. Unbelievably (especially for someone as beautiful as Sophie Marceau) she puts up with all this crap and spends her time rearranging the furniture in their flat and going to art house movies. Then she meets a new man at the cinema, Antoine (Charles Berling) and he pursues her after defending her virtue. She finally decides to throw Bertrand out on his ear, however he refuses to go and ends up staying with her parents (who must be mad or stupid). As the movie continues it becomes more unbelievable before a very strange ending.

    This is billed as a comedy and considering the title and the basic plot I was expecting a farce. Unfortunately, except for a few scenes this film is rather unfunny and the main characters are very hard to like (all three of them). None of the quality cast seem overly interested.

    I can't really recommend this film, there are many better French comedies than this one. The only possible explanation is that this film just didn't translate well to a non-French audience.

Video

    The video quality is pretty good but spoiled by a lack of 16x9 enhancement.

    The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio not 16x9 enhanced which I would assume is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was fairly sharp and clear although hampered by the lack of enhancement. Shadow detail was pretty good. There was some macro-blocking in backgrounds.

    The colour was very good with no issues to report.

    There were no other obvious artefacts.

    There are burned-in subtitles in English which are clear and easy to read although included a couple of errors.

    There is a layer change at 85:58 which causes a minor pause.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is good but unspectacular.

    This DVD contains a French Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s. The disc has this track labelled as English but it is definitely French.

    Dialogue seemed clear and easy to understand based on my limited knowledge of French.

    The music is a weird mixture of jaunty orchestral, Jacques Brel and bizarre pop song choices. It sounds pretty good, warm and full.

    The surround speakers were used for some minor atmosphere and music.

    The subwoofer was not used in any obvious way.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    Nothing.

Menu

    The menu design is very simple only allowing for playing the film, scene selections and playing the included trailers for other films.

Madman Propaganda

    Trailers for four other films. Annoyingly some of them are 16x9 enhanced.

    There is a French Region 2 release of this title, however it does not have subtitles available. If you understand French it may be the best choice as it also includes deleted scenes, the trailer and a making of featurette plus a 5.1 soundtrack. Assuming an English speaking audience though, I will have to go for the local release.

    The video quality is good but let down by a lack of 16x9 enhancement.

    The audio quality is good.

    No extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall