A Film with Me in It (2008)

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General		Extras
Category	Black Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation Interviews-Cast Featurette-Making Of Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2008
Running Time	83:26
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (60:50)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Ian Fitzgibbon
Studio Distributor	Media 8 Beyond Home Entertainment	Starring	Dylan Moran Mark Doherty Keith Allen Amy Huberman Aisling O'Sullivan David O'Doherty
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	?	Music	Denis Woods

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The story revolves around Mark, a mostly unemployed actor (played by Irish comedian and the screenwriter of this film, Mark Doherty) who lives in a rundown flat under a house with his girlfriend (Amy Huberman), quadriplegic brother (David O'Doherty, Mark Doherty's real life brother) and a large dog. He is three months behind on the rent to landlord, Jack (Keith Allen from Robin Hood), his relationship with his girlfriend is falling apart, he is struggling to get any work and his car has just been towed away. His best friend is writer/director/waiter Pierce (Dylan Moran) who also lives in the same building. He is writing the screenplay for a movie which he believes will be 'epic' and everyone else believes will never get off the ground. If it all sounds pretty bad for Mark already then things only get worse as the movie progresses and the accidental deaths mount up. Mark, with the help of Pierce, tries to cope with the events happening around him, which only makes them worse as he tends not to deal with anything. Pierce takes a more pragmatic approach to the problems they encounter, however, he does not always act sensibly. To say any more about the plot would spoil the surprises in store for the viewer.

    There are a couple of very funny moments in this film, however, it is certainly not a laugh-a-minute riot. As I said above the humour is not played for overtly in many ways as it was in Death at a Funeral. The cast play their loser characters well with the focus mostly on Mark Doherty or Dylan Moran. The film is obviously very low budget and was shot quickly in a small number of locations. Most of the action occurs inside the flat, which is actually Mark Doherty's flat according to an interview in the extras. The colour scheme is dark and the lighting is very naturalistic. It is well paced (after a slightly slow opening) and does not outstay its welcome, being less than 90 minutes.

    This is a mildly amusing black comedy which although fairly entertaining is certainly not the best comedy of its ilk. Worth renting for fans of Irish humour or black comedy.

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which I would guess is the original aspect ratio or close to it. It is 16x9 enhanced widescreen.

    The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout without being as crisp as the best modern transfers. Shadow detail was decent but never great which may be an issue with the source material rather than the transfer itself. There are some minor MPEG artefacts such as at 43:50 and 65:58. There was also some very occasional light grain.

    The colour was quite dull which is a reflection of he dark colour scheme and generally overcast skies.

    There were no other noticeable artefacts.

    There are no subtitles.

    There is a layer change at 60:50 which is not noticeable.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is good.

    This DVDs contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s. Considering the low budget nature of this film, a 5.1 track is really not necessary or expected.

    Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to understand throughout, although the Irish accents caused some lines of dialogue to be a little hard to understand.

    The music by Denis Woods is interesting and jaunty. One of the film's highlights.

    The surround speakers were not used.

    The subwoofer was used for music, which was more a function of my amps bass management as there was no dedicated LFE channel.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    Small collection of worthwhile extras.

Menu

    The menu features and introduction, motion and music. Scene selection is available.

Dylan Moran Q&A (17:18) 

    Filmed at Cinema Nova in Melbourne, this is Dylan Moran with an interviewer answering audience questions about the film. He is quite funny and sometimes even answers the questions. Topics covered include his level of desire to become a film star, the budget constraints of the film and his involvement in the production. Good extra.

Electronic Press Kit (9:48) 

    What many DVDs would refer to as a Making of or Behind the Scenes featurette, this is at least honest about what it is. Includes interview material with the writer and director and some behind the scenes footage. Worth watching once.

Theatrical Trailer (1:58) 

    Gives away too much but not everything.

    As far as I can tell this is the only global release of this film to date. It is coded for all regions.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good but only stereo.

    Small collection of worthwhile extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall