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.
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.
All Over the Guy (2001)

All Over the Guy (2001)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 23-Dec-2002

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Main Menu Audio
Featurette-Interviews (5)
Theatrical Trailer
Alternate Ending
Deleted Scenes
Biographies-Cast & Crew
Storyboards-3
Trailer-The Closet; Molokai; Monsoon Wedding; Kandahar;No Man's Land
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2001
Running Time 91:31 (Case: 95)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (65:48) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Julie Davis
Studio
Distributor

Madman Entertainment
Starring Dan Bucatinsky
Richard Ruccolo
Sasha Alexander
Adam Goldberg
Andrea Martin
Joanna Kerns
Christina Ricci
Lisa Kudrow
Doris Roberts
Case Click
RPI ? Music Peter Stuart
Andrew Williams


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/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 None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

    Forget the tag line for this film: "3 guys + 1 girl = 2 couples. You do the math."

    It could give you the impression that All Over The Guy is about three guys fighting over a girl, or even some sort of swapping thing.

    Well, the film is mainly a gay romantic comedy about the somewhat turbulent relationship between two young men who may actually love each other (if they don't drive each other away first). The second couple is their respective best friends (who are straight). The focus of the film is very much on the first relationship, and despite a promising start, the straight relationship pretty much plays second fiddle in the plot.

    Jackie (Sasha Alexander) is shopping for furniture when she meets salesman and furniture designer Brett (Adam Goldberg, who kind of looks and acts like a bearded David Schwimmer). They decide to set up their best friends (who just happen to be single gay guys) on a blind date as an excuse to find out more about each other.

    The blind date does not go well. Eli (Dan Bucatinsky) is kind of like a gay Woody Allen: he is shy, neurotic, nerdy and likes X Files and Gone With The Wind. Tom (Richard Ruccolo) is handsome but somewhat vapid, insensitive, and commitment-phobic. Tom has never watched Gone With The Wind and thinks it's a black and white film.

    Despite the disastrous first date, the two meet by chance again and falter into a relationship. Will they be able to reconcile their differences in personality and value systems?

    A lot of the film is told as flashback from the perspective of either Eli or Tom. Eli recounts his problems to a receptionist at an AIDS testing clinic called Esther (Doris Roberts, from Everyone Loves Raymond). Tom mainly talks to a stranger he meets at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

    Things kind of come to a head when Jackie and Brett decide to get married and Eli and Tom are roped in as best man and maid-of-honour (well, man-of-honour). Will Eli and Tom get together again, or will there be a big scene at the wedding?

    I found this film quite enjoyable to watch. It shows an increasing maturity and "relaxedness" in gay films. This is primarily a film about overcoming your differences in a relationship - the fact that these characters are gay are completely irrelevant to the story. The film also makes several references to "In And Out" which starred Kevin Kline. Writer Dan Bucatinsky (who also acted as Eli) must have really hated that film, because the characters are not shy about disparaging the film!

    Cameo appearances include Lisa Kudrow essentially reprising her character from Friends, and Christina Ricci as Eli's sister.

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

Transfer Quality

Video

    The transfer is presented in widescreen 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, and appears to be sourced from a 35mm print with a 1.85:1 intended aspect ratio.

    The transfer seems somewhat on the soft side, with colours that are a bit on the under-saturated side. This is a bit unfortunate, because otherwise the transfer is well done with no visible compression artefacts. This is mainly because it is a relatively short film (91:31) spread out over two layers of a single sided disc.

    The layer change occurs at 65:48 and is very well executed because it occurs during a fade to black and the only reason I noticed it was a very slight period of silence in the audio track.

     Despite the back cover claiming the presence of an English subtitle track, this disc does not contain any subtitle tracks.

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

Audio

    There is only one audio track on this disc: English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 Kb/s).

    The audio track was pleasant to listen to, but did not sound in any way exceptional.

    Dialogue quality was nice and clear, and there were no issues with audio synchronization.

    I was surprised by the absence of a Dolby Digital 5.1 track, or even a surround-encoded track, given that this is a recent release. However, IMDb confirms that this is a stereo track - perhaps being a low budget film they couldn't afford mixing a surround soundtrack. So why does the R1 version get a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track?

    In any case, forcing Dolby Pro Logic decoding on reveals almost no sounds directed towards the rear channels.

    The original music score by Peter Stuart and Andrew Williams was not memorable.

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

Extras

    Given that this is a rental only release, there is a fair amount of extras, but we are still short changed compared to Region 1.

Menu

    The main menu is 16x9 enhanced and includes background audio.

Featurette - Interviews (5)

    This is a set of video interviews, all in full frame and Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 Kb/s):

Theatrical Trailer (2:10)

    This is presented in what appears to be full frame (open matte) with Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 Kb/s). The transfer appears somewhat soft and grainy.

Alternate Ending (3:25)

    This is presented in 1.85:1 letterboxed (with frame timing information in the black bars) and Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 Kb/s). The accompanying audio track includes a commentary by director Julie Davis and writer Dan Bucatinsky. The transfer appears to be full of video and compression artefacts.

Deleted Scenes (1:42)

    This contains about three deleted scenes (meant to be played in sequence) featuring Tom and his "friend" from Alcoholics Anonymous and Eli and Esther. The transfer is somewhat full of video and compression artefacts, and is presented in 1.85:1 letterboxed (with frame timing information in the black bars) and Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 Kb/s).

Biographies - Cast & Crew

    This is a sequence of stills providing biographical information and mug shots of the following:

    I'm surprised no profile is provided for Doris Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond). For Julie Davis, I was disappointed that only a one page filmography is provided.

Storyboards - 3

    This is a set of three videos providing a sequence of storyboard images for three scenes in the film:

    Although the video is in full frame, the framing of the storyboard confirms that the intended aspect ratio of the film is 1.85:1. There is no accompanying audio track on the first two videos.

    The third (The Reception) juxtaposes the storyboard with the actual scene in the finished film, and is accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 Kb/s) audio track.

Trailers - The Closet (1:17); Molokai (1:28); Monsoon Wedding (2:13); Kandahar (1:24); No Man's Land (2:05)

    This is a set of stills and trailers for other Madman authored titles:

R4 vs R1

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

    The Region 4 version of this disc is currently a rental only release and misses out on;

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

    Region 1 wins by default anyway as it is a sell-through release, but also has an audio commentary track and a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track.

Summary

    All Over The Guy is a watchable gay romantic comedy featuring two guys with different backgrounds and personalities trying their best to alternately desire and hate each other. There is also a subplot about a straight relationship as well, but very much in the background. The video transfer is a bit soft, and the audio transfer does not have surround encoding and is unexceptional. Extras are not bad, particularly for a rental release, but we miss out on a few extra features (including an audio commentary track) from the R1 version.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Christine Tham (read my biography)
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-626D, using Component output
DisplaySony VPL-VW11HT LCD Projector, ScreenTechnics 16x9 matte white screen (254cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationDenon AVR-3300
SpeakersFront and rears: B&W CDM7NT; centre: B&W CDMCNT; subwoofer: B&W ASW2500

Other Reviews
DVD Net - Adrian T