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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.
Whipped (1999)

Whipped (1999)

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Released 19-Dec-2001

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Dolby Digital Trailer-Egypt
Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 1999
Running Time 78:55
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Peter M. Cohen
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Amanda Peet
Brian Van Holt
Jonathan Abrahams
Zorie Barber
Judah Domke
Case Soft Brackley-Transp
RPI $34.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
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 Yes

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

Plot Synopsis

    The storyline behind Whipped is based around the familiar theme of multiple guys chasing after the same woman, with a number of minor twists. Written, directed and produced by first time filmmaker Peter Cohen, the film stars three relatively unknown actors (all reputedly friends of the director) plus Amanda Peet ("The Whole Nine Yards") who gets top billing.

    If you are the sort of person who enjoyed There's Something About Mary but thought the humour was too clean and sophisticated, then I suspect you will probably enjoy this movie. Peter Cohen fishes deep into the toilet bowl to deliver the jokes in the storyline. The blurb at the back of the DVD case says "American Pie meets Sex in the City" - need I say more?

    Three best-friends-since-college meet regularly at a cheap diner every Sunday for lunch. Brad (Brian van Holt) is a handsome up-and-coming Wall Street Young Turk, Zeke (Zorie Barber) is a New York East Village aspiring beatnik writer and poet, and Jonathan (Jonatham Abrahams) is ... well ... the shy, sensitive one who at 26 has had only 9 lovers (which, according to him, makes him "... practically a virgin.").

    Despite their differences, all three of them are united in one thing: they all believe that they are God's gift to women and that it is their natural right to "scam" (pick up women for one night stands and then dump them.) They spend every Sunday at the diner grossing each other out with stories of their latest conquests. Or, at least, Brad and Zeke's conquests. Jonathan relieves himself in the bathroom by having intimate relationships with various shampoos whilst clutching an issue of "Jugs." They are frequently joined by Eric (Judah Domke), who was ostracized once he got married but is desperate to be accepted back as "one of the guys." Incidentally, Eric blinks and squints so often in this film that I feel like telling him to take off his contact lenses.

    One particular week, they all (with the exception of Eric) meet with and fall in love with the same woman: Mia (Amanda Peet), and their lives will never be the same again. The film title refers to the expression "pussy whipped", which is a condition a man gets when he is so smitten by a woman that she's got him completely wrapped around her little finger. This gives you a very big clue as to what is going to happen to our three friends.

    Incidentally, the blurb at the back of the DVD case kind of hints at what the ending will be, so if you don't like spoilers I suggest not paying too much attention to the blurb.

    For a film with a similar storyline that does it so much better, I suggest watching The Very Thought Of You.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    This is a pleasant transfer presented in the intended aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with 16x9 enhancement.

    Apart from some minor problems (such as sporadic grain at 34:56 onwards and occasional lapses of focus), there is nothing wrong with the transfer. Sharpness and detail levels are good (though not perfect) and colour saturation is fairly good. The New York City street scenes in particular are quite vibrant, and the interior scenes are well captured even in poor lighting conditions (such as bars and disco clubs).

    The Widescreen Review notes on the Region 1 release of this DVD complains about over-use of edge enhancement but I did not perceive any real evidence of this in the Region 4 release.

    There is only one subtitle track on this single sided single layered disc: English for the Hearing Impaired. It follows the accepted best practice of locating the subtitles just underneath the speaking character, and transcribes song lyrics as well as non-verbal auditory cues.

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 5.1 (448Kb/s).

    This is a pleasant enough audio track, though it seems to lack real body or presence. I was expecting a dialogue-focused movie, and I got it, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear the rear surround channels being utilised during the opening titles and traffic noises being directed towards the rear speakers in the scene where Brad is trying to hail a cab. In addition, the background music seems to be consistently mixed for all speakers. So overall I would rate the use of surround channels to be good.

    Although it was clear that the subwoofer track was not completely silent (otherwise the subwoofer would have switched itself off halfway into the movie) this is not really a film full of low frequencies and I didn't hear any more than faint murmurs throughout the film.

    Although there are no issues with the audio track, I did have some difficulty following some of the dialogue, mainly because of the speed with which some of the lines are uttered.

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

Extras

    This is a bare-bones disc that is missing the Director's Commentary audio track present on the Region 1 release.

Menu

    The menus are 16x9 enhanced. When you insert the disc, you get the really annoying Village Roadshow promo trailer that they have been inserting into all new DVDs recently, but fortunately you can skip this by pressing the chapter skip button.

Dolby Digital Trailer-Egypt

    Standard Dolby Digital trailer played just before the movie starts.

Theatrical Trailer (1.57)

    This is presented in pan & scan but with a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. It's not a very good looking video transfer.

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 misses out on;

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

    Apparently the director's commentary track is worth listening to, so the Region 1 version easily wins.

Summary

    Whipped is basically whipped as far as I'm concerned. The video and audio transfers are pleasant enough, but there are no extras to speak of.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Christine Tham (read my biography)
Sunday, November 25, 2001
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-626D, using Component output
DisplaySony VPL-VW10HT LCD Projector, ScreenTechnics 16x9 matte white screen (203cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationDenon AVR-3300
SpeakersFront and rears: B&W CDM7NT; centre: B&W CDMCNT; subwoofer: B&W ASW2500

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