While
I did like MAID IN MANHATTAN ($28) and found it to be a perfect
date movie, the all too familiar storyline is evidence that Hollywood is
completely bereft of original ideas. MAID IN MANHATTAN is little
more than a slightly redressed remake of PRETTY WOMAN, which itself
was nothing more than a reworking of the classic Cinderella story. Instead
of a hooker ala PRETTY WOMAN, the Cinderella character in MAID
IN MANHATTAN is- you guessed it- a chambermaid. Jennifer Lopez stars
as Marisa Ventura, a hardworking chambermaid at a posh New York City
hotel, who has dreams of making it into hotel management.
Prince
Charming comes in the form of Senatorial candidate and playboy Christopher
Marshall (Ralph Fiennes), who mistakes Marisa for a guest at the hotel and
is immediately smitten. Filling the Fairy Godmother role is none other
than Bob Hoskins, who portrays the hotel’s Chief Butler Lionel Bloch. Of
course, Hoskins is utterly terrific in the small role, making this
reviewer wish he had more scenes in the film. In the thankless wicked
step-mother/step-sister role is none other than Natasha Richardson as
self-absorbed hotel guest Caroline Lane. About the only bit of originality
in the story is making Marisa a single mother, with a precocious son named
Ty (Tyler Garcia Posey), who definitely has an influence on his mother’s
upscale romance. The cast of MAID IN MANHATTAN also features
Stanley Tucci, Frances Conroy, Chris Eigeman, Amy Sedaris, Marissa Matrone
and Priscilla Lopez.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made MAID IN MANHATTAN available on
DVD in a 2.40:1 wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for 16:9
displays. A full screen version is offered on a separate layer of the DVD,
but this review will concern itself solely with the correctly framed
presentation. Like any brand new "A" production from a major
studio, MAID IN MANHATTAN looks truly terrific on DVD. The image is
very crisp and serves up plenty of fine detail. Colors are wonderfully
vibrant and are reproduced without a sign of noise or smearing. Flesh
tones are wholly natural and completely appealing. Blacks are deep, whites
are very clean and contrast is perfect. While there aren’t any truly
dark scenes, shadow detail is good and the picture produces a very nice
sense of depth. Digital compression artifacts remain out of sight
throughout the presentation.
MAID
IN MANHATTAN comes with a very nice sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 channel
soundtrack. Since this is a dialogue driven comedy, the mix isn’t
particularly elaborate. The forward soundstage tends to dominate, with the
surround channels primarily providing ambient and musical fill. Fidelity
is very good and the sound designers have managed to come up with a very
warm and pleasing sound. Dialogue is always completely understandable and
the actors’ voices resonate with a nice natural timbre. The bass channel
has little to do, other than supporting the music and keeping the track
from sounding anemic. A French language track is also encoded onto the
DVD, as are English and French subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as several theatrical trailers. Of course,
one gets a theatrical trailer for MAID IN MANHATTAN, in addition to
that other J.Lo starrer THE WEDDING PLANNER. What I really liked is
having theatrical trailers for upcoming movies on this DVD- something that
should become a regular part of all DVD releases. Trailers for upcoming
films include CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE, ANGER MANAGEMENT
and DADDY DAYCARE.
While
far from original, MAID IN MANHATTAN is the perfect date movie.
Columbia TriStar has produced another terrific looking DVD, so those
looking for a bit of romance will want to give this disc a spin, as well
as those that just enjoy light and frothy comedies.
While
I did like MAID IN MANHATTAN ($28) and found it to be a perfect
date movie, the all too familiar storyline is evidence that Hollywood is
completely bereft of original ideas. MAID IN MANHATTAN is little
more than a slightly redressed remake of PRETTY WOMAN, which itself
was nothing more than a reworking of the classic Cinderella story. Instead
of a hooker ala PRETTY WOMAN, the Cinderella character in MAID
IN MANHATTAN is- you guessed it- a chambermaid. Jennifer Lopez stars
as Marisa Ventura, a hardworking chambermaid at a posh New York City
hotel, who has dreams of making it into hotel management.
Prince
Charming comes in the form of Senatorial candidate and playboy Christopher
Marshall (Ralph Fiennes), who mistakes Marisa for a guest at the hotel and
is immediately smitten. Filling the Fairy Godmother role is none other
than Bob Hoskins, who portrays the hotel’s Chief Butler Lionel Bloch. Of
course, Hoskins is utterly terrific in the small role, making this
reviewer wish he had more scenes in the film. In the thankless wicked
step-mother/step-sister role is none other than Natasha Richardson as
self-absorbed hotel guest Caroline Lane. About the only bit of originality
in the story is making Marisa a single mother, with a precocious son named
Ty (Tyler Garcia Posey), who definitely has an influence on his mother’s
upscale romance. The cast of MAID IN MANHATTAN also features
Stanley Tucci, Frances Conroy, Chris Eigeman, Amy Sedaris, Marissa Matrone
and Priscilla Lopez.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made MAID IN MANHATTAN available on
DVD in a 2.40:1 wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for 16:9
displays. A full screen version is offered on a separate layer of the DVD,
but this review will concern itself solely with the correctly framed
presentation. Like any brand new "A" production from a major
studio, MAID IN MANHATTAN looks truly terrific on DVD. The image is
very crisp and serves up plenty of fine detail. Colors are wonderfully
vibrant and are reproduced without a sign of noise or smearing. Flesh
tones are wholly natural and completely appealing. Blacks are deep, whites
are very clean and contrast is perfect. While there aren’t any truly
dark scenes, shadow detail is good and the picture produces a very nice
sense of depth. Digital compression artifacts remain out of sight
throughout the presentation.
MAID
IN MANHATTAN comes with a very nice sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 channel
soundtrack. Since this is a dialogue driven comedy, the mix isn’t
particularly elaborate. The forward soundstage tends to dominate, with the
surround channels primarily providing ambient and musical fill. Fidelity
is very good and the sound designers have managed to come up with a very
warm and pleasing sound. Dialogue is always completely understandable and
the actors’ voices resonate with a nice natural timbre. The bass channel
has little to do, other than supporting the music and keeping the track
from sounding anemic. A French language track is also encoded onto the
DVD, as are English and French subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as several theatrical trailers. Of course,
one gets a theatrical trailer for MAID IN MANHATTAN, in addition to
that other J.Lo starrer THE WEDDING PLANNER. What I really liked is
having theatrical trailers for upcoming movies on this DVD- something that
should become a regular part of all DVD releases. Trailers for upcoming
films include CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE, ANGER MANAGEMENT
and DADDY DAYCARE.
While
far from original, MAID IN MANHATTAN is the perfect date movie.
Columbia TriStar has produced another terrific looking DVD, so those
looking for a bit of romance will want to give this disc a spin, as well
as those that just enjoy light and frothy comedies.
