WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT ($28) is amusing fun, but it isn’t a movie that grabs
one by their funny bone and doesn’t let go. As a stand up comedian who
made the transition to a sitcom, Ray Romano has succeeded enormously well.
However, as a sitcom actor hoping to make the leap to the big screen, WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT offers inconclusive evidence if Romano is up to the task.
As expected, Romano plays a working class nice guy, which isn’t much
different from what folks usually see him as on television. In WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT, Romano portrays Handy Harrison hardware store
owner/plumber in the small New England town of the film’s title. Handy’s
life is pretty sedate, business is pretty good and he is dating Sally
Mannis (Maura Tierney), Mooseport’s very attractive veterinarian. Of
course, this all changes with the arrival of former American President
Monroe Cole (Gene Hackman), who decides to retire to Mooseport.
When
the longtime Mayor of Mooseport passes on, the town leaders ask the former
President to take the job. Thinking it is nothing more than a figurehead
position, and that he will run unopposed, Cole accepts. However,
unbeknownst to anyone else, Handy has also been talked into running for
the office of Mayor. At first, Handy is willing to concede the office of
Mayor to Cole, however, when the former President begins courting Sally,
the gloves come off in the election and Handy is back in the race. Of
course, the cherry on the sundae turns out to be former First Lady
Charlotte Cole (Christine Baranski) who is actively campaigning for Handy
and against her ex-husband. The cast of WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT also
includes Marcia Gay Harden, Fred Savage and Rip Torn.
20th
Century Fox Home Entertainment has made WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT
available on DVD in a 1.85:1 widescreen presentation that has been
enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays (there is a separate fullscreen
version for anyone that cares). Like a majority of big studio comedies, WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT has been shot in such a manner that it creates a sharp,
clean and bright looking image. It all looks very good, as do the colors,
which appear nicely saturated and produce very natural looking flesh
tones. Blacks are accurate, as are the whites, plus the picture produces
good shadow detail and perfectly respectable depth. The film elements are
very clean and there is not much by way of appreciable grain. Digital
compression artifacts are always nicely contained.
WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT comes with a fairly standard comedy mix encoded into
Digital 5.1 channels of Dolby Digital. While the forward soundstage tends
to dominate this dialogue driven comedy, there is good channels separation
across the front and the film’s music is nicely integrated. As for the
surround channels, they primarily serve to offer up ambient sounds and
some musical reinforcement. Fidelity is generally quite good, although
there is nothing in the mix to tax one’s audio system. Voices have a
warm, natural quality, plus the film’s dialogue is always completely
understandable. French and Spanish 2.0 surround tracks are also encoded
onto the DVD, as are English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as a few extras. Director Donald Petrie is on
hand with a moderately enjoyable running audio commentary that offers a
good amount of production detail. There are six deleted scenes provided on
the DVD, and while they provide some interesting moments on their own,
they would have obviously slowed down the film’s pacing had they
remained. There are a couple of minutes of amusing outtakes included, as
well as the complete Soova Commercial from the movie in both
English and Norwegian. Previews and trailers are included for THE
CLEARING, DODGE BALL and THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, as well
as a look at GARFIELD: THE MOVIE.
WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT is a fun little movie that will tickle one’s funny bone
while it unspools. The widescreen DVD looks and sounds quite nice, and
will certainly outclass any cable or satellite showing. If you are a Ray
Romano or Gene Hackman fan you’ll want to spend an evening checking out WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT.
WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT ($28) is amusing fun, but it isn’t a movie that grabs
one by their funny bone and doesn’t let go. As a stand up comedian who
made the transition to a sitcom, Ray Romano has succeeded enormously well.
However, as a sitcom actor hoping to make the leap to the big screen, WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT offers inconclusive evidence if Romano is up to the task.
As expected, Romano plays a working class nice guy, which isn’t much
different from what folks usually see him as on television. In WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT, Romano portrays Handy Harrison hardware store
owner/plumber in the small New England town of the film’s title. Handy’s
life is pretty sedate, business is pretty good and he is dating Sally
Mannis (Maura Tierney), Mooseport’s very attractive veterinarian. Of
course, this all changes with the arrival of former American President
Monroe Cole (Gene Hackman), who decides to retire to Mooseport.
When
the longtime Mayor of Mooseport passes on, the town leaders ask the former
President to take the job. Thinking it is nothing more than a figurehead
position, and that he will run unopposed, Cole accepts. However,
unbeknownst to anyone else, Handy has also been talked into running for
the office of Mayor. At first, Handy is willing to concede the office of
Mayor to Cole, however, when the former President begins courting Sally,
the gloves come off in the election and Handy is back in the race. Of
course, the cherry on the sundae turns out to be former First Lady
Charlotte Cole (Christine Baranski) who is actively campaigning for Handy
and against her ex-husband. The cast of WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT also
includes Marcia Gay Harden, Fred Savage and Rip Torn.
20th
Century Fox Home Entertainment has made WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT
available on DVD in a 1.85:1 widescreen presentation that has been
enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays (there is a separate fullscreen
version for anyone that cares). Like a majority of big studio comedies, WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT has been shot in such a manner that it creates a sharp,
clean and bright looking image. It all looks very good, as do the colors,
which appear nicely saturated and produce very natural looking flesh
tones. Blacks are accurate, as are the whites, plus the picture produces
good shadow detail and perfectly respectable depth. The film elements are
very clean and there is not much by way of appreciable grain. Digital
compression artifacts are always nicely contained.
WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT comes with a fairly standard comedy mix encoded into
Digital 5.1 channels of Dolby Digital. While the forward soundstage tends
to dominate this dialogue driven comedy, there is good channels separation
across the front and the film’s music is nicely integrated. As for the
surround channels, they primarily serve to offer up ambient sounds and
some musical reinforcement. Fidelity is generally quite good, although
there is nothing in the mix to tax one’s audio system. Voices have a
warm, natural quality, plus the film’s dialogue is always completely
understandable. French and Spanish 2.0 surround tracks are also encoded
onto the DVD, as are English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as a few extras. Director Donald Petrie is on
hand with a moderately enjoyable running audio commentary that offers a
good amount of production detail. There are six deleted scenes provided on
the DVD, and while they provide some interesting moments on their own,
they would have obviously slowed down the film’s pacing had they
remained. There are a couple of minutes of amusing outtakes included, as
well as the complete Soova Commercial from the movie in both
English and Norwegian. Previews and trailers are included for THE
CLEARING, DODGE BALL and THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, as well
as a look at GARFIELD: THE MOVIE.
WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT is a fun little movie that will tickle one’s funny bone
while it unspools. The widescreen DVD looks and sounds quite nice, and
will certainly outclass any cable or satellite showing. If you are a Ray
Romano or Gene Hackman fan you’ll want to spend an evening checking out WELCOME
TO MOOSEPORT.
