Little resolution is given to most of the characters, aside from Ned and Montana, and somehow, that’s alright.
Earlier, I mentioned there really isn´t a linear story to follow, a goal to work toward. It´s as if we´re dropped smack dab in the middle of a normal day and we exit in just the same way. Little resolution is given to most of the characters, aside from Ned and Montana, and somehow, that´s alright. Of course, this artistic choice makes the ultimate resolution a bit tough to actually care about on the usual levels. Only on the most basic, "everyone is alive and relatively happy" level can the ending be appreciated. It comes off as being somewhat of a cheat.
Modern films have conditioned the audience to expect a certain structure, an emotional payoff by the end. And, for better or for worse, "The Big Thing" doesn´t conform to that expectation. Really, we shouldn´t be at all surprised at how the film concludes because of what has come before. Then, on the other hand, it´s hard to not long for convention in an unconventional movie.
I´ve already mentioned the acting contributions of Alexandra Boyd, Van Quattro and Bari Buckner, but I should give Bryan Cranston his due. More than anything, we feel bad for him. Sympathetic for getting married to a materialistic woman. Sorry since he has to deal with wild levels of eccentricity on all sides. Maybe even wistful he grew a brain and a set of cajones to finally stand up for himself. Roberto is different from the emasculated Hal on "Malcolm in the Middle," arguably his most famous role. Hal is very nearly beaten down by life, struggling to make to it to the end of every day; Roberto rails against the people he can in an effort to make up for those he can´t do anything about. Cranston´s is a masterful performance, a combination of manic, defeated, reassertive and even loving.
VIDEO:
I wish I could say something positive about the full screen transfer. About the best I can do is reporting there aren´t too many problems present on the disc. For starters, the most noticeable issue is several instances of blocking in a more or less horizontal line across the screen. Then there´s a general softness to the entire production and a discernable lack of fine detail. A fine layer of mosquito noise coupled with complete overexposure in the outdoor scenes combine to make nearly every scene hard to watch. Many of my concerns can be explained by the undoubtedly miniscule budget Horvat had to use. But some are symptoms of a sloppy mastering job.
AUDIO:
The audio portion of the disc fares much better than the video if only because it doesn´t commit nearly as many sins as its brethren. Only an English 2.0 mix is included (no subtitles). All told, it does what it has to do without distortion…but the upper octaves of Canada´s yelling contain the faintest hint of reaching the limits of the source material. To its credit, though, dialogue is never drowned out by ambient sounds while the soundtrack appears to be mixed so one element never overpowers any other.
EXTRAS:
Only two trailers here, one for this movie (2:04) and a teaser (1:13) for "The Dialogue," a series of interviews with various screenwriters. The disc is broken down into five chapters, corresponding to five segments within the movie, named for various lines of dialogue within them.
PARTING THOUGHTS:
The lack of a narrative through line and true character development didn´t bother me nearly as much as it might have had the performances not saved "The Big Thing." Sure, they´re over the top, campy and larger than life. That´s the point, I think. To capture our attention and show us a little sliver of life. Not exactly our lives, but a close enough approximation.
Modern films have conditioned the audience to expect a certain structure, an emotional payoff by the end. And, for better or for worse, "The Big Thing" doesn´t conform to that expectation. Really, we shouldn´t be at all surprised at how the film concludes because of what has come before. Then, on the other hand, it´s hard to not long for convention in an unconventional movie.
I´ve already mentioned the acting contributions of Alexandra Boyd, Van Quattro and Bari Buckner, but I should give Bryan Cranston his due. More than anything, we feel bad for him. Sympathetic for getting married to a materialistic woman. Sorry since he has to deal with wild levels of eccentricity on all sides. Maybe even wistful he grew a brain and a set of cajones to finally stand up for himself. Roberto is different from the emasculated Hal on "Malcolm in the Middle," arguably his most famous role. Hal is very nearly beaten down by life, struggling to make to it to the end of every day; Roberto rails against the people he can in an effort to make up for those he can´t do anything about. Cranston´s is a masterful performance, a combination of manic, defeated, reassertive and even loving.
VIDEO:
I wish I could say something positive about the full screen transfer. About the best I can do is reporting there aren´t too many problems present on the disc. For starters, the most noticeable issue is several instances of blocking in a more or less horizontal line across the screen. Then there´s a general softness to the entire production and a discernable lack of fine detail. A fine layer of mosquito noise coupled with complete overexposure in the outdoor scenes combine to make nearly every scene hard to watch. Many of my concerns can be explained by the undoubtedly miniscule budget Horvat had to use. But some are symptoms of a sloppy mastering job.
AUDIO:
The audio portion of the disc fares much better than the video if only because it doesn´t commit nearly as many sins as its brethren. Only an English 2.0 mix is included (no subtitles). All told, it does what it has to do without distortion…but the upper octaves of Canada´s yelling contain the faintest hint of reaching the limits of the source material. To its credit, though, dialogue is never drowned out by ambient sounds while the soundtrack appears to be mixed so one element never overpowers any other.
EXTRAS:
Only two trailers here, one for this movie (2:04) and a teaser (1:13) for "The Dialogue," a series of interviews with various screenwriters. The disc is broken down into five chapters, corresponding to five segments within the movie, named for various lines of dialogue within them.
PARTING THOUGHTS:
The lack of a narrative through line and true character development didn´t bother me nearly as much as it might have had the performances not saved "The Big Thing." Sure, they´re over the top, campy and larger than life. That´s the point, I think. To capture our attention and show us a little sliver of life. Not exactly our lives, but a close enough approximation.
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[release]24129[/release]