I swear by Charlie's Angels, 2000-style. Go ahead and stop reading
if you must, but I remember staring at that film when I saw it in the
theater, completely mesmerized by the story-less, character-less magic
that this huge, lumbering behemoth of a movie exuded in spades. To me,
it was a stupid, spoiled brat of a movie, but also a shot in the arm,
a film that lacks intelligence and nuance, yet absolutely a powderkeg
of sassy energy from beginning to end. So when I went to The Sweetest
Thing this past spring, I was hoping that Cameron Diaz, the tallest,
most athletic Angel, would bring a similar pep to what looked like
just another romantic comedy about trying to find love in a jaded,
sex-filled world. I was wrong.
Yes, at the end of the day The
Sweetest Thing is just not all that good of a movie, but it does
follow the blueprint of Charlie's Angels, for better or for worse. It
eschews dynamism, narrative build and emotional involvement for fun,
fun, fun. The scene where Cameron D. grabs Thomas Jane's ass and then
tries to play it off as an "accident"? Hilarious. Christina
Applegate and Cameron dancing in their old-lady underpants and
revealing bikinis, all the while singing along to "The Pina
Colada Song" on their car radio? Good times. "Hogan
Family" veteran Jason Bateman breaking into a smarmy rendition of
"Eternal Flame" at a wedding reception? That's good
stuff! The movie is scant - its running time is 90 minutes, and
this includes an extended blooper reel at film's end - and while it
often turns into a gross-out fest (an unfortunate stain on Selma
Blair's dress, a maggoty-fresh meal that has lived in Christina
Applegate's car for a few weeks), I can't deny that the film has its
high points. I like that it aims to be more crass, more go-for-the-
jugular than many other three-girls-looking-for-love romantic
comedies: There is a sour, mean streak to much of the movie, which is
mostly due to its dirty sense of humor. There's a musical number (yes,
a musical number) toward the beginning of the picture about how often
(but not often enough, right, ladies?) male genitalia is too large to
fit in...certain places. Director Roger Kumble even puts poor Selma
Blair in an unfortunately stuck situation with a man with a - how
shall I say? - complicated body piercing.
But while many of
these over-the-top set pieces come off as desperate and too zany for
their own good, I stand by my opinion that this movie is not as bad as
one might think. Yes, it's vulgar. Yes, it's dumb as a brick. Yes,
it's poorly directed. Yes, the script is horribly plotted. But it's
short, it's sweet, fast-paced and, well, it has an Angel in it. Isn't
that enough? 
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, the transfer here is
really nice, actually. The bright and poppy color scheme is quite
crisp and bright - lots of dark blue and reds - with no bleeding or
noise and nice fleshtones. Blacks and contrast are quite nice, with
ample detail, with even fine textures readily apparent. Alas, there's
a lot of bonus material all squished on this just one disc, so there
are a few spots where compression artifacting is really noticeable,
and there is a bit of an edginess to the presentation that is
distracting. But overall, not too shabby.
Audio: How Does
The Disc Sound?
The English 5.1 Dolby Digital mix included
is hardly reference quality but certainly appropriate for the
material. The music is balanced shockingly loud in the mix - as it
tends to be in most comedies these days, for some reason - but
dialogue sounds fine (none of the common thinness or over-trebled
dialogue recording audible here) and we also get some clever use of
effects. Dynamic range is moderately wide and spacious, and low end
punchy. Separation across the front is nice and spacious, and
surrounds fairly aggressive, especially in the more propulsive and
crowd-filled club numbers. A nice, pleasing sound mix that suits the
flick just fine. 
Also included is a French 2.0 surround dub,
English and French subtitles and English Closed Captions.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
Columbia has
elected to release both R-rated and Unrated cuts of the film, and we
chose (of course!) to check out the unrated version. Alas, there isn't
any documentation on just what exactly is different about this cut,
but it does run 90 minutes versus the 84-minute R-rated theatrical
cut, and the most likely change is the inclusion here of "The
Penis Song." Yep, you gotta see it to believe it...
More
extras abound, including a screen-specific commentary with director
Roger Kumble and cast members Cameron Diaz and Christina Applegate
that is the crown jewel of this collection. For those interested in
hearing all the thought and preparation that went into the making of
this film, you'll likely be disappointed, but for those picky
filmgoers who actually enjoy hearing Diaz breathe helium from balloons
and Applegate making fart noises (no, I'm serious), it's a must-hear.
And it's all actually quite appropriate, for this commentary is
vacuous, vulgar and infectious - just like the movie.
We also
have a behind-the-scenes featurette quaintly titled Politically
Erect, with the actors and filmmakers proving - as one might guess
- that the making of the film was wonderfully big fun. It's short and
slight but at least worth a giggle. Less interesting is A Day in
the Life of Nancy M. Pimental, an is-it-real-or-isn't-it mockup of
what it's like to be a "Hollywood writer". Dash Mihok plays
a fabulous, outspoken "assistant," and other of Nancy's
friends get drunk, clean pools with their shirts off, etc. It's a cute
idea, but it way overstays its welcome.
There's also a slight
Storyboard Comparison sequence included that seems odd for a
film as visually uninteresting as this, plus a handful of
theatrical trailers including an anamorphic preview for
Sweetest Thing, and finally some minimal production notes.
DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in
your PC?
The "ROM" features as such include a
printed link to The Sweetest Thing's website, and that's it.
Parting Thoughts
If the thought of just watching The
Sweetest Thing gives you a headache, I can't imagine that you'll
really want to search this one out. But for those with fearless
tastes, I honestly believe that this film is nowhere near as bad as it
should have been. If you're looking for a realistic and accurate
romantic comedy, this is not the place to go (unless you have sex with
giant stuffed elephants a lot, like Selma Blair), but it's a nice DVD,
so you could do worse on a Saturday night.
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