Eddie Murphy has had about as many comebacks as Elizabeth Taylor
has had husbands, and reinvention after reinvention, Murphy has been
able to achieve what only truly great movie stars can: that even
though he's capable of making truly crappy movies, he can still rise
like a phoenix from the ashes. Take the year 2002 alone: After The
Adventures of Pluto Nash has quickly become one of - if not the
- biggest money-losers in movie history, and last winter's Showtime a
moderate disappointment, Murphy is primed for yet another
"comeback." But leave it to Murphy to return with a
vengeance this fall's I Spy may (or may not) do the trick, but don't
worry, sooner or later he'll be back.
992's Eddie Murphy
second or so "comeback" vehicle Boomerang wasn't a runaway
hit like The Nutty Professor or Doctor Dolittle ended up being, but it
was fascinating to see a sexually liberated Murphy, a leading man who
wasn't just attractive, but in touch with his "pleasure
principle." Here he's romantically involved with Robin Givens,
Halle Berry and Lela Rochon - he's more two-timer than
distinguished gentleman, to be sure - but this is a man in control of
his image. Women wanted to love him, men wanted to be him.
Unfortunately, with Boomerang finally making its DVD debut, it's
glaringly apparent that this sexy romantic comedy hasn't aged all that
well in the ten years since its theatrical release. The story
structure is more “Seinfeld” or “Friends” than it
traditional big-screen sex comedy, and while this arguably bland setup
still leaves Murphy plenty of room to come up with moments of inspired
lunacy, the majority falls flat, as if everyone is a bit out of tune
with everyone else. To be sure, it has its moments - a welcome Grace
Jones' ridiculously over-the-top Euro-model, with a staggering
penchant for dirty sex that is both shockingly explicit and hilarious
(unlike the rest of the flick), and an early performance from Martin
Lawrence that leaves him upstaging Murphy at every turn.
Perhaps a decade later, the film is most fascinating as a snapshot
of Murphy before he reinvented himself yet again as a family-friendly
superstar, just as popular as he always was, only to a whole new
demographic. Murphy likely will never make any more movies like
Boomerang, which may be a good thing, as it is not a great flick by
any estimation. But hey, just knowing that he will one day make up for
it is enough to keep his fans happy. More power to him.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
Presented in 1.85:1
anamorphic widescreen, the transfer here is pretty good, if a bit
flat. Most problematic is the poor black levels, which look watered-
down and too gray. The colors also appear washed out, and even the
movie's more outrageous set pieces - such as the restaurant scene with
all those fancy blood-red walls - do offer a few moments of vibrancy,
but still lack saturation. Despite the the transfer's dull appearance,
detail is strong and there is only minor compression artifacting and
edge enhancement. To be fair, the film's visual style has always been
somewhat bland and lacking in flair, but this substandard transfer
still doesn't do nearly as good a job as it could have.
Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
Presented in Dolby
5.1 surround, this new remix does make up a bit for the just so-so
video transfer, warts and all. Dynamic range feels a bit truncated,
but as this is a very dialogue-heavy film, it is not too damaging,
although high and low end do feel cramped. Separation of the front
sound stage is nicely realized, but the music is balanced too loud in
the mix. Surround use is fine with background ambiance coming through
strongly in a few scenes, but true discrete effects do not appear
noticeable. Not a stellar mix, but enough to pay the bills.
Also included is an alternate English 2.0 Dolby surround track, and
English subtitles and Closed Captions.
Supplements: What
Goodies Are There?
It's all about the commentary here.
Director Reginald Hudlin supplies a new screen-specific audio
commentary just for this DVD release, and is full of praise for
his film and cast. He constantly mentions how hilarious it was to have
Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence playing off each other, but his
paper-thin anecdotes about how great it all was don't really provide
much insight into the film's development or production. Even fans will
likely find this a bit disappointing, and too bad he couldn't get
Murphy and Lawrence to participate. (Or maybe they just didn't want
to?)
Hudlin also supplies optional commentary for a collection
of deleted and extended scenes, all presented in non-
anamorphic widescreen. Some of the extended scenes are interesting and
have moments of humor (some of which, while funny, just wasn't
appropriate for the final cut), but again, Hudlin's unsurprisingly
bland commentary tracks don't really shed that much light on anything.
(Oddly, no theatrical trailer is included, which seems to be the norm
for Paramount these days. Sigh. )
DVD-ROM Exclusives: What
do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?
No ROM extras
have been included.
Parting Thoughts
Boomerang
signaled a new stage in Eddie Murphy's then-stalled career, as a more
dashing, sophisticated leading man. But ten years later, the film
doesn't really hold up. Big fans of the movie might be pleased with
this moderately nice special edition, but without Murphy's
involvement, it gets a bit tiresome. With only average audio and video
and a lack of more extra features, this one's hard to recommend.
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