THE MOVIE-                        3 Stars out of 5

 

While The Women is a chick flick, it is a really funny one and one that I found to be really enjoyable. Any father who has been through natural childbirth with his wife will fall over laughing at the birthing scene at the end of the film. I know I sure did. The film features quite a cast including Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bette Midler, Carrie Fisher, Cloris Leachman and Candice Bergen. The film centers around a group of successful professional women rapidly approaching middle age, each of whom is caught up in their own crisis, from a cheating husband, to a failing career to a gaggle of kids, but who in the end rally around and support each other as friends should. The film features many of the issues that women deal with as they approach and pass the age of 40, both professionally and personally and does so with wit and charm. One thing that you will not see in this film is an adult man. Not one is visible on screen the entire film. Recommended, even though it is a chick flick!.

 

THE VIDEO-                    4 1/4 stars out of 5

 

Encoded with AVC, The Women is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1. While I enjoyed the film, the video is a bit of a disappointment. On the plus side, color reproduction is excellent with a very natural looking color palette with spot on skin tones. On the down side, the film is rather soft with little in the way of visible detail, especially faces. The film appears to have been shot with a soft focus, perhaps to hide the age lines and wrinkles on the main actresses in the film who are beginning to show their age. As an aside, what is with that collagen lip job on Meg Ryan? That was a big mistake and it makes her look more like Jack Nicholson’s Joker. Anyway, in addition to the soft focus and lack of detail, the film also has mediocre blacks which, in conjunction with the overall softness, result in a rather flat image with little in the way of depth or three dimensionality. I was really expecting a better looking film.

 

THE AUDIO-                       3 1/2 stars out of 5

 

Even more disappointing than the video is the audio on this release. As is unfortunately all too often the case with Warner’s releases, there is no lossless track included with The Women. Frankly, given the film’s overall sound design, I am not sure that a lossless track would have made much of an improvement. Overall, while this is a 5.1 mix, the sound field is really little better than 2 channel audio. On the plus side, the dialogue track is well recorded and presented in the mix. However, there is little in the way of surround activity during the film. To say that this is a rather front heavy sound mix would be an understatement. I wouldn’t mind this so much if the audio was of high fidelity which is not the case here. The sound has little in the way of dynamics or clarity, sounding thin and wimpy. I really wish Warner Brothers would get their act together and included lossless audio tracks on all their Blu-ray releases like Universal, Paramount, Sony and Disney.

 

EXTRAS

 

In comparison with many of the new Blu-Ray releases, the extras here are rather threadbare. Extras included with this release consist of additional scenes, The Women Behind the Women: Visiting the Cast and Crew in Cover Issues of Female Empowerment, Body Image and Self-Esteem for Girls and The Women: The Legacy-The Journey from 1936 Stage Success to Classic 1939 Movie to this Contemporary Update. Not that much to really sink your teeth into.

 

IN CONCLUSION

While this Blu-Ray release features disappointing video and audio, it is a funny and witty film that is well worth a look. Recommended.