Review of Domestic Disturbance (2001) by John H — 16 Jun 2009

This is 2009. Hitchcock and earlier directors have fine-tuned this type of genre. As a viewer, I expect directors coming down the road to have picked over the long suits of their talented predecessors. It?s all there. Watch it. Read it. Read the reviews. Learn something.

There is no excuse for the dismal product that appears now, lacking in several critical areas. Talent is not one of these. Several names are associated with earlier successes and you can almost feel them to be desperately fighting to salvage this run of the mill production. On a scale of ten, this is what I see in this production:

Dialogue: 4 Even good actors can not produce saddled with weak, predictable, one-lung dialogue.

Editing: 5 Take the stuff left on the floor in the editing room and put it in the hands of a good editor. This could breathe some life into this production corpse. The final product was ragged and struggling. Not the product of someone with fair talent or experience.

Directing: 2 My remarks here relate to an earlier review where it was clearly shown that some scenes such as Ray?s stabbing, witnessed two feet away by the boy, were colossally under-directed. Even an idiot understands that this brief episode could bring the audience to an emotional crescendo. The potential equaled that presented in Hitchcock?s bathtub scene. Here, it looked like it was toyed with Friday afternoon while looking forward to an exciting weekend.

Acting: There were no scenes where I felt anything relating to genuine emotion was presented. Even with the talented John Travolta whose performance seemed more suggestive of ?I did it. Now pay me?. Emotional investment seemed non-existent throughout. Not a single scene was memorable. This, in conjunction with lousy dialogue and under-nourished directing, crippled the entire show.

Special effects. Watch the boathouse burning scene for lackluster work. I have seen more exciting barbeques. Did he really come across as a man with an arm on fire? No. I?ve been burned like that and nothing he did remotely suggested the pain of reality! Travolta, amidst the noise, smoke and light show...coming back to life. Heavy, flaming embers about to fall upon him. They never fell. He sort of got up and ran away. Me padding to the bathroom is more exciting. Did this even hint at realism. I didn?t smell smoke, I smelled boredom. Much potential in this scene and only ten per cent of it made the final cut. No imagination anywhere. None. Nothing.

Exposition. Development sets the stage. Critical for audience understanding. Vital is an understatement. But here, how was I ever, ever, to feel that the two-faced new husband could have ever been successful in business. Where? In what field? When? ...and no one ever thought even to casually check his background? Nope. Just give him some high, local business award. For doing what? Did I miss something here? He never ever did any ?business?. The stage was never set. How about...what caused the two ?nice? parents to divorce? Endless arguing on her part as Travolta said to someone? No evidence of this in the show. And the boy?s tendency to lie, lie, lie. Glossed over. Once again, without a trace of reality. A brief scene in the police station. Give me a break. Travolta: Nice guy. Mother: Who knows. When did she really argue with anyone? I?m lost here. Not one character ?arrives?. Everyone is two-dimensional. Dialogue/directing problems galore.

Every scene with Travolta and his former was totally sterile. As was any hint of emotion between her and Rick, her replacement husband. Bad writing. Bad acting. Bad directing. Have I missed much? The color was good. Even though the driving scenes were terrible (from a director?s point of view). Dramatic driving scenes under-performed.

This could not have been successful as a one-hour TV drama let alone a large screen production. Light the fuse.