- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo, French Dolby 2.0 Surround, German Dolby 2.0 Surround, Spanish Dolby 2.0 Mono
- Subtitles: English SDH, French, German, Spanish
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: PG
- Discs: 1
- Studio: MGM
- Blu-ray Release Date: April 5, 2011
- List Price: $19.99
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase Benny & Joon on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Here is Johnny Depp shining in one of his best early big screen roles. Jeremiah Chechik’s 1993 quirky romantic comedy Benny & Joon was one of the first real flashes of onscreen genius from the young actor and remains an endearing film to this day.
The setting is a small town in Washington State where mechanic Benny (Aidan Quinn) has devoted his life to taking care if his mentally ill sister Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson). Their quiet small town existence has been working just well for them, even given Joon’s occasional fits, eccentric behavior, and inability to hold on to a housekeeper. But when Joon takes her brother’s place in his weekly poker game and loses, obliging him to take in his friend’s cousin Sam (Johnny Depp), things change pretty quickly. Sam’s quirky behavior and devotion to the stylings of Buster Keaton are fascinating to Joon and he is also a surprisingly good housekeeper. The two become quite close and romantically entangled without Benny’s knowledge, but when he finds out it forces the brother and sister to question the comfort zone they’d been living in for years.
Depp and Masterson both give top notch performances in this sweet and unique take on the romantic comedy. It also stars Julianne Moore as a love interest for Benny and Oliver Platt as Benny’s friend Eric. An excellent cast, with strong performances, and beautiful cinematography all add up to a heartwarming piece of romantic bliss with Benny & Joon.
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
I suppose with all the problems over at MGM lately and the rate at which they’ve been pumping out their catalogue releases, whether or not they look good is all in the luck of the draw, highly dependent on the condition of the source. None of them look (or sound) like much effort has been put into bringing them to Blu-ray. Benny & Joon is one of the better-looking releases from MGM of late, which isn’t saying much. The AVC/MPEG-4 encodement is still plagued by lots of specks that seem to mostly pop up along the sides of the frame and it is soft overall. The latter is partly due to the production and filters used and the age of the film, but also just a general lack of real sprucing up bringing this film to Blu-ray. Still, some scenes look radiant and better than expected for a film of this age from MGM.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Sound quality is nothing spectacular in the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo mix. There’s not much dynamic range and stereo imaging is subtle. Dialogue is relatively clean, however.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
There are no new supplements offered up here and all video supplements are in standard definition. Still, what is provided offers a good glimpse into the production of the film.
The supplements provided with this release are:
- Audio Commentary by Jeremiah Chechik
- Deleted Scenes w/ commentary (1.33:1; 480i/60):
- Audition
- Mutilator
- Costume, Make-up Test, and Stunt Reel with commentary (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:18.45)
- Music Video – “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers
- Theatrical Trailer (1.85:1; 1080p/24)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
Here’s on of the late-period romantic comedies that is actually not painful to sit through. Why can’t they make them like this anymore? Benny & Joon is an underrated film by my estimation. Let’s hope this new release to Blu-ray brings it some much deserved attention.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product align=”right”]B004P29LEU[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Benny & Joon on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
