Suburban Girl (Marc Klein, 2007)

Region 1 Image Entertainment (USA)
NTSC, 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen
97 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English
Subtitles: Optional English SDH, Spanish subtitles
Extras: audio commentary by Marc Klein; trailer; previews for other movies

Released: 15 January 2008
keepcase
16 chapters

In his audio commentary for Suburban Girl, writer/director Marc Klein talks about having sold a couple of screenplays. He was responsible for the rom-com A Good Year, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe. Clearly, the material was an ill fit for the two tough guys, though the fact that A Good Year enjoyed the participation of Scott and Crowe probably gave Klein the cachet to attract financial backers as well as actors Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alec Baldwin.

Gellar and Baldwin are award-winning performers who are far from unknown quantities. Yet, after a couple of professional and personal mishaps (the Scooby-Doo movies for her, child-custody tussles for him), Gellar and Baldwin have been reduced to appearing in cliché-ridden, no-profile projects. Suburban Girl isn’t an outright stinker; it’s simply yet another bland, cute story about young women at the starts of their careers in New York City. It’s easy for something as low key and inoffensive as this movie to get lost in the shuffle without benefit of an overacting Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada)--or an overacting Alec Baldwin, for that matter (see The Departed).

To be fair, Gellar and Baldwin actually look like they could be working in the publishing business, and the movie boasts decent production values. Marc Klein manages to avoid utilizing too many “zany” characters that have moments of clarity at opportune times. However, again, Suburban Girl is simply another every-day product in a long line of faux-girl-empowerment advertisements.

I suppose even Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alec Baldwin have to pay the bills.

Video:
The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen video transfer is quite good. The filmmakers emphasized the cheery aspects of New York City, so the sunny weather yields bright, naturalistic colors. Sharpness is generally high for an SD DVD. I saw some flitting instances of dye imperfections on the film print, but most people won’t notice them.

Audio:
The DD 5.1 English audio track is your usual quality, respectable mix that is front-heavy due to the movie’s reliance on dialogue. Most of the boisterous music cues emanate from the front speakers, too. The subwoofer and the rear channels have little to do.

Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles support the audio.

Extras:
As already mentioned, writer/director Marc Klein contributed an audio commentary. The audio commentary is probably the best thing about this disc. Klein talks about the difficult processes involved in trying to get his own career going. Although he didn’t run into catastrophe while shooting Suburban Girl, he talks frankly about how there were a few problems and that most audio commentators avoid pointing out the mistakes that they made. Even aspiring filmmakers who hate chick flicks will have something to gain from this commentary.

Aside from the commentary, you only get the movie’s theatrical trailer and previews for other movies.