The Movie:  The movie follows three different couples over three different decades - starting with 1961, progressing to 1972, and ending with 2000. In the first section, Vanessa Redgrave plays a recently 'widowed' woman who lost her best friend, and closest companion of 50 years. She is left alone and abandoned as the in-laws, who never even knew the deceased move in and like vultures snap up the house and keepsakes. The second part of the movie is set in 1972 as feminist Linda (Michelle Williams) looks for love and acceptance. She meets up with Amy (Chloë Sevigny) in a bar, and despite her friend's urgings, she falls in love. The last part is set in the present, 2000. A couple, played by Ellen DeGeneres and Sharon Stone, want to have a baby, but need to overcome the different choices and hardships involoved.

To tell the truth, I was a little prejudiced towards this movie even before viewing it. I thought that it would be a feminine movie with all the stories moving towards feminie causes and lesbianism, but instead, the directors (each segment was written and directed by different people) are able to weave together these three stories, which all take place in one house, in a way that any one can appreciate. If These Walls Could Talk 2 takes a potentially controversial topic and presents it in such a way that should not offend anyone, but rather it portrays the stories in a straight-forward manner with interesting and entertaining perspectives.

The Picture:  The picture, in its original 1.33:1 ratio (as it was originally shown on TV), isn't bad, but it certainly isn't the clearest I've seen. At times, the picture showed some grain, but overall, the colors were well presented and strong. I didn't notice any artifacts or other problems that would seriously distract from a viewing.

The Sound:  The sound is presented in Dolby 2.0, and doesn't really present anything spectacular. The music between scenes is a little faded, but during the sections themselves, when music was used, it was much richer. The main focus of the film is on these 3 relationships, and thus, most of the sound is in conversation. The dialogue is easily understandable and sounds natural.

Special Features: Cast & Crew Bios, Chapter Selections, the usual.

The Extras:  The extras are lacking on this film. With such a strong statement being made, one would think the actors were interviewed at one time about the subject, which would have been a nice addition, along with a director commentary from the director of each different section. But these extras were ignored, and instead we're left with nothing new - just the standard chapter selections and (wow!) interactive menus.

The Insert:  There was no insert with this disc because it is a snapper case. However, on the inside of the snapper, the 15 chapters are listed along with a small picture from each section of the movie.

Conclusion:  In conclusion, the disc, though lacking in extras, spectacular video or sound, does contain a quite interesting and entertaining film. Therein lies the only reason you should buy this DVD. There were no real problems with the audio or video to prevent you from buying it and the extras made no case to purchase this disc. If you want to see the movie, or liked it on HBO, this disc is for you.

Genres: Drama
Rated: R | 96 minutes
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Catalog #: 91707 | ISBN: 0-7831-1689-6