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Title: The Brother's McMullen
Region: One
Genre: Romantic Comedy Drama
Stars: Edward Burns, Mike McGlone, Jack Mulcahy, Shari Albert, Maxine Bahns, Connie Britton, Jennifer Jostyn, Elizabeth McKay
Writer: Edward Burns
Director: Edward Burns
Feature length: 98 minutes
Extras: Director's Commentary, Theatrical Trailer
Languages: English Stereo and English and French Mono
Subtitles: English Captions and Spanish Subtitles
Packaging: Alpha Keep Case
Chapter Stops: 20
Sound: Stereo and Mono
Year of Theatrical Release: 1995/DVD Release: 2000
Theatrical Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Home Video Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: R
Film: *** = Good
Transfer: ** = Fair
Sound: ** = Fair
Extras: ** = Fair
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
It is not easy to make a film so kudos to Edward Burns to surviving appendicitis, exhaustion, and 8 months of production while still holding down a job, and not only does he manage to get his film into the Sundance Film Festival, his film garners the Best Picture Award at The Sundance Film Festival in 1995. The film is a personal film for Burns (what indie film isn't?) and it is an entertaining and light romantic comedy drama about three brothers living under one roof coping with the opposite sex and falling in love.
The film is a bit dated with its anecdotes on Amy Fisher, JFK Jr., and a grunge fashion look. Never the less, the film is still entertaining to watch. Fox delivers an anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio on one side and a full frame (1.33:1) transfer on the other. Since the film was made on a shoestring budget, the transfer is very grainy. It is not terrible to watch, but do not expect crystal clarity.
A new English Stereo soundtrack was made for this DVD release, but it is more monophonic two-channel than stereo. English and French Mono tracks are also included along with English Captions and Spanish Subtitles as an option.
The commentary track by Edward Burns is articulate and screen specific and probably the strongest element on this DVD. The theatrical trailer presented in a (1.33:1) format and there is a link to Edward Burns' website. The menus are simple and easy to navigate.
"The Brothers McMullen" will debut on DVD on October 3, 2000 along with "She's The One" from Fox and "No Looking Back" from USA Home Entertainment. All three films will also be available in a DVD box set "Stories From Long Island - Three Films By Edward Burns."
© Copyright 2000 By Mark A. Rivera