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Notes On A Scandal  Hot
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Written by DVD David   
Friday, 04 May 2007


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Notes On A Scandal

Grade

Content Grade: A
Sound Grade: B
Extras Grade: C+
Picture Grade:

Specs

Fox Home Entertainment Widescreen Dolby digital 5.1, Spanish 2.0 Subtitles: English 121 minutes, color, 2006 Rated R Review by DVD David

Review

This film is based on Zoe Heller's novel and adapted to film by Patrick Marber who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work. The main actresses, Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, give amazing performances of two less than admirable characters. Dench also received an Academy nomination. This chilling, somewhat disturbing film, displays some real acting talent.
The story involves Dench, who is a veteran school teacher who befriends the new art teacher, played by Blanchett. Dench is lonely and and writes in her journal daily, hence the title of the film. Dench discovers that the new art teacher is having an affair with a 15 year old student and looks at the situation as an opportunity for herself. The situation spirals downward until a final showdown between the women shows us just how disturbed both these women are. No heroes in this story.

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Picture and Sound

I can not comment on picture quality as the screener copy sent from the studio was a dvd-r 5 and thus the quality was not on par with a normal commercial dvd. Sound was Dolby digital 5.1 and was adequate but nothing outstanding. This is an English drama, with lots of powerful dialog and thick accents by some actors and at times the dialog was rather too thick for this reviewer to understand.

Extras

The extras included on the one disc include the usual interviews with actors and crew "Notes on A Scandal: The Story of Two Obsessions", a short "making of" feature which looked more like a 5 minute trailer, some notable, short Webisodes, audio commentary from director Richard Eyre, and a trailer. Good for one sit through.

Summary

"Notes On A Scandal" has remarkable performances by Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett and the drama is intriguing throughout the film as things get more and more intense. It's an unusual story with no admirable main characters; the actresses go to great lengths to show us their character flaws. The dvd should be seen for this reason alone. It is not the kind of film I'd want to sit through for repeated viewings however. Make this a top rental priority.

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