Say It Isn’t So
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Cast: Chris Klein, Heather Graham, Sally Field
Extras: Commentary Track, Deleted Scenes, Featurette, Theatrical Trailer, TV Spots
Rating:
Despite the fact that ’There’s Something About Mary’ was a huge hit, I’m sure that there are those who see it as no big deal. Considering the number of films who’ve tried to emulate its formula and failed, there must have been something special about ’Mary’. ’Say It Isn’t So’ was produced by ’Mary’ creators the Farrelly Brothers, but it falls short of that film’s hilarity. Chris Klein stars as Gilly Noble, an animal control officer who is searching for the perfect girl. He finds her in incompetent beautician Jo (Heather Graham). Their whirlwind romance is cut short when it is revealed that Gilly, who grew up an orphan, is actually Jo’s brother. Upon hearing this news, Jo flees to Oregon to be with an old boyfriend. Determined to win her back and uncover the truth, Gilly follows her only to run into trouble from the locals, he think he’s a incestuous pervert.
I laughed out loud twice during the first five-and-a-half minutes of ’Say It Isn’t So’, but it was dead silence after that. The film has a very cute central premise, but there are two many peripheral characters or situations, such as the torture of a stroke victim, that are too over-the-top. Yes, we expect crudeness from a film with the Farrelly name, but in ’There’s Something About Mary’ and ’Dumb and Dumber’, the grossfest was balanced with a sweet story. That balance doesn’t occur here. Even the presence of the hysterical Orlando Jones can’t save this film. And I’m no fan of Sally Field, but what is she doing in junk like this? Typically, I would blame the director, but he implies on the commentary that he didn’t have final cut. Just say no to ’Say It Isn’t So’.
’Say It Isn’t So’ arrives on DVD from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The film is presented in an anamorphic widescreen and has been letterboxed at 1.85:1. The transfer is very good, as is to be expected from Fox. The image is very sharp and clear, showing only a very fine grain in some exterior shots. The colors are rich and true, with realistic fleshtones and deep blues and reds. There is no sign of problems stemming from edge enhancement or compression. The audio on the DVD is a Dolby Digital 5.1 channel track, which is impressive as well. This gives us clear dialogue, along with some occasional ambient surround effects. The music in the film sounds particularly good, with a nice bass response.
The DVD offers an audio commentary track with director J.B. Rogers and star Chris Klein. Although the two were recorded separately, this is a good track as they both share many stories about the making of the film. There are six deleted scenes of varying quality, which can be viewed with or without commentary by Rogers. (It’s surprising that he’s never seen one of the scenes before!) The extended ending wouldn’t have made the movie any worse. There is a four-minute featurette offering shots which aren’t in the movie or the deleted scenes. Finally, we have the theatrical trailer, and five TV spots, all of which are presented full-frame.
