Look Who’s Talking

Well much to the disgust of some of my friends and fellow reviewers, I found the John Travolta- Kirsty Alley combination fantastic in this film. They are both great entertainers, Kirsty more than John is though. Then to top it off you have the gripping voice of Bruce Willis as Mikey. I remember all the great catch lines from when I first saw this movie 11 years ago as a teenager. Anyway enough memories back to the film.

Mollie (Kirsty Alley) is an intelligent accountant who unfortunately is in love with a man she can’t have. Albert (George Segal) is a rich and successful businessman who convinces Mollie that he loves her and is leaving his wife her.

Bring on the pregnancy. To avoid embarrassment Mollie tells everyone she has been artificially inseminated. John Travolta enters the picture as the taxi driver with a death wash that takes her to the hospital for the birth of her new son.

Unbeknownst to Mollie he is present for the entire birth. He shows up on her doorstep shortly after to return her handbag and soon becomes the token babysitter.

Mikey (the voice of Bruce Willis) becomes attached to James and as Mollie searches for the perfect father for her baby it becomes obvious that it is James. His antics and entertaining personality capture him as a great father.

From here James and Mollie deal with a few bumps especially involving his father who is moved to a new retirement home.

Mikey basically decides for his mother who the father should be and all is a fairy tale ending.

The transfer quality is basically terrible! The entire film is soft and lifeless not a sharp image in sight. I was also disturbed by the amount of dust marks on the film, which usually go by and don’t bother me terribly but this was shocking. Especially at the beginning of the film. Colour is also flat lifeless and at times you could be forgiven for thinking some scenes were just plain old black and white. Basically it has a very bright felling to it. Shadow detail was ok but not great. Found a few bits and pieces of shimmering about. There really is no consistency to the transfer at all. The only redeeming feature of the transfer is that it’s 16:9 enhanced other than that I don’t have anything good to say about it.

Then there’s the audio. Well here we have disappointment number two! The biggest problem with the audio is sync problems. I don’t usually have any problems with syncing on the Samsung, so I have to conclude that this is a major transfer problem. There were times where it is extremely frustrating to watch the lips moving and the wrong sound is coming out. As a 2-channel track it’s a bit average the surrounds are occasionally used for some music and a few crummy sound effects but that’s about it. And the front sound stage is like the transfer, flat and lifeless. The dialogue is however relatively clear all the way through. The score from David Kitay is quite good with a few nice singalong tracks that everyone knows. Always good to throw in a couple of those to keep the audience interested.

Once again there is not a prevalence of extras. Just the usual stock standard cast and crew bios and the static menu.

Overall this is a great story, and won’t date very quickly. But there really are some major problems with both the audio and video quality.

Everyone will get a few laughs out of this one, but make sure you hire it at the video store before you spend your money on it. And I have to add that Kirsty Alley really does look great in this film, not your classic beauty but she has that really attractive everyday woman look.

Review Equipment
TV: GE 68cm (16:9 selectable)
DVD: Samsung DVD907 (via S-Video)
Receiver/Proc: Sansui A505/Sony Amp & Yamaha DSP-E390
Speakers:-
Fronts: Wharfdale Diamond R6 (on a pair of custom made stands you'd KILL for)
Centre: Venturi
Rears: Sony bookshelf

- Reviewed 07th January 2000