The Return DVD Review
Posted by Neil Borenstein on 03.07.2007
A supernatural thriller with Sarah Michelle Gellar ... what's not to like!
THE RETURN DVD REVIEW
Cast
Sarah Michelle Gellar: Joanna Mills
Peter O’Brien: Terry Stahl
Sam Sheperd: Ed Mills
Adam Scott: Kurt
Darrian McClanahan: Young Joanna
J.C. MacKenzie: Griff
DVD Information
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Region: Region 1
Number of Discs: 1
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Release Date: February 27, 2007
Run Time: 85 Minutes
Specs: Dolby Digital 5.1 – English and French; English SDH, French and Spanish Subtitles; Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Classified as a supernatural thriller, The Return is definitely the best movie Sarah Michelle Gellar has ever been in throughout her acting career.
Gellar plays a woman named Joanna Mills, who ever since she was 11 years old had very intense visions about a woman and the tragic events that happened to her.
The movie begins in a carnival setting with a young Joanna and her father, and we are witness to the first vision Joanna had in her life when she believes she sees and hears a man that nobody else can. We are quickly introduced to the older Joanna after this opening scene, and that’s really when this roller coaster of suspense begins.
Joanna lives in St. Louis as a truck company sales representative. Her job requires her to travel, and she has a connection that can land her one of the most sought after and hardest leads in the company, which is a man named Marlin. His business is in Texas, where Joanna grew up and was very reluctant to go to. But, for the sell, she was willing to go back home.
The business she had gone down to Texas for, however, was really the least of her endeavors. Throughout her life, she had continued to have these visions that started after her father and she got into a car accident, presumably right before going to that carnival in the open scene. Sometimes, those visions were so real to her that she even resorted to self-inflicted punishment, like cutting herself with a knife.
Her visions revolved around the murder of a woman that she didn’t even know, but was more connected to then she ever could have imagined. Joanna’s time in Texas led her to the town of La Salle, where everything came full circle for her. She very gradually began to learn that these visions were not just figments of her imagination and did in fact involve actual situations she herself was repeating.
She didn’t have many close relations, as she grew away from her father and remained bitter toward him for not helping her as a child when she started to have her issues. She had an ex-boyfriend, Kurt, who constantly stalked her and was very upset that she ended up with the Marlin lead over him. Even her friend, Michelle, couldn’t understand what she was going through, and she was really the best friend Joanna had out of everybody.
But as Joanna started to get deeper into her visions upon entering La Salle, she ran into a man named Terry Stahl. He was a mysterious man that seemed to have a violent nature, but ended up helping her out when she was attacked by Kurt in her hotel room. Throughout the course of the film, these two characters set the stage for not only a growing relationship, but also a full-circle understanding on what Joanna was seeing in her visions and why exactly she was seeing them.
Gellar, by far, steals the show with her performance as Joanna. She is a very complex character that tries to toe the line between being paranoid and tough, needing help from those that are supposed to be close to her but also very resourceful independently. Her character becomes stronger the more it is involved with Terry, played by Peter ‘O Brien. As the movie progresses and they continue to interact, they start to realize just how connected they really are. Gellar and O’Brien work very well together. And as really the only two major characters in the film, that’s very important.
The movie does have some minor flaws. The flow of the film is questionable. For most of it, there is a slow, yet steady, pace that seems to be slightly rushed toward the end, which is the most important part, as it really brings everything around for people and makes all the necessary connections for people to understand the film as a whole. But, even while maybe missing some minute details along the way, most viewers should be able to follow the film long enough to realize what it’s about and how the major events happening to the characters are important to the revelation that comes.
I have to admit, based on some of Gellar’s prior work (especially The Grudge, which I thought was awful), I was very skeptical of how this movie would turn out. But, I was thoroughly surprised at how well done of a movie it is and how well she performs in it.
Though this film is far from an epic, it’s enjoyable and definitely worthy of at least a view – or possibly two to tie up any loose ends that might have been lost the first go around.
The Audio
The audio seemed to be a bit low for me. I had to crank up the volume for most of the film, though it was very clear when I did that. The volume naturally increased during those freak-out moments where the filmmakers try to scare the bejesus out of you. But it’s otherwise good when given a little volume.
Score: 7.5
The Video
There are very good visuals here. Visuals were very important to director Asif Kapadia and he chose tremendous locations to film at that transferred to the screen real well. The film is supposed to look pretty dreary and has a lot of somewhat isolated settings in the south. It gives off a very dark feeling to it and has a nice presentation that suits the movie perfectly.
Score: 8.8
The Extras
Making of The Return – Producers Jeffrey Silver and Aaron Ryder, writer Adam Sussman, director Asif Kapadia and Sarah Michelle Gellar – along with Peter ‘O Brien, Adam Scott and a set designer – talk about the concept of the film and the presentation of it. They also talk about the main characters of the film and how the actors have a connection to the parts that they play. I think this really made it clear what the movie as a whole was about and is definitely worth checking out after you watch the feature. (8:33)
Deleted Scenes:
1 – Joanna drives to Marlin’s site where she is supposed to get her sell, and as she walks to the building, Kurt comes up behind her and tries to talk to her. He says he’s sorry and offers to go for a beer, and Joanna says he needs to get over it and she has a restraining order, which Kurt said expired. 1:23
This actually could have been good to have in the film itself. I think it gives Joanna a bit of an edge, which might have come too early in the film, but at least it would tell us a little bit more about the relationship between Kurt and her.
2 – Joanna goes to the Livestock Auction site that Terry works at and ends up talking to a man about stuff she really doesn’t understand. She ends up blowing whatever they were discussing, which is likely some sort of sale as they were going over production numbers. Joanna had no idea what she was talking about. 1:36
This was a fine scene to delete. It’s even a bit confusing really, and any unnecessary confusion is, well … unnecessary.
3 – Joanna is walking down a path with her car left behind her. She is walking toward Terry’s house. He appears in his yard when he sees her there. She thanks him (for helping her with Kurt), and he says okay. She tries to make small talk and asks if he just moved in and if he lives by himself. She’s sorry to drop in like this but just wanted to thank him. She walks away, stops, turns, and asks if she can buy him a beer later. He says no, but he agrees to let her buy him lunch the next day when she has to be at the cattle auction. He watches her walk away, intently. 2:47
This varies from the film because when she first goes to his house, he’s not there right away and she just walks in and looks around. He doesn’t appear until she has a vision and goes out of the house. This might have been a good scene to really get the relationship between the two started, but it also doesn’t hurt too much that it wasn’t there, as the scene they did use worked out pretty well. They could have gone either, though.
4 – Joanna is driving and pulls over near a garage. She sees a mechanic working on a car and his boss tells him to keep working. The boss asks her if she needs some gas and she asks if he has a mechanic that is tall with a ponytail working there. He doesn’t and didn’t fire anyone recently. She gets back in her car as the boss somewhat berates his mechanic. 2:11
This wasn’t a necessary scene to add to the film. The garage boss is a very important character in the movie, but the way he was worked into the movie in the actual presentation was good enough.
5 – Joanna and Michelle are at a doctor’s office. The results from Joanna’s MRI are inconclusive and they want to check her out more. Joanna doesn’t want to stay, but the hallucinations and self-mutilation by Joanna give the doctor cause to want to work more with her. The doctor starts talking about a deeper kind of pain Joanna is trying to get release from, which she denies but doesn’t know why she cut herself either. 1:09
This scene is pretty short and could have worked well in the film. It’s not entirely necessary, but it does help the notion that most people around Joanna think she has a mental problem and truly don’t understand what she is experiencing.
6 – Joanna walks down some stairs and sees a little girl drawing something on a bench. She is drawing sea animals and some woman with a grocery bag, presumably the girl’s mother, asks if Joanna is going back on the road again. Joanna calls the woman Lorraine and says that she needs to keep her sales up. Lorraine wants to know how Joanna isn’t losing her mind, which she says she has already. Joanna asks the little girl to identify one of the animals she drew, and points to a seahorse. When asked why it was her favorite, Joanna said she didn’t know why. Then Joanna gets up and goes to her car to leave. As she gets into the car, she looks at and touches a seahorse figure hanging from her rear view mirror. 1:30
This scene fits in at the beginning when she is leaving St. Louis to head down to Texas. What you see in the film is basically her just getting in the car and having her moment with the seahorse figure. I think the dialogue between Joanna and Lorraine about her losing her mind could have been important. And, it also shows that she does have some friends back home. It would have added a different dynamic to Joanna’s character.
Alternate Ending – As to not spoil the movie, I won’t tell you how this goes. But, it’s very interesting to see. It would have added some different elements to earlier portions of the movie, but it takes a different twist from the ending that actually went in and makes you think a little bit. I’m not sure which one I like better, though I think this alternate ending makes a little more sense outside of an age discrepancy. But this is something that absolutely needs to be view after watching the feature. 5:44
The 411: The Return is a very creative, carefully thought-out movie that keeps the viewer interested throughout. Be warned that a good portion of the film moves pretty slow and picks up in pace toward the tail end. But it’s definitely a movie worth checking out and even worth seeing a second time just to try and pick up some of the little things you may have missed the first go around. It’s also one of the best films Sarah Michelle Gellar has been involved in, and might just be the best to be perfectly honest. I definitely recommend picking up a copy on DVD.
