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Overnighters (The)
R2 - United Kingdom - Dogwoof Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (26th January 2015). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and Extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** A modern-day Grapes of Wrath, Jesse Moss's award-winning documentary The Overnighters engages and dramatises a set of universal societal themes: the promise and limits of re-invention, redemption and compassion, as well as the tension between the moral imperative to "love thy neighbour" and the resistance that one small community feels when confronted by a surge of desperate, job-seeking strangers. In the tiny town of Williston, North Dakota, tens of thousands of unemployed hopefuls show up with dreams of honest work and a big paycheck under the lure of the oil boom. However, busloads of newcomers chasing a broken American Dream step into the stark reality of slim work prospects and nowhere to sleep. The town lacks the infrastructure to house the overflow of migrants, even for those who do find gainful employment. Pastor Jay Reinke of the Concordia Lutheran Church, is driven to deliver the migrants some dignity. Night after night, he converts his church into a makeshift dorm and counselling centre, opening the church's doors to allow the "Overnighters" (as he calls them) to stay for a night, a week or longer. Many who take shelter with Reinke are living on society's fringes and with chequered pasts, and their presence starts affecting the dynamics of the small community. When the City Council threatens to shut the controversial Overnighters program down, Reinke must make a decision which leads to profound consequences that he never imagined.
Video
Documentary specialist distributor Dogwoof, have released "The Overnighters" on to DVD only (at time of writing) in the United Kingdom, using an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (the original aspect ratio is likely 1.85:1 though I was unable to find confirmation). The picture quality isn't good, but not notable. As with a lot of documentaries, the majority of the footage in "The Overnighters" is filmed on the fly, so the film makers have to shoot the scenes without much of a thought for lighting, and other elements that can help produce a superior and clearer picture. The footage here generally looks pretty good, though darker scenes suffer from a lack of detail because of the lack of lighting considerations. Details in lighter scenes, whilst not showcasing particularly great clarity or sharpness, are certainly not of poor quality. Smaller details in faces, clothing, and the various location environments are visible and do not become blocky or blurry. Although blacks are not always as deep as they perhaps should be, colours are generally strong, and skin tones are natural looking, apart from in one or two scenes where they could be considered a little warm. There is no major damage to the print to talk about, and no signs of aliasing or edge enhancement. Overall, it is a good presentation, only suffering from unavoidable problems caused in production. The documentary is uncut, and runs 101:28.
Audio
Two audio options have been included: - English Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo For my viewing, I opted for the English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, which was okay, but didn't really add much on top of the stereo track which I sampled for a couple of scenes. In fact, apart from the often quiet score from documentary specialist musician T. Griffin (Informant), I can't think of any memorable or notable moments of environmental effects utilising the surrounds. Despite this, it must be said that there are some low levels of channel separation and direction present at the front of the sound stage. Dialogue is clear at all times, and there are no issues with the track such as drop outs, scratches, pops, or background hiss. The 5.1 track is adequate, but extremely basic. No subtitles have been included.
Extras
The extras start with an audio commentary with director Jesse Moss and pastor Jay Reinke. It is at times an interesting commentary that features a bit more background to certain scenes, and more details about certain people who allowed themselves to be filmed. It's quite a basic commentary, and although it doesn't really have many dead spots, there are a number of moments where both Moss and Reinke struggle to find anything relevant to say, mainly because the documentary says it all itself. Of course, the commentary becomes a little more engaging towards the end due to the turn events took, but it is overall quite a dull affair. Next up, we have a retrospective interview with pastor Jay Reinke (23:44) which took place six months after the documentary premiered. As with the main feature, Reinke is well spoken and comes across as sincere. The documentary managed to catch a huge change in Reinke's own private life and his standing within the community, and here he talks about the aftermath of the film and the events pretty bluntly. This is a much better extra than the audio commentary, and an essential watch for those who enjoyed the main feature. Next, we have a small selection of outtakes and deleted scenes: - "Welcome to Williston" (1:54) - "Jesus Didn't Have Our Neighbours" (extended scene) (7:01) - "I Used to Stay Here" (2:08) - "Our Williston Penthouse" (0:51) - "Williston Shower" (3:33) This is quite a standard selection of deleted scenes, obviously trimmed or removed for pacing issues. They are worth watching, and do add several more viewpoints to why people have traveled to Williston to look for work (especially the first scene). They show more of the emotions of these people and their struggles again come to the forefront. It was right to remove/trim these scenes down, but they certainly a welcome addition to the extras package. We end the extras with the theatrical trailer (1:26).
Overall
A very good documentary that really changed in tone in the last third, "The Overnighters" comes recommended.
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