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Numb
R1 - America - Image Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Jeremiah Chin (19th June 2008). |
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The Film
 Sometimes a movie is hard to rate, just because I know it was not made for someone like me, has nothing to do with me and has nothing I can really see me liking about it. In this case it’s “Numb” (2007), a story of Hudson (Matthew Perry) a 30 something writer suffering from depersonalization disorder, where he feels as if nothing is really there and he’s living outside his own life. Sooner or later he meets the love of his life Sara (Lynn Collins), so he tries to act normal and find a cure for his disease and various quirky misadventures. Maybe that’s it; the movie is just too quirky for me. Hudson has no apparent job other than being a pitchman for unnamed things written by his friend Tom (Kevin Pollack), but has incredible amounts of money to afford dozens of therapists and basically do whatever he wants with his life. Writer/Director Harris Goldberg tries to drive the numbness felt by Hudson home, but doesn’t really accomplish it through the directing or the writing. Originally Hudson thinks that taking 12 hits of marijuana in 12 minutes triggered his disorder, but isn’t sure. All of the directing when Perry is on drugs or feeling numb don’t really exploit his situation fully or allow the camera to stay as an observer to how he’s feeling. Perry doesn’t really sell his condition with his acting, and then the few blurry shots from the camera don’t really give the audience a feeling of what’s going on or added insight into the character of the movie. The film also relies fairly heavily on voice overs, but they don’t really help or hurt the movie at all. All these quirky misadventures start to stack up as Hudson ruins his relationship with Sara and has to get her back somehow, but that just gets him into more quirky misadventures that seem to just go on and on trying to get a feature length 90 minutes out of what could have easily been a short film. Collins is good enough as Sara, nothing spectacular, but the romance between her and Perry is there enough that I can believe that they are somehow linked in some sort of relationship, but never give off the “meant for each other” vibe that the movie wants to have. There’s nothing special to say about the acting or the writing in the movie that brings out of the lethargic state that sets in around 10 minutes into the movie. Matthew Perry plays Matthew Perry on drugs, a slowed down version of Chandler from “Friends,” (1994-2004) all the personality quirks and funny things to do that Chandler did, only looking older and slower. I’m not sure if that’s just how he gets cast after 10 years of being on the same sitcom, but that’s all he does in “Numb.” I just was not at all interested in the movie, but maybe that was the point, to make the audience feel numb to what’s going on in the movie. There’s no tugging at the heartstrings of the audience that makes you want Hudson and Sara to get together, it could go either way, in the end I wanted them to get together just so the movie would finish.
Video
“Numb” is shown in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio, and the transfer looks good. The movie just looks incredibly plain, though that may have been an artistic choice, even during the scenes where you’re supposed to be looking through Hudson’s drug induced eyes, it just feels simple.
Audio
The audio sounds good in either an English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound or English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo offered, but again it doesn’t really maximize its potential during scenes that should have off audio while the camera looks through Hudson’s eyes. There’s some ambient sound, but it isn’t jarring or do anything more to set the mood, it’s just there because it was required. Optional subtitles are included in Spanish only.
Extras
Image Entertainment has released this film featuring only a commentary, a making-of featurette and some theatrical trailers. First, the audio commentary with director Harris Goldberg, he talks about how cathartic and autobiographical the film was for him, and generally does a good job of talking about the movie all through the commentary, mostly talking about his own experiences that lead to scenes in the movie. There are funny behind the scenes stories, but overall since I didn’t really care for the movie it didn’t do much for me. Then there is the “Numb: An Inside Look” featurette that runs for 19 minutes and 10 seconds, talks with more of the cast and crew about the movie. Goldberg retreads some of the autobiographical aspects of the movie and it’s interesting to hear from the cast, but overall feels like a promotional special that shows a ton of clips from the film and talks a lot about the plot, more so than the creative “inside” aspects of the film. The “Numb” theatrical trailer runs for 1 minute and 46 seconds. There are also some prepackaged startup bonus trailers for: - “The Air I Breathe” which runs for 2 minutes and 35 seconds. - “The Color of Freedom” runs for 2 minutes and 50 seconds. - “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” runs for 1 minute and 35 seconds. - “Che” runs for 1 minute and 53 seconds.
Overall
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