Search - Sudden Manhattan on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1996 DVD Release: 02/19/2002 Format: DVD Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 21 mins Studio: Vanguard Cinema Members Wishing: 1 Genres: Comedy, Mystery, Comedy Thriller, Urban Comedy

In the bizarre style of director Hal Hartley, for whom she performed in The Unbelievable Truth and Trust, actress Adrienne Shelly's debut as a director and screenwriter is a story about a group of young Manhattanites trying desperately to figure out what life is all about. Donna (Shelly) is a restless, jobless young woman with a lover, Adam (Tim Guinee) who is not only impotent but more interested in reading Russian literature than in having sex. Her college professor, Murphy (Roger Rees), is an off-the-wall Englishman who has a secret, unrequited affection for Donna. Donna is neurotic, depressed, and uneasy about life's meaninglessness, to the point where getting out of bed each morning is a chore. Her life changes one morning when she hears a strange rumbling coming from her plate of scrambled eggs. She looks out the window and witnesses a murder, but when the police come, the body has disappeared, and they dismiss Donna's testimony as mad ravings. After seeing several other murders, she fears for her sanity. She consults a gypsy fortuneteller, Dominga (Louise Lasser). Dominga points out a direction for Donna to follow, and she sets off with Adam, her girlfriend Georgie (Hynden Walch) and two eccentric friends, Ian (Paul Cassell) and Alex (John Sklaroff), to investigate the murders. The movie become a surreal descent into existential madness, with an increasingly outrageous, often incomprehensible plot. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Adrienne Shelly - Donna
Tim Guinee - Adam
Roger Rees - Murphy
Louise Lasser - Dominga
Hynden Walch - Georgie

Adrienne Sheely's quirky Sudden Manhattan comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Stereo. There are neither subtitles nor closed-captions on this release. Supplemental materials include a commentary track recorded by the director, an introduction from the director, and the trailer. This is a fine release from Vanguard. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide