Away From Her

All is well on the technical front of this DVD, with both picture and sound nice and sharp. When it comes to the extras, however, it falls a little short. Julie Christie - who provides the commentary - is a genial enough host but her comments on the film are very sporadic and pretty random. Some offer insight, such as her thoughts on the role, why she almost didn't take the role - "I didn't wan tto be cold... that and learning Canadian, accents are hard work". Others, however, such as her admiration for ice hockey, have precious little to do with the film.

Given that there are several long stretches when she says nothing at all, the track would have been greatly enhanced by input from director Sarah Polley, who adapted the book into a screenplay or even some additional banter from Christie's co-star Gordon Pinsent.

Watching the commentary, however, you can't help but be struck again by the compelling performances of Christie and Pinsent, so much so that you tune out Christie's voiceover in favour of going the emotional distance with her character again.

Also included are five deleted scenes. The longest of these, Lost In Paris, features an episode in which Fiona gets lost and is helped home by a policewoman - the actor must be pleased she's included in the extras since the ditching of this scene means her character is totally eradicated from the finished movie. In the case of the others: Silly Lake, He's Here, Sweater Bingo and Life Is Complicated, it is pretty easy to see why they were left out for reasons of pacing and retaining ambiguity about Fiona's relationship with Aubrey. Again, some input from the director would have been interesting here.

Certainly not the worst DVD package ever put together - and well worth buying for the film alone - but it still feels as though, if you'll pardon the pun, they've forgotten to put enough in.