Extra Scoop
'Patch Adams' DVD offers dose of insight

By Jordan Riefe
Special to The Advertiser

"Patch Adams" (Universal Studios), 1998
PG-13
116 minutes
Robin Williams, Monica Potter, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Peter Coyote

An eccentric doctor discovers the healing powers of laughter.

Robin Williams plays Hunter "Patch" Adams, who uses laughter as medicine for a sick patient in "Patch Adams." Williams is a med student risking his career by defying the medical establishment.

A 16-minute making-of doc called "The Medicinal Value of Laughter" goes beyond the usual promotional dreck, shedding light on how a project navigates the Hollywood system from book to movie. Interviews with the real Patch Adams reveal a nutty-professorial type with blue-streaked gray hair, a handlebar moustache and a pitchfork earring. "Take 10 And Call Me In The Morning: Words of Inspiration from Patch Adams M.D." is a list of inspirational quotes, books and Web sites; it's a feature that amounts to filler on an otherwise loaded DVD.

Disc 2 provides three storyboard-to-film comparisons along with six deleted scenes. Principal among them is a series featuring Patch Adams' mother. The scenes are of an expository nature, filling in the troubled background of Adams and the death of his father.

"Notting Hill" (Universal Studios), 1999
PG-13
124 minutes
Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, Rhys Ifans, Hugh Bonneville, Emma Chambers

The owner of a bookstore in London's Notting Hill section becomes the lover of the world's biggest movie star.

"'Notting Hill' is a fairy story," says director Roger Michell in "Spotlight on Location," a making-of doc. "It's the story of the princess and the pauper." Does he mean "The Prince and the Pauper"? If so, he's mistaken; the two have nothing in common.

One thing this two-disc Ultimate Edition DVD does have is lots of extras. First up are the deleted scenes, the most memorable of which is one where Thacker (Grant) tries to break it to his parents that he's dating a famous movie star. An alternate ending features the principals gathered around a restaurant table with Thacker expounding on life in the fast lane: "When you love the girl, it's all worth it. The End. Does that answer your question?" Sounds like it should work, but it doesn't. Good thing they ended it the way they did.

"Seasonal Walk on Portobello Road" is a short doc about how they managed to capture four seasons in one continuous take as Thacker makes his way through the busy marketplace. Best of all is "Hugh Grant's Movie Tips," a jokey walk through the set with Grant as he deadpans with crew members . Fans will love it while non-fans can't help but be amused.

"The Family Man" (Universal Pictures), 2000
PG-13
126 minutes
Nicolas Cage, Tea Leoni, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven, Saul Rubinek

A high-powered Wall Street bachelor wakes up one morning to find himself on the road not taken — his life the way it would be if he had married his college sweetheart.

Various outtakes and nine deleted scenes make up the bulk of the extras on this disc. Most of them are extended bits that were probably cut for time. Seeing them here, you get the feeling the film is better off without them.

The outtakes mostly feature Cage and co-star Jeremy Piven having a terrible time keeping a straight face. The making-of doc, "Spotlight on Location," takes us through much of the usual promotional twaddle, but we get some insight into how director Brett Ratner (who comes off as an oily Hollywood clichÚ) persuaded the studio he was the right man for the job.

Commentary abounds on this disc, with director Ratner and writers David Diamond and David Weissman taking up one track, producer Marc Abraham on another and a third track provided by composer Danny Elfman. Rounding out the disc is a music video of Seal's "This Could Be Heaven."

"Meet Joe Black" (Universal Pictures), 1988
PG-13
180 minutes
Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Claire Forlani, Marcia Gay Harden

Based on the classic film "Death Takes A Holiday," a wealthy businessman on the eve of retiring is confronted by a mysterious stranger, Death, who is smitten by the businessman's daughter.

The best thing about this two-disc set is that you get two films, "Meet Joe Black" and the classic on which it's based, "Death Takes A Holiday," a gutsy move on the part of Universal, considering audiences were cool to this saga of Death smitten by Cupid. "How the hell do I play Death?" asks Pitt in the making-of doc, "Spotlight On Location."

Most of "Spotlight" features the usual promotional goo: Pitt on the genius of Hopkins, Hopkins on how talented Pitt is, Forlani on how talented they both are, and director Martin Brest on how gifted everyone is. Oddly, there is no commentary by Brest; in fact there is no commentary at all.

"Saving Silverman" (Columbia Tristar), 2001
R
99 minutes
Jason Biggs, Amanda Peet, Jack Black, Steve Zahn, Neil Diamond

Two friends hatch a scheme to save their best friend from marrying the wrong girl.

There are two versions of this film on DVD, a PG-13 version that appeared in theaters last spring and an oh-so-naughty R version. The latter includes about nine minutes of scenes and some raunchy dialogue, nothing too risque.

Outtakes include Jack Black clowning for the camera (not his finest moments), and hurling a string of invective from the passenger seat of a van. On the original version, the dialogue is bleeped; on the R version we hear it in all its ringing charm. Commentary from director Dennis Dugan is light and funny, but we find him reaching again and again. Before the credits even come up, he tells us how funny the movie is and how much we'll like it. Later, he even goes so far as to compare Jason Biggs to Cary Grant. But overall it's not a bad listen including some funny anecdotes about the making of the film.

This column is written for The Advertiser by Jordan Riefe, a Los Angeles-based writer who is the West Coast radio correspondent for Variety magazine and a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association. His film reviews appear in Hotdog magazines, and he is syndicated throughout Europe and Asia.