DVD REVIEWS OF NEW RELEASES.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

View this 'Pride' without prejudice 

There seemed to be little enthusiasm for ``Pride & Prejudice'' before it came out last fall. Do we need another Jane Austen film? Wasn't the BBC miniseries shown on PBS in the '90s the ultimate version anyway? And wasn't Colin Firth from it just a dreamboat of a Mr. Darcy?

Even after the film came out, too many critics' prejudgments clouded their eyes. Though the film garnered much praise, there were always the buts, as in Matthew Macfadyen doesn't stand a chance compared to Firth's Darcy.

And then there were the Austen-ite carpers, who nitpicked the adaptation. To them, all I can say is: No, the film was not the book. If that's what you want, then read the novel. Sweet Jane is long dead, and we are in different times. What is lasting in her work are her descriptions and insights into the nature of human relationships and ambitions, which have remained largely unchanged and which is why any art endures.

So, what a number of critics missed was one of the best films of the year. Period. Keira Knightley received acclaim as the strong-willed Elizabeth Bennet, including a best-actress Oscar nomination. She is an actress accomplished beyond her young years.

But what makes this ``Pride & Prejudice'' different (besides an ampersand) is the direction of Joe Wright, whose few credits are mostly in British television. Wright, along with his screenwriter, Deborah Moggach, has unstuffed the stuffiness that plagues most adaptations of 19th-century English novels.

The film introduces us to the Bennet household through intricate shots that move seamlessly from the farm scene on the outside to bustling activity on the inside of the unassuming country home. You see the family for who they are. The father (Donald Sutherland) is a landholder of modest means who has five daughters; his wife (Brenda Blethyn) is determined to marry them off to rich men in order to secure the family's fortunes. There is much cackling going on both inside and outside the house, which is why the father prefers the quiet of his study.

Of course, much of the drama goes on in studies, drawing rooms, parlors and ballrooms, but Wright opens things up while still making connections. Watch how he tracks from room to room in a mansion while a large ball is going on. Characters pop in and out of sight, all the while giving you a sense of their relationships to each other, both personal and formal. Wright has jettisoned some of the furnishings of the novel in order to tell the story visually.

What remains intact is the charming romantic story of two people who spend a lot of time misunderstanding and miscommunicating with each other before hearing the right words. Wright may added some sunshine to this un-Austened ``Pride & Prejudice,'' but the woman who created such an adventurous soul as Elizabeth would probably be pleased. Lizzie didn't into want to be put into a box - and neither, I imagine, did Jane.

The extras include commentary by Wright and a featurette on how he shot the complex dance scene as well as interviews with the actors.

``Pride & Prejudice'' (Universal, $29.98)

'Walk the Line'

The most revealing scene in ``Walk the Line,'' the biopic of country giant Johnny Cash, comes when the singer-songwriter first auditions for Sam Phillips, the legendary producer who had already signed Elvis Presley to his rock 'n' roll stable at Sun Records.

Cash (played by Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix) and his two-man backup band had just played a tepid rendition of a gospel-country standard. The story told was that Phillips said, ``Go home and sin, and then come back with a song I can sell.'' In the movie, Phillips (Dallas Roberts) tells Cash to dig down and find some honest emotion, challenging him to sing the one song he would if he had one to sing.

Cash (Phoenix doing his own singing) launches into a tentative, and then firmer, version of ``Folsom Prison Blues'' with the line, ``I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.'' Pious one minute, a killer the next - that's what made Cash so fascinating. He did, indeed, walk the line. Had the movie gone in that direction, it would have been more interesting.

It's not that the film ignores the forces pulling on this walking contradiction of a man. We see Cash trying to have a conventional marriage to his first wife, Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin), while leading a rock 'n' roll life on the road. We see him trying to please his harsh, unpleaseable father (Robert Patrick). We see his religious side, his wild side. There are hints at his musical pulls (his early championing of Bob Dylan) and, of course, his concern with those less fortunate and imprisoned, the most famous example being his concert at Folsom Prison. But these are left more like signposts and are not roads taken.

Directed by James Mangold, ``Walk the Line'' instead follows a more conventional arc - the trials and tribulations of Cash's youth and adulthood, including the too-familiar drug problems, which are overplayed in the film.

It is the marvelous performances of Phoenix - who shows Cash coming to life on stage - and Reese Witherspoon (an Oscar favorite in the best actress category) - who embodies June Carter's fire - that lift the film. ``Walk the Line'' also has some really enjoyable musical moments. Phoenix and Witherspoon click on some numbers like ``Jackson,'' and Witherspoon is touching on ``Wildwood Flower.'' Perhaps more than anything, ``Walk the Line'' is a love story. Carter and Cash were two soul mates who endured a lot of obstacles before finally being wed. (They were married for more than 30 years and died within months of each other.)

``Walk the Line'' may not have captured the many sides of Johnny Cash, but it certainly does entertain. The extras on the two-disc set include commentary by Mangold, extended musical sequences, interviews about the film from the filmmakers, features on Cash's musical comeback, and his and Carter's long relationship.

``Walk the Line'' (Fox, $29.99)

'Where the Truth Lies,' 'The Ice Harvest'

There are some who will be put off by Atom Egoyan's ``Where the Truth Lies'' because of the tawdry nature of the story and the sexuality (it had an NC-17 rating). From a novel by Rupert Holmes, the film involves a '50s comedy-musical duo much like Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

Colin Firth is the crooner Vince Collins and Kevin Bacon is the comic Lanny Morris. The movie takes place in 1957 and 1972. In the latter year, Alison Lohman plays a young journalist who is helping Collins write a book. One condition is that he is to talk about the mysterious unsolved death in '57 of a college student named Maureen O'Flaherty, whose body was found in the pair's suite.

As Collins reluctantly and cryptically unravels the mystery, Egoyan (``Felicia's Journey,'' ``Ararat'') delves into the world of sex, power, dirty secrets and games played.

``Where the Truth Lies'' is like a very graphic gossip novel come to life, clever and diverting, but not revealing, despite the flesh.

< Somewhere in ``The Ice Harvest,'' an offbeat, slightly comic film noir directed by Harold Ramis (``Groundhog Day,'' ``Analyze This''), are the seeds of a good film. Pulp-novel characters like Kansas City mob lawyer Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) and his smooth partner in crime Vic Cavanaugh (Billy Bob Thorton) populate the film. The two have conspired to rip off Charlie's boss, Bill Guerrard (Randy Quaid), a mobster with a strip-club empire.

The whole story takes place on Christmas Eve, as Charlie and Vic go about their business, trying not to rouse suspicions before slipping out of time early the next day. For Charlie, that means visits to strip clubs, one run by Renata (Connie Nielsen), a femme fatale who the lawyer has eyes for. Later, he runs into the drunken Pete (an amusing Oliver Platt), who is married to his ex-wife. This results with an uncomfortable meeting with his ex-family. Oh, yeah, there's a snowstorm, too.

Neither completely comic nor completely darkly comic, the film lurches back and forth, making too many stops, and becomes a long night, even at 89 minutes.

Other new releases are listed below.

``The Ice Harvest'' (Universal, $29.98)

``Where the Truth Lies'' (Unrated Theatrical Edition) (Columbia, $26.96)

``Yours, Mine & Ours'' (Paramount, $29.95)

``Gospel Road'' (Fox, $19.98)

``The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till'' (Velocity/Thinkfilm, $29.99)

'Dog Day Afternoon,' 'Network'

There are two special editions of Sidney Lumet films that are a must for film fans - ```Dog Day Afternoon'' and ``Network.''

The 1975 ``Dog Day Afternoon'' starred Al Pacino as Sonny, who, along with his dim-witted friend Sal (a brilliant John Cazale), try to rob a Brooklyn bank in order to get money for Sonny's transvestite lover (Chris Sarandon). The fumbling thieves soon find themselves trapped inside the bank, holding customers and workers hostage as police, media and a curious, restless crowd converge.

It's the dog days of summer (the hot, muggy listless times of August), and both Sonny and the police, led by Charles Durning's Moretti are feeling the heat. The scene - fueled by media coverage - becomes a media circus, which Sonny uses as he leads the crowd in a chant of ``Attica, Attica,'' a reference to the bloody prison riot a few years before.

``Dog Day,'' which was loosely based on a true story, is brilliantly taut - wonderfully, bizarrely comic at times - with some amazing performances. Pacino captures all the nuances of the sensitive Sonny, and works so well with Cazale, who was also in the ``Godfather'' films. The extras on the two-disc set includes informative commentary from the still-active Lumet, now in his 80s, and some interesting featurettes. One aspect of the film is its trenchant look at the effect of the media, which Lumet would explore further in his 1976 ``Network.''

Respected playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky wrote the script for ``Network,'' which contains the memorable line that has become part of the popular culture - ``I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore.'' It was a cry by veteran network anchor newsman Howard Beale (Peter Finch, who won a best actor Oscar posthumously), who is being fired after 25 years because ratings-mad TV exec Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway, who picked up a best actress Oscar) wants something hotter. When Finch goes on the air and declares he's planning to kill himself, he becomes a media messiah. Of course, Diana makes him a star. ``Network'' brilliantly anticipates reality TV as well as the shallowness of our news coverage today.

Extras include Lumet's commentary, a featurette on Chayefsky and documentaries on the film. Both films are available in a set with the recently released special-edition ``All the President's Men.''

``Network (Two-Disc Special Edition)'' (Warner, $26.98)

``Dog Day Afternoon (Two-Disc Special Edition)'' (Warner, $26.98)

``Controversial Classics, Vol. 2 - The Power of Media'' (``All the President's Men,'' ``Network,'' ``Dog Day Afternoon'' (Warner, $59.98)

'Bleak House,' 'Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen,' 'Monty Python' and more TV

Those who saw the recent version of Charles Dickens' ``Bleak House'' on PBS' ``Masterpiece Theatre'' know that it's a bit slow for the first couple of hours of the eight-hour miniseries. Much of this is due to the complicated multicharacter plot. But if you persist, you'll be rewarded with an engrossing tale that heats up. Former ``X-Filer'' Gillian Anderson gives the perfect pitch to her role as the bored, wealthy Lady Dedlock in a story set in England in the 1850s about a long, drawn-out court battle over a large estate. The rest of the cast, including Charles Dance as scheming lawyer Tulkinghorn, is excellent.

Another ``Masterpiece Theatre'' miniseries of note is ``Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen.'' Anne-Marie Duff is splendid as the legendary monarch, matching Cate Blanchett's turn in ``Elizabeth.'' The miniseries explores the entire sweep of Elizabeth's long reign, which included love affairs, intrigue, political machinations, religious clashes and wars. ``Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen'' accomplishes that rare trick of humanizing a historic figure while still telling the history in an interesting and intelligent way.

``Monty Python'' fans probably have all these performances already, but there are DVD titles of individual members' ``best'' moments. Think of them as greatest-hits compilations.

Other TV-related DVD titles are listed below.

``Bleak House'' (BBC Warner, $39.98)

``Masterpiece Theatre: Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen'' (WGBH, $29.95)

``Monty Python's Flying Circus: Graham Chapman's Personal Best'' (A&E, $19.95)

``Monty Python's Flying Circus: John Cleese's Personal Best'' (A&E, $19.95)

``Monty Python's Flying Circus: Terry Gilliam's Personal Best'' (A&E, $19.95)

``Monty Python's Flying Circus: Terry Jones' Personal Best'' (A&E, $19.95)

``Charmed - The Complete Fourth Season'' (Paramount, $49.99)

``NewsRadio - The Complete Third Season'' (Columbia, $39.95)

``The Avengers: Emma Peel Collector's Edition Bonus Disc'' (A&E, $24.95)

``Ellen - The Complete Season Three'' (A&E, $49.95)

``The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo'' (PBS/Paramount, $24.99)

Rob Lowman, [phone]

robert.lowman(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1) KEIRA KNIGHTLEY and MATTHEW MacFADYEN in ``PRIDE AND PREJUDICE''

(2) JOAQUIN PHOENIX in ``WALK THE LINE''

(3) BILLY BOB THORNTON and JOHN CUSACK in ``THE ICE HARVEST''

(4) GILLIAN ANDERSON in ``BLEAK HOUSE''