THE STARS FELL ON HENRIETTA (1995) - Andy's Warner Archive Review
Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2024 12:45 pm
5/10
What looked on paper like it was going to be a prestige release for Warner Bros. and producer Clint Eastwood, THE STARS FELL ON HENRIETTA (110 mins., 1995, PG) was basically banished to a token release in select markets in September 1995 before debuting on home video where it disappeared with barely a trace. Warner Archive has remastered this little-seen picture for Blu-Ray this month and it’s a sad case of a project that looked like it couldn’t miss on paper simply not working on-screen.
This despite a great cast, led by Robert Duvall as a down-on-his-luck oil man who, in the midst of the Great Depression, tries his luck one more time at unearthing a fortune while traveling to California. Meeting a struggling farmer (Aidan Quinn), his wife (Francis Fisher) and family, Duvall’s enigmatic Mr. Cox leads one more attempt at mining oil in spite of reluctance both from Quinn and another oil man (Brian Dennehy) who knows – and distrusts – Cox and his methods (including his oil-sniffing cat!) from the good o’l days.
Eastwood produced “Henrietta” and most of his key production team from the period – production designer Henry Bumstead, cinematographer Bruce Surtees and editor Joel Cox among them – were brought onboard this not-inexpensive $13 million character drama. For whatever reason – perhaps the relative inexperience of actor James Keach, who directed – the movie just doesn’t gel. There’s a weird disconnect between scenes in the movie, no comfortable editorial rhythm ever established, while odd visual changes occur between shots that give off a haphazard look to the picture. The story, scripted by Philip Railsback, also never seems like it’s ever on the right track in terms of finding a dramatic focus – it all just sort of lies there, unable to generate much emotion, and the ending just sort of fizzles out.
It’s a disappointment that extends to Warner Archive’s Blu-Ray, which features a highly uneven transfer (2.35) with exterior shots that have been heavily processed with noise reduction. Interior scenes, on the other hand, are properly detailed – so whether or not this is an issue with the source material, I can’t say for sure, but it’s certainly odd. (It’s possible, sensing the film was a bust, Warner threw in the towel on the film in post-production, as evidenced by a poorly edited “storm sequence” early in the picture that’s treated like an afterthought).
Jazz musician David Benoit wrote a lovely, low-key score for the film but it, too, fares poorly in a 5.1 DTS MA mix where the music is inexplicably mixed at a very low volume. I haven’t seen the film before so I can’t compare it to earlier releases, but my hunch is something is off with this mix as there’s very little stereo activity and much of the sound is directed into the center, including the score. The trailer, which pushes hard on the “feels” and uses James Newton Howard’s score from “Wyatt Earp,” is included.
What looked on paper like it was going to be a prestige release for Warner Bros. and producer Clint Eastwood, THE STARS FELL ON HENRIETTA (110 mins., 1995, PG) was basically banished to a token release in select markets in September 1995 before debuting on home video where it disappeared with barely a trace. Warner Archive has remastered this little-seen picture for Blu-Ray this month and it’s a sad case of a project that looked like it couldn’t miss on paper simply not working on-screen.
This despite a great cast, led by Robert Duvall as a down-on-his-luck oil man who, in the midst of the Great Depression, tries his luck one more time at unearthing a fortune while traveling to California. Meeting a struggling farmer (Aidan Quinn), his wife (Francis Fisher) and family, Duvall’s enigmatic Mr. Cox leads one more attempt at mining oil in spite of reluctance both from Quinn and another oil man (Brian Dennehy) who knows – and distrusts – Cox and his methods (including his oil-sniffing cat!) from the good o’l days.
Eastwood produced “Henrietta” and most of his key production team from the period – production designer Henry Bumstead, cinematographer Bruce Surtees and editor Joel Cox among them – were brought onboard this not-inexpensive $13 million character drama. For whatever reason – perhaps the relative inexperience of actor James Keach, who directed – the movie just doesn’t gel. There’s a weird disconnect between scenes in the movie, no comfortable editorial rhythm ever established, while odd visual changes occur between shots that give off a haphazard look to the picture. The story, scripted by Philip Railsback, also never seems like it’s ever on the right track in terms of finding a dramatic focus – it all just sort of lies there, unable to generate much emotion, and the ending just sort of fizzles out.
It’s a disappointment that extends to Warner Archive’s Blu-Ray, which features a highly uneven transfer (2.35) with exterior shots that have been heavily processed with noise reduction. Interior scenes, on the other hand, are properly detailed – so whether or not this is an issue with the source material, I can’t say for sure, but it’s certainly odd. (It’s possible, sensing the film was a bust, Warner threw in the towel on the film in post-production, as evidenced by a poorly edited “storm sequence” early in the picture that’s treated like an afterthought).
Jazz musician David Benoit wrote a lovely, low-key score for the film but it, too, fares poorly in a 5.1 DTS MA mix where the music is inexplicably mixed at a very low volume. I haven’t seen the film before so I can’t compare it to earlier releases, but my hunch is something is off with this mix as there’s very little stereo activity and much of the sound is directed into the center, including the score. The trailer, which pushes hard on the “feels” and uses James Newton Howard’s score from “Wyatt Earp,” is included.