Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Stephen Fry in America Blu-ray Movie Review

Fry's expedition may be as cramped as his taxi, but it still offers an enjoyable ride...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown July 28, 2010

Between Last Chance to See and now Stephen Fry in America, I've spent twelve hours following British actor, writer, filmmaker, documentarian, funnyman and television personality Stephen Fry (Peter's Friends, Wilde) across the globe. Much to my surprise though, it hasn't been a chore. Fry is a charming, refreshingly restrained comedian; a rare breed of comic the likes of which hasn't been seen in the States since the early '70s. His hosting stints are equally disarming, and often prove to be as engaging as they are entertaining. No, In America doesn't afford Fry or the New World much breathing room, but taken on its own terms, the series goes beyond what I expected from a six-hour jaunt across the U.S. Fry cleverly avoids well-known sites and sights, painting a portrait of a sprawling, uniquely diverse nation and its melting pot of peoples rather than compiling a tiresome compendium of tourist attractions. More to the point, he carefully navigates around the politics and issues that have made our country such a manic player on the global stage, focusing instead on the small southern towns, intriguing heartland hideaways, gorgeous northern vistas and everyday men and women that comprise the true spirit of America.

Fry sacks a small town in western Maryland...

Armed with little more than subtle wit and a quaint English taxi cab -- the sort Michael Caine might commandeer in The Ipcress File -- Fry begins his tour of the United States on the chilly northern shores of the East Coast. Rocketing from Maine to Maryland, he tackles eleven states in one fell swoop, and even stops by Washington D.C. for good measure. From there, he winds his way from Virginia to Florida, documenting the eccentricities and hospitality of the Deep South; follows the Mississippi River all the way from Louisiana to Minnesota, chiming in on everything from Bayou voodoo to the poor quality of American cheeses; makes the long journey from the mountains of Montana to the contentious borders of Texas, surveying the vast Midwest along the way; braves the Rockies in the series' most modestly paced episode, a tour of the True West that leads him through New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Nevada; and ends his journey at the Pacific, traveling from California to Washington before leaving the Continental U.S. to visit Alaska and Hawaii. Fry certainly doesn't provide a comprehensive dissection of America and her states, nor does he claim to. His is a genuine curiosity toward the land and its people; a fascination with a country that extends into the icy Arctic Circle, has outlying islands in the Pacific Ocean, bends around the Gulf of Mexico, and stretches into the North Atlantic.

Oddly enough, In America seems primed to disappoint non-Americans, particularly anyone who would prefer to see the crowded streets of Times Square over the oft-overlooked wildernesses of New York, Hollywood over San Francisco, larger cities like Anchorage over barren whaling villages like Barrow, and really any widely known locale over the dozens of quirky, off-road rest stops Fry showcases during his travels. Native viewers, on the other hand, are more likely to enjoy the chummy Brit's obsession with kitschy towns and colorful dives -- many of which were as new to me as they were to Fry, and I'm fairly well-traveled -- as well as his utter bemusement at a rowdy college football game and his hilarious reaction to Mount Rushmore, a overly celebrated national attraction he shrugs off with, "it's all a bit silly, isn't it?" (Finally, someone who sees what I see.) He learns how to hypnotize a lobster in Maine, makes his own flavor of ice cream at Ben & Jerry's in Vermont (the aptly named "Even Stephen"), trails a group of miners into a West Virginian coal mine, and attends parole board deliberations in Alabama. He stops by a Blues club owned by Morgan Freeman, teases a Canadian border patrolman in Montana, tours the devastation left in Hurricane Katrina's wake with a veteran whose hometown is more reminiscent of war-torn Iraq than the Land of the Free. He has breakfast with Ted Turner before touring the media mogul's Bison ranch (50,000 beasts strong), samples hearty American food in the Dakotas, meets married hippies who live in an abandoned Cold War missile base in Kansas, and even gains access to a "body farm," a high-security research facility devoted to studying the manner in which corpses decay in the elements. Maybe it's just me, but I'll take Fry's blend of surprise and small-town life over the familiar sights of Disney World, Philadelphia, Denver, or Maui any day of the week.

That doesn't mean Fry is all smiles and cordial nods. Florida stirs up a few choice words: "This is my first visit to Miami and I have to say the word "hole" is certainly close to my lips. It's hot. It has palm trees. I'm sure it has some sort of heart and soul, a meaning and a kind of delightful center or something, but I have yet to find it. It's just horrible, horrible concrete buildings." (Cue laughter from my comfortably summery, wonderfully rural Appalachian abode.) "It has that feeling of being designed as a holiday paradise, and indeed has all the dreary things that go with the word "paradise" like palm trees and huge cut-out parrots that promise so much and deliver so staggeringly little. I would rather be curled up in a snowy cabin sipping a warm whiskey or, frankly, a mug of Horlicks than spend half an hour in this rotting place." Suffice to say, as amiable as Fry may be during his stay, he rarely cloaks his intentions or sugarcoats his impressions. If In America stumbles, it's when weaving the various threads of its six episodes into one cohesive whole. The thrust of Fry's message is the overwhelming variety the U.S. has to offer -- be it social, cultural, geological, philosophical or historical -- but his junket is sometimes as erratic as the patchwork quilt of states he hurries across. Some will laugh off the series' inherent disconnect and revel in the eclectic nature of Fry's amusing 50-state safari. Others will find his approach curt and his whirlwind expedition exhausting.

Divisive qualities aside, Stephen Fry in America entertained me to no end. It isn't without its faults, but anyone expecting a weighty, insightful overview of fifty heterogeneous states in six hour-long episodes is missing the point. My wife and I laughed, grinned and eagerly plowed through the entire series in two sittings, and *gasp* learned plenty of fun facts about our intracontinental backyard along the way. I couldn't ask for much more from a British comedian's tour of a vast, nearly inexhaustible country like ours.

Stephen Fry in America Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Like Last Chance to See, the Blu-ray edition of Stephen Fry in America arrives with a competent, reasonably impressive 1080i/AVC-encoded presentation that looks quite good for a television documentary series. The autumnal hues of a vast, West Virginian forest are warm and inviting, the icy expanse of an Alaskan fishing village pops, and the lush green foliage and rich blue seas of Hawaii are gorgeous. Sure, black levels aren't always entirely resolved and skintones are occasionally oversaturated, but neither one becomes a significant issue. For the most part though, shadows are nice and deep, dimensionality is decidedly decent, and Fry's cheeks only flush in extreme temperatures. Detail is noteworthy as well (particularly for a show filmed in a variety of diverse locales with low-end cameras). Fine textures and pint-sized wonders populate closeups and wide vistas, and object definition is sharp and satisfying. Complaints? Slight ringing, intermittent noise, faint banding and negligible artifacting are apparent from time to time, and the presentation has the unmistakable sheen of a 1080i television series. Still, none of the transfer's anomalies are persistent or prevalent enough to raise any serious red flags. Temper lofty hopes and raise low expectations accordingly.

Stephen Fry in America Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As far as I'm concerned, the only downside to BFS Entertainment's release of Stephen Fry in America is that it doesn't feature a lossless audio track. However, its 960kbps DTS stereo mix is more than capable, reproducing the television series' original two-channel sound design with ease. Fry's narration is crystal clear, and his on-location interviews and conversations aren't forced to contend with anything other than the wild weather, chatty crowds, and crashing waves he encounters from state to state. Even amidst the dull roar of a rowdy college football game, little disappoints. It would have been nice to hear their cries earn the support of the LFE channel, or to completely immerse myself in the cheers of ten-thousand rabid sports fans, but for a stereo track, the results are more than adequate.

Stephen Fry in America Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 2-disc Blu-ray edition of Stephen Fry in America doesn't include any special features.

Stephen Fry in America Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Stephen Fry in America isn't going to please everyone, but it did wriggle its way into my heart. Not only is Fry an absolutely charming, unexpectedly witty tourist, his fifty-state excursion (though a tad erratic at times) surprises as often as it amuses. BFS Entertainment's Blu-ray release doesn't sell itself -- a standard DTS stereo track and a barebones disc aren't exactly enticing -- but its video presentation is strong enough to warrant a recommendation. If you're already tossing Last Chance to See in your Amazon cart, be sure to add Stephen Fry in America as well.