Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 30, 2024

Jim Abrahams' "Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael" (1990) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include new program with Jim Abrahams; new program with screenwriter Karen Leigh Hopkins; and new program with writer and podcaster Suzanne Boleyn. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael pulls off the same trick The Desert of the Tartars does. This trick is easy to get wrong and incredibly difficult to get right. However, the two films work with drastically different material, so the mechanics of what they must do right are very different. Here’s a quick description of the trick:

An elaborate buildup that prepares for a spectacular event that never materializes is at the center of the trick. The audience is intentionally misled into anticipating the elaborate event, but the narrative is structured by developments that occur around it. Eventually, it is revealed to the audience that the main event was the sum of all these developments, which are always populated with memorable characters. In The Desert of the Tartars, an inexperienced lieutenant is dispatched to a remote fortress in an exotic land that is supposed to be raided by a formidable enemy that is never revealed.

In Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, the elaborate event is a big star’s return to her hometown of Clyde, Ohio. It has been fifteen years since Roxy Carmichael unexpectedly fled the sleepy town for greener pastures, and now everyone is super excited to see her again. To honor their homegrown star, the town’s mayor and his assistants have worked hard to prepare a massive celebration with free drinks, free food, and even a couple of bands that they have been told sound pretty darn good.

But several people in town are looking forward to the star’s return for completely different, far more specific reasons. Dinky Bossetti (Winona Ryder), the town’s most charming and abused outcast, is convinced that she has found enough evidence to conclude that the star is her missing mother. Denton Webb (Jeff Daniels), an overworked husband and father, has suddenly realized that the star still has a piece of his heart. Even though she has never met the star, newly hired school counselor Elizabeth Zaks (Laila Robins) is curious about her because she has made it possible to unlock a very different side of Dinky’s personality. Teenager Gerald Howells (Thomas Wilson Brown) plans to use the upcoming celebration to reveal to Dinky that he has fallen in love with her and wants to be her boyfriend.

However, shortly after the mayor officially launches the celebration, the star’s limousine appears without her. A short message from the star is then read, and the residents learn that she has had to change her plans to meet and greet them because of another much more important professional engagement.

Jim Abrahams directs Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael with confidence that is impossible to miss. However, the quality of the overlapping of the comedy and drama is not as good as that of the visuals that emerge from Abrahams’ camera. It is primarily because Ryder’s transformation and Daniels’ struggle to accept that he still loves the star pull the narrative in completely different directions. For example, all of the material where Daniels’ family falls apart looks very odd next to the one where Ryder’s adoptive parents behave like teenagers. The romantic material with Ryder and her wannabe boyfriend also pulls the narrative in another direction.

What partially redeems Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael is the successful delivery of the message that in the end good always prevails in the lives of good people. Despite plenty of soapy moments, this message somehow feels genuinely sincere and will surely resonate as intended even with viewers that find Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael to be a problematic film.

Abrahams worked with director of photography Paul Elliott, whose credits include My Girl and My Girl 2, Soul Food, Lost & Found, and the recent TV series Dark Winds.

Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment.

It is pretty easy to tell that the release is sourced from an old master with limitations, and that the film can and should have a much more vibrant and healthy appearance. The best looking visuals emerge from darker indoor or nighttime footage, where the effects of some of these limitations are a bit more difficult to spot. For example, bright daylight footage reveals flatness and softness that impact clarity and depth, while in darker footage both are significantly minimized. Grain exposure appears more convincing during darker footage as well. Color balance is stable. However, many primaries and supporting nuances can be healthier, better saturated, and better balanced. Interestingly, darker areas do not reveal any distracting crushing. Image stability is very good. I did not see any distracting surface imperfections to report in our review. All in all, the current technical presentation is serviceable, but if properly redone in 2K or 4K, the entire film will look quite a bit better. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

I am a little surprised that this release does not have a lossless 5.1 track because the film has an interesting soundtrack with plenty of good music. However, the 2.0 track is healthy. All exchanges are very clear, sharp, and stable. I did notice any balance issues or encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• It is Good To Want Things: Directing Roxy - in this exclusive new program, director Jim Abrahams explains why and when he decided to experiment with more serious material, like the one he used to make Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael. Also, there are some interesting observations about Dinky's story and how it is reflective of experiences he had in his life while growing up in a small town in Wisconsin. In English, not subtitled. (24 min).

• I Will Never Be The Same: Writing Roxy - in this exclusive new program, screenwriter Karen Leigh Hopkins recalls the many disappointments she experienced after she arrived in Los Angeles to become an actress and how she began writing. Roxy's aspirations, and Dinky's suffering and tiny triumphs and their relatability to Hopkins' life story are addressed as well. In English, not subtitled. (20 min).

• Welcome Home Roxy, Carmichael: Fame, Freedom & Female Empowerment - this exclusive new video essay was created by writer and podcaster Suzanne Boleyn. In English, not subtitled. (29 min).

Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There is usually one major event in our lives that resets everything. It could be giving birth, losing a beloved family member, securing a dream job, falling in love for the first time, or winning the lottery. In Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, several characters have their lives reset by a much anticipated celebration honoring a big star that used to be like them, though they do not immediately realize it. It is a nice looking, at times genuinely moving film, but the frequent overlapping of comedy and drama that gives it its identity could have been managed better. Via Vision Entertainment's release is sourced from an old master with limitations, but has good exclusive new bonus features with director Jim Abrahams and screenwriter Karen Leigh Hopkins. RECOMMENDED.