Patrick Dempsey (Can’t Buy Me Love) and Jennifer Connelly (Career Opportunities) star in this enchanting and unpredictable comedy about sexual manners and romance. When Michael (Dempsey) arrives in Quebec to spend Christmas with his girlfriend Gabriella (Connelly), she greets him with startling news—“I don’t love you anymore.” But for poor Michael that’s just the beginning of his woes, as he finds he’s about to spend the holidays with a most bizarre family. Along with Gabriella’s two eager sisters who crawl in and out of his bed, there’s her doting mother and brilliant father who writes books in the buff. And let’s not forget Gabi’s Granny who insists that Michael is her dead husband. The outlandish meets the ordinary in Some Girls, serving up plenty of fun with more than a dash of farce, fantasy and originality! The delightful international cast includes Sheila Kelley (Breaking In), Lila Kedrova (Zorba the Greek), Florinda Bolkan (Flavia the Heretic), Ashley Greenfield (One Fine Day) and André Gregory (My Dinner with André). Directed by Michael Hoffman (Soapdish) and produced by Robert Redford (A Civil Action).

For thoughts on Some Girls, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/F23oOqWKYDM?t=4692]

Video Quality

Kino Classics presents Some Girls with an enjoyable upgrade in the form of a new 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 that appears to be from a solid older master provided by MGM. The film does exhibit some fleeting instances of dirt and minor nicks, plus the odd fluctuations in density, but largely it looks quite lovely. The color palette is natural and bright with vibrant colors within the holiday environment that are striking with acceptable saturation. Skin tones appear to be natural and robust with fine detail.

The presentation offers up some fairly deep black levels that only begin to crush slightly in the darkest moments. There is a notable uptick in fine detail that should please fans of the film, even if some shots look better maintained than others. There thankfully does not appear to have been any digital manipulation of the source. The transfer provides glorious natural film grain absent of any compression artifacts or other such digital anomalies. While a fresh scan would have been even better, Kino Classics has given this one a perfectly fine presentation.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a great DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that represents the film as intended. One of the standout aspects you will notice is the vibrancy and clarity of the James Newton Howard score that elevates many moments mightily. Despite the effectiveness of this score, nothing ever overpowers the dialogue or other necessary information. This track shows no major instances of age related wear and tear such as hissing or popping. The dialogue and background noises are represented in harmony with all competing elements. All of the sound effects and music appear to be accurate to the intent of the original sound. This disc maintains a dynamic sense of fidelity that never falters. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Director Michael Hoffman delivers a very enlightening commentary track in which he discusses the initial origins of this project, the creative team he worked with to shape this story, creative ways of working within a limited budget, the themes within the narrative, the casting of the ensemble, executing the tonal balance, trying to create a timeless film and more.

Overtime Questions with Michael Hoffman – More About Some Girls: A nine-minute virtual conversation between director Michael Hoffman and Filmmaker/Historian Daniel Kremer in which Hoffman discusses his relationship with Robert Redford, the reasons behind the change from the original title of Sisters, and various aspects of his larger career.

Trailers: There is a two-minute trailer provided for Some Girls. There are also trailers provided for Career Opportunities, The Hot Spot, Breaking In, Gotcha!, The Allnighter and Date With An Angel.

Final Thoughts

Some Girls is far from your typical ‘80s sex comedy despite how it may appear from the outside. While not without its own issues, there is a degree of emotional intelligence brought to this story that is often lacking even in the modern age, but especially at this period in time. The focus on the family as a whole and all of their eccentricities allows for several moments that strike an unexpected emotional chord. The ensemble is pretty great across the board with every performer bringing something unique to their character. This is definitely an overlooked gem from the time period. Kino Classics has provided a new Blu-Ray featuring a pretty solid A/V presentation and a couple decent special features. This film also functions as a Christmas movie, so now is the perfect time to check it out for yourself. Recommended

Some Girls is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.