23 December 2007

He may have made his name as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series of M*A*S*H, but Alan Alda has had a busy film career in a variety of roles, including actor, writer and director. It's his work in all three roles that are the focus of two January UK DVD releases from Metrodome, specifically the 1981 Four Seasons and the 1986 Sweet Liberty.

Four Seasons focuses on three wealthy middle-aged couples who holiday together every spring, summer, autumn and winter. But when Jack Burroughs (Alda) divorces his wife and re-matches with a younger woman, the group are forced to re-examine their relationships. Featuring a fine cast that includes Carol Burnett, Sandy Dennis and Rita Moreno, this remains one of Alda's most acclaimed films, its witty script avoiding the obvious clichés and sentimentality.

I have a soft spot for Sweet Liberty because a friend of mine worked on it, but it does well enough without that association. Michael Burgess (Alda) is the author of a successful and serious book about the American Revolution, but soon finds his life is turned upside down when a film crew come to town to make the movie adaptation. His usually quiet life is transformed by a cast of unconventional characters, and Michael’s relationship is shaken to the core as he falls in love with beautiful yet neurotic actress Faith Healy (Michelle Pfeiffer). Meanwhile, his fiancée Gretchen has romantic ideas of her own as the womanising leading man Elliott James (Michael Caine) takes an interest. Another fine cast that includes the likes of Bob Hoskins, Lillian Gish, Saul Rubinek and Oliver Stone fave and Scrubs star John C. McGinley, Sweet Liberty amusingly deconstructs the moviemaking process, and there's more than a whiff of truth beneath the humour.

Both films will be released in the UK on movie-only DVDs by Momentum on 26th January 2008 at the RRP of £12.99.