The Beverly Hillbillies (1993) – DVD

*/**** Image B+ Sound B-
starring Diedrich Bader, Dabney Coleman, Erika Eleniak, Cloris Leachman
screenplay by Lawrence Konner & Mark Rosenthal and Jim Fisher & Jim Staahl
directed by Penelope Spheeris

by Travis Mackenzie Hoover I could tell you plenty of things about The Beverly Hillbillies. That it's based on the beloved Buddy Ebsen sitcom (a fact which pretty much thins the ranks of those who will tolerate it), for instance. That it features Jim Varney in Ebsen's place as Jebediah Clampett, a farmer who heads out to California with his family in tow after striking the mother lode of oil. That once the Clampetts arrive in the land of "swimming pools [and] movie stars," the mission is to a) find a fiancée for widowed Jeb, and b) domesticate the tomboyish Ellie May (Erika Eleniak). Or that these bits of information are used by a couple of schemers (Rob Schneider and Lea Thompson) to bilk the Clampetts–including Jeb's strapping son Jethro (Diedrich Bader, looking appropriately dim)–out of their newly-acquired millions. But ultimately, the only piece of information you require is that The Beverly Hillbillies is about as funny as a mugging, or an armed robbery, or "The Family Circus"–everything else is irrelevant.

Oh, sure, Cloris Leachman gives her all to the role of Granny despite its peripheral nature to the plot, while Lily Tomlin shines in her bit as noble Miss Hathaway, the stuffy bank official overseeing the Clampett fortune. Schneider is just as lacking in charisma here as he is in his own movies, and Thompson convinces more as a French governess than she does as the vampish shrew impersonating one to seduce Jeb out of his fortune. Alas, this is entertaining trivialities, because to dignify the minutiae of The Beverly Hillbillies is to implicate myself in an endorsement. Truth be told, the film is thrown together and cheap, scripted by the usual five writers (which is somehow not as funny as one writer on his or her own) and going through its motions so lackadaisically that analysis would only serve to honour its cause.

I've decided not to mention director Penelope Spheeris or her weird switcheroo from punk/metal standard-bearer to sitcom movie queen. I will remain mum on the discrepancy between her corrosive early films Suburbia and The Decline of Western Civilization and her eventual helming of The Little Rascals. I shall refrain from remarking that she sold out in record time, no doubt causing several dead punk musicians to turn in their graves. That would be like saying she's a good director–she's not: her bland, point-and-shoot aesthetic inspires no reaction other than "huh?" A non-committal camera is acceptable when interviewing members of Megadeth but anathema to a comedy, where timing and mood are crucial. Not that Spheeris has much to work with in The Beverly Hillbillies, but really, little is more than the nothing she brings to the project.

THE DVD
Fox's flipper fullscreen/1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen DVD release of The Beverly Hillbillies is deservedly insubstantial. The image looks clear–though fine detail is a tad soft–and colour is vivid without being oversaturated. On the other hand, the studio seems to have a liberal interpretation of the term "Dolby Digital 5.1": despite lighting up every speaker icon on my system, the soundtrack repeatedly failed to activate the rear channels to any degree. (I think I counted two surround effects.) While the utilization of the fronts is acceptable enough and the audio itself is defect-free, nothing resembling fireworks results. Extras: the trailer, teaser trailer, and two TV spots for the film.

93 minutes; PG; 1.85:1 (16×9-enhanced), 1.33:1; English DD 5.1, French Dolby Surround, Spanish DD 2.0 (Stereo); CC; English, Spanish subtitles; Region One; DVD-10; Fox