With Or Without You [DVD]

With or Without You works as an above-average television drama; but that's about the height of its ambition. It's strange that Michael Winterbottom, director of the hard-edged, bitter Welcome to Sarajevo (1997) and the grandiose snowy western The Claim (2000) should have bothered with anything as routine and undemanding. Perhaps its greatest distinction is that it's set in present-day Belfast without so much as a mention of the Troubles.

The plot is a bog-standard romantic triangle. Rosie and Vincent, who have been married five years or so, want a baby, but nothing's happening. It doesn't help that Rosie's older sister has sprogs burgeoning like mushrooms wherever you look. Then up pops a figure from Rosie's past--Benoît, her pen-pal from before she met Vincent. And being French, he's naturally charming, witty, romantic and everything poor old Vincent isn't. Think you can guess what's coming? Well, most likely you can--right down to the all-too-pat happy ending.

Still, the actors (Christopher Ecclestone, Dervla Kirwan and Yvan Attal are the leads) are accomplished and watchable, the dialogue stays the right side of banal and it's refreshing to see Belfast shown as a civilised, cultured place to live. With or Without You passes an hour and a half pleasantly enough and may even raise the odd chuckle, but it covers well-trodden territory without much new to say.

On the DVD: aptly routine stuff--the theatrical trailer, a bland "making of" featurette and some interviews with the three principal players. Widescreen (16:9 anamorphic) and Dolby Surround Sound give the material the best possible showcase. --Philip Kemp

DVD Special Features: Original theatrical trailer
Interactive menus
Scene Index
Interviews
Featurette

Language: English, Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English for the hard of hearing
Video Aspect Ratio: Feature - 16:9 Anamorphic

Rosie and Vincent Boyd want a baby. They've thrown away the condoms and redecorated the spare room. They've given up red meat, invested in loose fitting underwear and timed their sex to the second. But can they conceive? Not only is the baby extremely reluctant to come but their otherwise happy marriage is beginning to crack at the seams. Not a good time, you might think, for a charismatic Frenchman to re-enter Rosie's life or for Vincent to start up an affair with a hairdresser he once knew. Things can only get worse for Rosie and Vincent....a lot worse before they get better!