A must-see for those that love documentaries and reading,
The Stone Reader
is also an exceptional two-disc DVD. Framed at 1.85:1, and fortunately anamorphic, the picture does suffer from the obvious restraints of a low-budget film. Colors are generally very good and accurate, but the detail is often lacking. While not an unappealing transfer, and probably about as good as can be expected, the general quality is, at times, a bit of a distraction, though, fortunately, not enough to create an unfavorable first impression. The two-channel Dolby Digital soundtrack is, once again, about as much as would be expected for this genre. Documentaries, for the most part, aren't known for having, let alone needing, an expansive audio field, and that is the case here. The dialogue is perfectly clear, and nothing else would be expected, or required. What sets this release apart, though, is the number of supplemental features. For starters, the first disc includes a gap-filled and somewhat lacking commentary track from
Stones of Summer
author Dow Mossman and director Mark Moskowitz. Finishing off this disc is additional footage of the authors interviewed for the film plus lists of the books they've written and a web resource of additional book titles. The second disc contains the bulk of the extras, and the honest truth is that it all may be a bit more than the average viewer can absorb. Some of it has nothing necessarily to do with this film, such as an interview with Toni Morrison by A.S. Byatt and a short film by Cindy Stilwell called
First Story
(literally no connection can be made between either film!), while others features include extended interviews with authors from the film, deleted scenes, and film-related featurettes, including one on Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival and how this film made it that far. Some features fall in the middle, such as a full broadcast of William F. Buckley's
Firing Line
from 1974 with author Leslie Fiedler as his guest. On the whole, the hours of information offered is a bit overwhelming, but will appeal greatly to the reading intelligentsia. Who would have expected such dense material with a little-seen documentary? In a strange way, it all seems to work together with one common denominator: a passion for the love of reading.