DVDFile

HBO Home Video / 2007 / 600 Minutes / Unrated
Street Date: February 12, 2008

Yes, my friends, the rumors around Tell Me You Love Me are true: there are wieners and beavers everywhere in this show. God bless America.

But while there are many displays of both lady and gentlemen junk in Tell Me You Love Me, it’s not a show about genitalia. Well, not really. Creator Cynthia Mort has developed in this HBO series a way to investigate the ins and outs (I couldn’t resist) of human sexuality not as it stands as a biological urge, but how it influences, and is influenced by, human relationships.

The show follows three couples and a yard duty of sorts: one in their twenties who hump like bunny rabbits on shore leave but don’t know how to find intimacy with each other in any other capacity; another couple in their thirties who view their sex life differently after spending the better part of a decade trying to conceive a child (to no avail); a forty-something couple who have subverted their sex drives with raising kids and going to baseball games and the stress of family life; and then there’s a lady who ties them all together – May (Jane Alexander) is sex therapist to all these folks. So when Tell Me You Love Me heads to the boudoir, it’s not exactly time for Penthouse fantasies as the bedroom gymnastics are borne out of emotional and romantic struggles and challenges.

But does it work? Well, sometimes.

This writer is no prude – I actually wish there was more sex on television and in movies; why not be frank and perfectly out-in-the-open about it all? But I have to admit that I had to suppress some giggles when watching this first season of Tell Me You Love Me. I’ll give this to Mort and her show: as a viewer you achieve a certain sense of intimacy and closeness to an on-screen character when you watch them both perform dialogue scenes in restaurant and perform oral sex on their partners: Watching folks in the most primal expression of amor is to see them at their most vulnerable and bare; there’s no way to avoid getting swept up in it.

Yet Tell Me You Love Me doesn’t quite work. Part of it is that the characters end up falling victim to their own stereotypes. Sure, the idea of a 40-year-old soccer mom wishing her husband made sweet love to her rather than masturbate to the mental image of someone else is a character ripe with narrative possibilities. But after a few episodes everything starts to feel one-note. In an attempt to dive deep into the sexual issues of these couples, Mort and her show keep an almost myopic focus on the coital aspect of their interactions. And while there are the occasional moments of exceptionally-mined territory (when members of these couples finally get the balls to say what they mean to one another, the result is explosive), most of the time Tell Me You Love Me is a one-trick pony that never quite lives up to its pedigree.

Really, it’s just a so-so melodrama with a whole bunch of money shots to give it recognition.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The 1.78:1 transfers on this 4-DVD set are perfectly acceptable. The show has a very you-are-there shakiness to it, and while this doesn’t exactly mean the show has a deep, varied color palette, it is nevertheless nicely manifested on these discs. Fine detail quality is good: definition is clear, crisp and without blemish. Black levels are robust and solid. Color accuracy is a little on the washed-out side, but I’m pretty sure that’s an aesthetic decision from the filmmakers and not an issue with these transfers. There are no examples of dirt or grime on the transfer prints nor are there any examples of compression artifacting.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

These Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mixes are sparse, but well exploited. Dialogue comes through superbly, with excellent fidelity and clarity, and while there are very few musical moments in the series, when those moments come about, songs aren’t just confined to the front – they flush out the surround channels nicely. The show also does a great job showcasing atmosphere; it’s quite subversive and simple, but there is nary a moment where a savvy usage of atmospherics isn’t utilized. Well done.

Also included is a Spanish 2.0 track, English, French and Spanish subtitles and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The main bonuses here are four screen-specific audio commentaries, and unfortunately, they’re all kind of a bust. Cynthia Mort’s discussion of the show’s pilot is informative and gives a nice perspective on how the show came about, but it starts to drag quickly. Then we get commentaries with each of the three main couples in the show: Tim DeKay and Ally Walker (the 40-somethings) talk about episode four, Michelle Borth and Luke Farrell Kirby (the 20-somethings) discuss episode seven, and the 30-somethings (Adam Scott and Sonya Walger) offer thoughts on episode eight. None of these tracks make for mandatory listening and one is left with the feeling that one compiled track including all cast members and Mort might have been a better choice than spreading them all out like this.

The only other bonuses are ‘previously on’ episode intros.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.

Final Thoughts

Admirable in content yet ultimately disappointing, Tell Me You Love Me: The Complete First Season is the kind of show that pushes the envelope but forgets to put anything of real merit inside said envelope. But the show has fans, and they’ll be happy to hear that the transfers and mixes on this 4-DVD set are great (too bad the bonuses are a bust).