Genius Products presents

Walk All Over Me (2007)

“Quiet! Dogs don’t talk!”- Alberta (Leelee Sobieski)

Stars: Leelee Sobieski, Tricia Helfer
Other Stars: Jacob Tierney, Michael Klund, Michael Adamthwahe, Ross McMillan, Lothaire Bluteau
Director: Robert Cuffley

MPAA Rating: R for (language, some violence and sexual material)
Run Time: 01h:39m:37s
Release Date: 2008-05-13
Genre: suspense thriller

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
C	C+	B+	B-	B

 

DVD Review

It’s not exactly a stretch to speculate that most men of any age would pick up a DVD case sporting two beautiful women in leather dominatrix outfits. Such a case is even more appealing when the ladies in question are Leelee Sobieski (The Glass House) and Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer. This lovely pair is the stars of the 2007 Canadian film, Walk All Over Me, which is making its DVD debut courtesy of Genius Products. While it never received a wide release stateside, this disc is a strong enough effort to entice enough of the target audience to see if there’s as much skin to see in the film itself as there is in the marketing of it.

Alberta (Sobieski) is a waitress who suddenly finds herself on the run from drug dealers whom her boyfriend has wronged. Alberta winds up in Vancouver, where she tracks down her former babysitter, Celene (Helfer). She’s not exactly the bland babysitter she remembers though, as Celene is now a dominatrix, complete with her own house slave named Spencer (Ross McMillan). Curiosity gets the best of Alberta, who decides to try on some of Celene’s outfits and partake in a similar career path. Unfortunately, her first client, Paul (Jacob Tierney) is in a bad place with his old boss, Rene (Lothaire Bluteau), who thinks Paul stole a fortune from him. When Rene and his cohorts, brothers Isaac (Michael Adamthwaite) and Aaron (Michael Eklund) pay Paul a visit, Alberta realizes she’s knee-high boots deep in the same kind of dangerous situation she just escaped from.

For some reason, Leelee Sobieski is still strangely intriguing to me. She showed a ton of potential early in her career, thanks to roles in Eyes Wide Shut and My First Mister, but has basically faded into obscurity, appearing mostly in direct-to-DVD fluff. Unfortunately, her work here won’t do much to elevate her status in Hollywood, as this is a stilted performance, to say the least. With wooden line delivery and lifeless work in the “sexy” scenes, this undynamic performance is far from what such a role commands from an actor. Helfer, on the other hand, fits far better in her role of the seasoned professional dominatrix, coming across as naturally sexy and extremely believable in whatever outfit she puts on.

Sobieski’s performance is only one of the movie’s problems, as the story is equally lifeless. Such a thin tale could be forgiven if director Robert Cuffley had decided to just go all out and make this a dirty, sexy, romp, so to speak. Instead, he wants to have his cake and eat it too, giving us just enough glimpses of the two lead actresses in their dominatrix gear to make us want more, while at the same time, preaching on the moral downfalls of submission and domination in relation to living one’s life. Sure, keeping our morals in check in regards to such subject matter isn’t something to completely frown upon, but come on; the target audience doesn’t want to deal with that, especially after being so drawn in by the film’s aforementioned marketing scheme.

So, while we can’t entirely claim false advertising after witnessing the finished product, the resulting film does come across as a pretty major tease. Those expecting nudity or sex scenes of any kind will be very disappointed, and without the fallback of an engaging story, might even feel a bit cheated. Still, it’s difficult to keep from recommending this as a one-night rental, if only for Helfer’s work alone. Plus, it’s almost impossible to deny the appeal of those leather outfits…oh, those outfits….

Rating for Style: C
Rating for Substance: C+

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	2.35:1 - Widescreen
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	yes

Image Transfer Review: The movie is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, and the sharp detailed images are much better than can be expected from a low budget feature like this. The colors are also impressive, remaining bright and vivid throughout, with natural blacks of the leather dominatrix outfits being especially impressive. There’s just a bit of dirt and grain, but no flaws that are overly distracting.

Image Transfer Grade: B+
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
Dolby Digital 5.1	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: The audio is a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and it’s an adequate fit for the material. The surrounds are mostly kept at bay, but are never really necessary other than to house some ambient sounds. Bass is low key, but the dialogue is always crisp and easy to understand.

Audio Transfer Grade: B- 

Disc Extras

Full Motion menu with music
Scene Access with 16 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English, Spanish with remote access
1 Original Trailer(s)
3 Other Trailer(s) featuring Cassandra’s Dream, Awake, Teeth
1 Deleted Scenes
1 Documentaries
1 Feature/Episode commentary by Actresses Leelee Sobieski and Tricia Helfer, and director Robert Cuffley.
Packaging: Keep Case
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extra Extras:

1. Outtakes
2. Still Gallery
3. Music Video for Safety Word.

Extras Review: The extras include an audio commentary by director Robert Cuffley, along with Leelee Sobieski and Tricia Helfer. This trio talks about the shooting of the film, but Sobieski and Helfer keep things light with plenty of joking around through the duration of the track.

There’s also a deleted scene that lasts just over a minute and also has an optional commentary track.

Behind-The-Scenes of Walk All Over Me is a 15-minute piece that takes an in-depth look at the making of the film, via on-set footage and interviews with the cast and crew while at a screening of the film.

Also here are four minutes of outtakes, a music video for Safety Word, a still gallery, and the original theatrical trailer for Walk All Over Me.

Extras Grade: B
 

Final Comments

Despite an incredibly intriguing premise and cast, Canada’s Walk All Over Me fails to deliver on nearly every count. Tricia Helfer’s fine performance is the film’s one saving grace, but even the presence of Leelee Sobieski in a dominatrix outfit isn’t enough to make us forgive such a pedestrian screenplay. Genius’ DVD is appealing, however, thanks to great audio and video, as well as some nice supplemental material.

Chuck Aliaga 2008-07-11