Rating: NR
Genre:
Comedy
Release Date: 09/03/2002
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DS
Run Time: 566 min
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
The second season of
Friends was when the cast hit its stride, after being written into some interesting potential corners on several plot-lines. The first season's main themes were built around lack-of-fulfillment, culminating with the
big fulfillment in
Ross' (
David Schwimmer) life and, by extension, the lives of the others, with the birth of his son. The second season was built around movement in the lives of most of the characters, as
Ross and
Rachel (
Jennifer Aniston) finally find each other,
Joey (
Matt LeBlanc) gets a real acting job, and
Phoebe (
Lisa Kudrow) shows off skills and sides of herself beyond playing music and being a masseuse. One can also see the subtle new pecking order --
Courteney Cox, who was the closest thing to a star when the show went on the air, is a little bit more in the background, while
Aniston is more in the foreground. The picture quality is excellent and the producers have, again, taken great pains with the sound to assure that any music sequences -- such as
Chrissie Hynde's performance of
"Angel of the Morning," in a brilliant guest-star spot (in "
The One With the Baby on the Bus") and
Lisa Kudrow's songs -- are especially crisp and well-defined. There are two episodes featuring commentary by the producers that delineate the creative process and showcase one of the better romantic/dramatic episodes in the run of the series to date. Overall, the entire package is an awesome array of
comedy, built on several layers -- from one-line comebacks to the characters' interrelationships -- that interlock with and complement each other beautifully. The packaging includes just enough information about each show so that longtime viewers will be able to tell what they're selecting, while those with short memories can just plunge into the
comedy.
~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
;)
