Blu-ray Movie Reviews

An all-star cast head up this shrewd tale of a man besieged by people who want him to be all sorts of things - a money maker, an ego buster, a bad news breaker, an artistic champion, a loyal husband, an all-knowing father, not to mention sexy, youthful and tuned-in - everything except for the one thing he and all the preposterously behaved people he's surrounded by really are: bumbling human beings just trying to survive by any means necessary.

This film has an incredible cast attached and some solid laughs but I couldn’t help but feel that it was a film that people in Hollywood, or directly involved in it, would love far more than the layman. There is so much insider poking here that I think most people would have a disconnect. I liked the story and the cast was outstanding but it just wasn’t the home run comedy I was hoping for.

Magnolia delivers a strong HD presentation for this one. Detail is abundant and fine object detail is excellent in close ups and even medium shots. The film has a great balance of vibrant color and contrast with deep blacks and plenty of shadow detail. The Hollywood backdrop provides plenty of rich imagery and the textures are captured perfectly with this presentation.

The soundtrack is about what I expected from the genre and makes the most of the dialogue driven design. Spatial cues are abundant and the surrounds do a nice job of opening the soundstage up a bit. Dynamic range is a bit limited but never dull. Dialogue sounds very natural and even the narration doesn’t suffer from any edginess of brightness like so many other films.

Extras include a feature commentary with the director and writer and there is plenty of behind the scenes footage including some casting sessions. This looks like it was a lot of fun to make. You also get some deleted scenes and a bit of a poke at the film’s controversial scene.

While not a film for everyone Magnolia has still done a great job with the presentation overall. If you love pokes at Hollywood heavyweights than this is one to catch, otherwise I would lean strongly toward a rental.