Deception (20th Century
Fox Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C+ Film: C+
It’s
interesting how certain films can fly so far below the radar even with great
talent on board, like 2008’s Deception
starring Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Ewan McGregor, Maggie Q, and Natasha
Henstridge just to name a few. Like
1999’s underrated Stanley Kubrick film Eyes
Wide Shut, this film deals with many of the things that people like to
forget about. In Deception we are introduced to a corporate auditor who gets caught
up in the world of some of the elite in the business climate of New York City,
in particular a sex club called “The List”, which begins his steady climb into
a world where everything is not quite what it seems, including a mysterious murder
incident and the downward spiral into corruption doesn’t just end there.
The story
is all there, the acting is good, and yet the film manages to feel flat, dull,
and never quite resolves itself in ways that most people will feel satisfied
with. Unlike Eyes Wide Shut, where there are certain elements still left
unresolved, this film tries to tie everything together into a neat package, but
sometimes that just doesn’t quite feel right and Deceptions failure is
predominately it’s failure to direct material that is intellectual,
sophisticated, yet complicated as well.
Certain aspects of the film also remind me of the brilliant, and also
underrated Joel Schumacher film 8mm,
which also went into the underbelly of society, but again lacks the ambition
that better films have.
For this
Blu-ray release Fox has issued the film in a very crisp 2.40 X 1 High
Definition 1080p transfer that is terrific looking. The film has a very blue-ish color palette
with loads of dark scenes and natural lighting that work really great and this
Blu-ray exhibits some of the finer details that are so often lost on DVD,
including miniscule details and texture on business suits and in one scene a
tennis ball, all of these help bring the three-dimensional quality out and help
present the film in color-rich glory.
Softness is only evident in very small ways and is hardly an issue
overall.
Audio is
also solid with a DTS-HD 5.1 mix that represents some of the best in lossless
to date for a film that is dialogue-heavy.
The soundstage is fairly straight-forward overall and the depth of the
mix is quite strong with a level of presence that DTS is particularly known for
and has been even dating back to the days of the 12” Laserdisc. Thankfully Fox has always understood that and
their support of DTS-HD for their releases is much appreciated.
Extras
include a commentary track from director Marcel Langenegger, plus a making-of
section, and a in-depth section that goes into the construction of the film
from multiple perspectives, also deleted and alternate scenes with optional
commentary are added as well, these are all worth viewing, but the final cut of
the film is probably the best version, although there are some aspects of the
film that could have been done slightly different to make this film work a bit
more than it does. Again, in the hands
of a lesser director it’s evident to see why the film falls flat.
- Nate Goss
