Boy A (2007/Miriam Collection
DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C Film:
B+
The 2007
feature film Boy A (directed by John
Crowley) is an exceptionally well done film that deserves much attention and
hopefully its release onto Blu-ray will warrant just that. The film deals with a young man named Jack
(played by Andrew Garfield in a defining role) who has just been releases from
his institutionalized life at the age of 24.
He and another boy were involved in murdering another child when they were
very young and now he must adjust and acclimate himself to his new
surroundings, especially since he has never really known what a normal life is.
There are
a variety of things that I love about this particular film, the first is that I
think that second chances are something that we rarely see in cinema and that
people are able to have fresh starts despite doing horrible things. I love the fact that the film deals with this
in a brutally honest way; it deals with the subject in a respectful and humble
way, but also is engaging, suspenseful, and interesting throughout. We rarely get films that are emotionally and
honest at the same time, Boy A
captures both and delivers one of the better films from 2007.
For this
DVD release (despite touting itself as part of the Weinstein’s Miriam
Collection) we get the bare essentials, which is sometimes a disappointment,
but not when a film is this good and in that case a lack of extras is
tolerable. The film is presented in a
competent 1.78 X 1 anamorphic transfer that also creates a highly stylized tone
that would have been great to see on the big screen. The art direction, production, and
cinematography are intelligently working together to create a unique color
palette and style for the film that makes sense. We love to see a great film work on all
levels and this is yet another example of such.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is passable although we would highly welcome a
lossless audio track one day on Blu-ray, which this film deserves!
- Nate Goss
