Why So Blu?

The Gift (Blu-ray Review)

It’s going to take me awhile, but I’m sorry.  Every time I hear the movie title The Gift my mind instantly thinks of Sam Raimi’s 2001 film featuring the likes of Cate Blanchett, Katie Holmes, Keanu Reeves, Giovanni Ribisi and Greg Kinnear.  I keep having to tell myself it’s 2015 and movie titles are allowed to have the same name as others that have come before it.  Is it unoriginal?  Hell yes it is, but we have a new player in town and lately producer Jason Blum (The Purge and basically every other horror film out there in recent years) is a force to be reckoned with because the dude is walking on water.  He can do no wrong!  Of course it doesn’t hurt when your film features the talents of Jason Bateman and Joel Edgerton too, but I digress.  We’ll talk more about those two down below.  Ladies and gentlemen, I present to my gift to you…The Gift Blu-ray review.

Film 

So while I’m a huge Joel Edgerton fan in general I purposely called him out above for three reasons.  Not only is the actor a main part of the principal cast here, but he’s also both the writer and director too.  I know!  Wow, huh?  Exactly!  So this chilling psychological thriller we have here marks the feature directorial debut of the acclaimed actor and writer, formerly made famous in well known flicks such as The Great Gatsby, Zero Dark Thirty and my personal favorite Warrior.  However, I surprisingly have not talked about the actor who brought me here in the first place, one of my personal favorites, Jason Bateman.  In addition to those two, Rebecca Hall rounds out the small main billing cast.  Now that we got that all out of the way, let’s talk about what The Gift is all about.  Follow me down.

The Gift asks the question can you really go through life having never wronged anyone?  It pushes the envelope a little further when it ponders that question deeper by stating that even if you are unaware of how, or when, and even who you may have wronged….chances are there is someone out there who won’t ever forget it…or you.  Now I don’t know about you, but I love deep moral reflections like that.  After all, the subject of revenge is a formula or should we call it a science that comprises the underlying DNA of the best stories in my opinion.

So in our story here we find a young married couple, Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall).  Their lives together seem to be going just as planned (or so we initially thought).  Nothing can seemingly ruin their bliss except wait…a chance encounter with an acquaintance from Simon’s high school.  Simon doesn’t recognize Gordo (Joel Edgerton) at first.  Wait a minute!  Isn’t Gordo a Mortal Kombat character?  Oh that’s Goro!  Never mind, my mistake.   So it’s not long that after a seemingly coincidental series of encounters proves troubling, a horrifying secret from Simon’s past is uncovered after nearly 20 years.  Even worse, Robyn starts piecing together the unsettling truth about what really happened between Simon and Gordo.  How well can she trust her husband?  Is he who he says he is?  Are past bygones ever really buried in the past?  All these questions and more are what The Gift tries to accomplish.  Now the million dollar question comes into play.  Is Joel Edgerton successful in the storytelling department?  Now we’re talking the meat and potatoes, my favorite subject!

The Gift is truly a “gift” from the movie Gods to enjoy and relish for fans who adore 80’s/90’s psychological thriller films.  Joel’s directorial debut is strong and his character performance is equally as bodacious in the creep factor department.  The Gift is one of those unsettling, unnerving films where anything can really happen.  Despite what you think may be a pretty straight forward plot as witnessed in the film’s theatrical trailers, Joel leaves you guessing throughout giving the three major characters their own quirks, ticking time bombs, regrets and deep flaws.  He makes you wonder is it all in someone’s head.  Are they perhaps the real psychopath in the feature?  I don’t know about you, but  I like films that make you think you know it all, and in the end you really didn’t.  Joel had a couple chances to really shine and knock it out of the ballpark , but The Gift did fall flat in a few areas, most notably the predictable twists near the ending for me.  However, all is forgiven because The Gift is really an entertaining watch and I’m sorry to make this comparison, but it kind of reminded me of Rosemary’s Baby where all the tension just continuously builds until the final reveal.

Just one watch of The Gift instantly reveals how all the scenes are meticulously framed and well thought out.  In fact, one could almost say the camera is the fourth major character in this story making it seem like anything is possible.  However, let’s not derail from where credit is due in the performances category.  Yes, there are only three major roles in here, not leaving much room for that wild card in the story so to speak, but the performances are so strong and robust that you get sucked right into the story and even succumb to all the familiar plot devices.  Bateman shines as usual.  The guy can do no wrong.  Just watch his facial twitches and non verbal cues.  They say it all without Bateman even having to mutter a word.  He plays that bad guy (I don’t mean villain) role perfectly, as he’s been doing all along since Arrested Development and most recently Bad Words.  However, who’s more crazy in all of this?  Edgerton doesn’t look like his normal self here, but he’s equally disturbing in this.  Or, as the film makes you ponder, is it the quiet, distressed wife (Hall) of Bateman’s character that you really have to worry about?  Who knows!  It could be Jango the dog too.  I’m not telling you.

The craft of the thriller genre may not be completely perfected throughout here, but like I said up above and I’ll say it again, The Gift is a damn good, creepy time to be had.  It’s well written and intricately performed.  However, what I love most about The Gift is it never feels hurried or rushed.  It meticulously takes its time to unwrap and despite that, it never leaves you feeling bored, restless or tired of the direction.  I was on the edge of my seat waiting and salivating in anticipation over what was going to happen next and push Joels’ directorial debut into an ape sh1t conundrum for the characters from which they could not turn back. There’s a number of twists and subversive expectations to be had here, but my favorite takeaway is the fact The Gift really doesn’t have that stereotypical villain or cliche psychopath.  Hell, they all can be bad people in this one.  Why not, right?  It’s like playing the board game Clue.  The Gift will leave you guessing what if until the very end.  Beware though. The film’s ending may please the majority, but have others up in arms if you are one of those who want a conclusive finish to your movies.  That’s all I’ll say about.  Good job, Joel!  Enjoy this one from newcomers STX!

Video 

• Encoding: AVC MPEG-4
• Resolution: 1080p
• Layers: BD-50
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Clarity/Detail: Clarity and detail are prevalent throughout, but sometimes gets washed in the softness of things here.  The characters still pop, but nothing like they do in most newer releases.  This one definitely has a smooth veneer like finish to it…to keep the suspense of course.  The backgrounds and environmental sets though are all rich in detail as are fabrics in clothing and whatnot.
• Depth: Despite the softness of the image sometimes the depth of field is still outstanding here from the moment we first meet Gordo in the store to the interior shots of the house, most notably the hallway they repeatedly show over and over for dramatic effect.
• Black Levels: Black levels are generous and abound, but by no means are they deep and inky throughout.  Even night scenes are not awash with total darkness.
• Color Reproduction: The colors are very light in this film, almost a bit dull at times.  But it’s that tonal quality of the thriller genre that keeps you in the game here.
• Flesh Tones: The skin tones are natural and authentic looking throughout.
• Noise/Artifacts: There’s so much noise and ugliness in this one it’s pathetic.  I’m kidding!  Relax!  There’s no noticeable noise, grain or nasty artifacts anywhere to be found.

Audio 

• Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby Digital 5.1/2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
• Dynamics: This one is a hard one to judge because the dynamics of this presentation slowly increases as the picture goes on.  I would even be as bold to say that the first half of the film is very quiet and then as we pass the flick’s midpoint things get very intensified.  I don’t know about you, but I kind of love that.  The acoustics of the film are very natural sounding and I love the spatial dimensions of the offscreen characters in different rooms, etc.
• Low Frequency Extension: The LFE is a monstrous beast when it wants to be, most notably the second half when it starts erupting and spewing aggression, suspension and scares with its V8-like gurgles.  It also helps to balance out the surround track with subtle undertones and reproduction of authentic sounds such as a car’s exhaust for example.
• Surround Sound Presentation: Here’s another mix bag of nuts like the dynamics of the track I discussed up above.  The rears are always filled with subtle moments of score, ambient effects and whatnot, but they really don’t come alive until the film’s second half.  Of course you have a lone helicopter in the rear channels, but the best use is when Gordo makes a helicopter-like sound over the phone to Simon.  I loved that.  You can even hear it when you listen to the audio commentary.
• Dialogue Reproduction:  Spoken words are clear and intelligible.  In the second half of the movie when things really pick up, the intensity of the verbal arguments between the couple are outstanding and very noteworthy too.

Extras 

There’s not too much in the way of extras on this Universal Blu-ray release, but at least there’s an audio commentary.  That ought to count for something.  And it does!  What they do for me though is they give me a Digital HD copy good in both iTunes and for use with UltraViolet applications.  I love Universal for that.  I was also a fan of the alternate ending.  I’m glad it wasn’t used, but it’s interesting to see it nonetheless.  So without further ado let’s tackle the extras on this disc in more detail down below.

• Alternate Ending (HD, 4:40) – Here you can watch an alternate ending with an introduction by Joel Edgerton (6:38) or one without (4:40).  We learn about Gordo’s contact throughout the entire film, which gives us insight to the psychology of the character (dubbed the Coda Ending 150602).  However, they felt they were giving us way too much and breaking the point of view.  If nothing else we learn about Jango’s true whereabouts as well as see Gordo’s scars.  However, in the long run, I agree…somethings are left better off unknown.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 11:43) – You can play the deleted scenes with introduction by Joel or without (8:01): Simon Beats Gordo in the Garage (1:49), Ron and Lucy (2:26), First Cop Scene (3:50), Second Cop Scene (3:38).
• Karma for Bullies (HD, 1:55) – Joel Edgerton discusses how he came up with the idea for the movie here.  He examines how bullying affects people for the rest of their lives.  He says he loves Hitchcock and Fincher films, that’s the story he is trying to tell here.  He says if you don’t evolve, maybe there’s some bad karma coming back for you.  Deep thoughts, Joel.
• The Darker Side of Jason Bateman (HD, 1:07) – Funny man Jason Bateman takes another dark role here in The Gift, which makes him a lot more sinister this time out.  Here Joel Edgerton tells us why he felt Jason was the perfect fit for this role.  His reasoning is pretty rock solid too, in my opinion of course.
• Feature Commentary – I’m really happy about this one because this audio commentary features the very lovable Writer/Director Joel Edgerton as the sole participant.  It’s his movie after all.  He should have the final say anyway, right?  Of course he should!  But wait!  That’s what is billed on the back of the box, but Joel has a surprise guest, his editor Luke.  Luke isn’t the most adept in being social, but it is what it is.  On the flip side, I can listen to Joel chat all day about the making of The Gift.  It was really interesting to hear Joel talk about the ways in which Jason had to tell his lies.  I won’t go into it, but it’s a feat nonetheless.  It’s also really cool to hear him chat about all the movie easter eggs he put in this feature that probably not many will ever pick up on.

Summary 

Revenge comes in an artfully wrapped package in The Gift, a chilling psychological thriller available on Blu-ray, this past Tuesday, October 27, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.  From newcomers STX Entertainment and Blumhouse Productions (Whiplash, The Purge) The Gift is a suspenseful and thrilling morality tale that earned a “Certified Fresh” seal on Rotten Tomatoes with a remarkable score of 93%.  The Blu-ray is packed with chilling bonus features including a riveting alternate ending, deleted scenes, feature commentary with writer and director Joel Edgerton, and more.  Order this puppy now!

*

Order Now!

*

*