The Trust (Blu-ray Review)
Academy Award® winner Nicolas Cage (Best Actor, Leaving Las Vegas, 1995) and Elijah Wood star in the action-heist film, The Trust, arriving on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD), DVD (plus Digital), and Digital HD on August 2 from Lionsgate. Currently available On Demand, the film had its world premiere at the 2016 SXSW Film Festival. Including two behind-the-scenes featurettes and audio commentary with the directors, The Trust Blu-ray and DVD formats.
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Film 
Oscar® winner Nicolas Cage and Elijah Wood star as Vegas cops who stumble upon the location of a hidden vault belonging to local drug dealers. Immediately, they devise a master plan to make off with the mad stacks of cash they are sure are stored within. But what they find inside puts their lives in grave danger in this action-packed, twist-filled crime-thriller.
I have no shame in admitting that I am still a Nicolas Cage fan to this day. No need to go on about how and why or what it is, but those who get it, get it. The last ten years or so have been trying times. I don’t even watch everything he puts out. He puts out a lot of product in a year. But its only 2-3 years and about 10-12 films that you get that one film that wows you and is actually good in both sincere Cage performance and actually good movie. More recently there was Joe. So, when I saw the trailer for The Trust, I was excited because here it was. That 1 that comes around every so often.
The Trust is a good fun, movie, but its nothing too exciting or must see. Cage fans will be happy because its a pretty solid quality product. The film features a nifty script to go along with some solid filmmaking. The key here though is the two leads in the film. Cage is paired with Elijah Wood and the two play very well off of one another. Cage gets to be quite fun and goofy while Wood is the straight man. Some good comedic moments and enjoyment of just watching two terrific actors bounce off one another is where the fun is at with this film. I’d actually be down for the two of them to re-team in the future.
How good is The Trust? Well, its a little heist, mystery dark comedy that proved solid on a first watch. I’m not sure there’s much to come back to on it, aside from enjoying the Cage and Wood dynamic. This one might be best served as a curious rental than anything else.
Video
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Clarity/Detail: The Trust debuts on Blu-ray with a solid, sharp image. There are details abundant in things like crime scene damage, clothing textures and surface defects. The lighting is captured pretty strong in this transfer. All in all this is a solid digital image that really does the trick for what this needs to.
Depth: Decent depth work here. Dimensional work is stuff that gets the job done, but not a whole lot else. Not that its asked of it. Things look as expected here.
Black Levels: Blacks are solid and have a slight inkiness to them. No crushing witnessed. Some detail lost in darkness, but nothing troublesome.
Color Reproduction: Colors are a bit on the blue, colder side. Green is another tinge on the look of the picture in this palette.
Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural with a hint of cold and maintain that look throughout the length of the feature. Wrinkles, stubble, dimples, moles and the like all look crisp and clear in this transfer.
Noise/Artifacts: Clean
Audio
Audio Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
Dynamics: The Trust features a rock solid 5.1 mix that brings the “action” to your room. The movie isn’t full of action but it has a good layered dynamic on its effects. The mix is a healthy balance of the score, sound effects and vocals.
Low Frequency Extension: Gunshots, things crashing down, engines humming and music are some of the things that the subwoofer enhances.
Surround Sound Presentation: A more front heavy track, there are some good moments that take place inside casinos/restaurants where speakers are played with.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is crisp and clear.
Extras
The Trust comes with an UltraViolet digital copy of the film.
Audio Commentary
- With Directors Alex and Benjamin Brewer
The Dynamics of a Duo (HD, 5:38) – Producers and directors discuss the importance of getting the cast just right on the film. Elijah Wood and Nicolas Cage weigh in on what attracted them to the film and what they hope to bring to the table.
The Visuals of Vegas (HD, 5:27) – A piece fluffing the prospects and benefits of shooting a movie in Las Vegas.
Summary
The Trust is a decent second tier bit of entertainment. I think it counts as one of Cage’s “good ones” that shore up among a lot of the junk he puts out (But, I defend he’s still aware of what he’s making and is good in). This Blu-ray come with a rock solid audio and video presentation to be coupled with some rather safe extras. Definitely a rental and discounted purchase for bigger fans.
