A Man, a Woman and a Bank Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

A Man, a Woman and a Bank Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 27, 2020

Noel Black's "A Man, a Woman and a Bank" (1979) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage audio commentary by director Noel Black and producer Peter Samuelson; exclusive new audio commentary by critics Dean Brandon and Andrew Nette; and trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The two robbers are not amateurs. Both understand exactly what needs to be done so that they can pull off the job they have in mind. They also know how to do it right. Their problem is this: they are first-time robbers, so they don’t have the practical experience to give them the confidence that they can succeed.

The job is planned by Reese (Donald Sutherland), who will break in, empty the bank’s vault, and then walk away with as much money as he can. Norman (Paul Mazursky) is the tech guy and he is going to hack the bank’s computer system to make sure that Reese can safely do his part. Norman will be working from a van parked across the street from the bank, so when Reese walks out with the money he would pick him up and together they will quickly disappear into the night.

While finalizing their preparations for the job, Reese begins seeing Stacey (Brooke Adams), a photographer who has taken a picture of him walking away with stolen blueprints from the bank. Stacey does not know that Reese isn’t the building instructor he has told her he is and thinks that he may have the perfect face for a large billboard that would greet the bank’s new customers. So, initially Reese’s interest in Stacey is strictly professional -- he wants to change her mind about the picture and have the camera negative destroyed -- but the more time they spend together, the more he begins to fantasize about a future with her.

The casualness of Noel Black’s film A Man, a Woman and a Bank is its greatest strength, which depending on one’s point of view could be good or bad because it essentially invalidates its dramatic buildup and climax. Here’s exactly how this happens:

A very large portion of the film is dedicated to the preparations for the bank job and its execution, but the interesting material is actually the one where Reece, Norman and Stacey grapple with personal issues. Reece is a loner who has come to realize that he is running out of time to discover happiness and needs the money from the robbery simply to make one final play in the game of life. His best pal, Norman, has been abandoned by his wife and is reluctantly risking his freedom for a similar reason -- he hopes to use his share of the money to permanently clear his mind and change the scenery. Stacey is pursued by a psychotic boyfriend (Allan Kolman) who has made her life a giant and seemingly never-ending soap opera, so her spontaneous romance with Reece is also an attempt to move on to something better.

But the change the three characters desire isn’t the main piece of a complex crime drama that produces some profound revelations about the flawed choices people make while pursuing happiness. These characters could not be any more ordinary, so the different choices they make to bring change in their lives are entirely predictable. It just so happens that a robbery is making the change possible, not an unexpected promotion or brand new job.

As it is usually the case with ‘perfect’ robberies not all goes as planned and some urgent improvisations are required to avoid trouble, so during the ‘surprises’ the film produces plenty of hilarious moments as well. But the humor is just another segment of the casualness that makes the film attractive. It is very light and transparent, not the kind that is meant to leave a lasting impression.

Director Black landed the services of multiple Oscar-winning cinematographer Jack Cardiff whose credits include such classics as Black Narcissus, A Matter of Life and Death, and The African Queen.

A Man, a Woman and a Bank Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, A Man, a Woman and a Bank arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The master that was used to source this release must have been prepared quite a long time ago. It is not bad, meaning that it does not appear to have been 'optimized' by various questionable digital enhancements, but it has many of the limitations that masters from the DVD era exhibit. For example, it does not convey the healthy grain exposure that ensures proper depth, so while most close-ups tend to look rather decent, panoramic shots with various background details can appear quite average. In darker areas many fine nuances are lost as well. The good news is that clarity is still quite pleasing, which makes the overall light softness of the visuals rather easy to ignore. Also, there are no traces of the excessive sharpening that is often found on older masters. The color grading is convincing, but a healthy new 2K or 4K master will quite easily expand various ranges of supporting nuances and eliminate black crush. Image stability is good. In summary, the master that was used to produce this release has a dated appearance, and while it is free of serious anomalies, it certainly has plenty of areas where meaningful improvements can be made to ensure that the film has a much more convincing organic look. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

A Man, a Woman and a Bank Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

On my system the lossless track sounded great. The clarity, depth, and stability never exhibited even remote signs of aging. Dynamic intensity was also good for a film from the late '70s, but it was quite easy for me to tell that little was done to have Bill Conti's soundtrack leave a lasting impression. (In the archival commentary that is included on the disc, Noel Black confirms that the film was barely made as it is).

A Man, a Woman and a Bank Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary One - this vintage audio commentary was recorded by director Noel Black and producer Peter Samuelson. I thought that it was outstanding. A Man, a Woman and a Bank was apparently a very difficult project to finalize but it all worked out at the end and perhaps even better than director Black had hoped it would. There are plenty of interesting stories about the casting choices and work before the camera as well.

• Audio Commentary Two - this brand new commentary was recorded by critics Dean Brandon and Andrew Nette. It is also a very good commentary. The two gentlemen actually have some quite interesting comments about the main differences between heist and caper films, the production of A Man, a Woman and a Bank, some of the different themes that overlap in it, etc.

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for A Man, a Woman and a Bank. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 480/60i).

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following titles from Kino Lorber's catalog:
  
  1. The Great Train Robbery
  2. Ordeal by Innocence
  3. The Rosary Murders
  4. The Puppet Masters

A Man, a Woman and a Bank Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I enjoyed A Man, a Woman and a Bank for the exact same reason I love revisiting Lady Ice -- it is a casual and very relaxed caper oozing the type of retro atmosphere that makes these genre films from the '70s irresistibly attractive. Obviously, the scenery in A Man, a Woman and a Bank could not be any more different because Noel Black and Jack Cardiff shot it on location in Vancouver -- Lady Ice was done primarily in Florida -- but the rest comes together in pretty much the same fashion. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an older master that was supplied by StudioCanal and has two very good audio commentaries. RECOMMENDED.