5.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
William Baldwin stars as the outrageous Garet, who tries to win the love of his sweetheart (Erika Eleniak) with a blazing crime of passion... but she's got the hots for Sergio (John Leguizamo), who's carrying a big torch for a hot-tempered waitress named Hattie (Sadie Frost).
Starring: William Baldwin, Sadie Frost, John Leguizamo, Erika Eleniak, Michael LernerComedy | 100% |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
There’s the surface appeal of “A Pyromaniac’s Love Story,” and there’s the more interesting tale of William Baldwin, with the 1995 picture coming at a crucial time in his then-burgeoning career. He was positioned as a Hollywood heartthrob, successfully navigating a few roles, such as 1990’s “Flatliners,” and won a massive break as the lead in 1991’s “Backdraft,” where he did a fine job portraying a conflicted firefighter suddenly thrust into a role of familial and professional responsibility. He seemed poised to take off, but along came 1993’s “Sliver,” a botched (but not entirely uninteresting) erotic thriller that asked too much of him, caught on a sinking ship as the movie bombed, which didn’t simply throttle his career, but cooled his heat in full. 1995’s “A Pyromaniac’s Love Story” delivers a different side of Baldwin, who tries to be a comedian in the romantic film, channeling Jim Carrey with a wild-eyed performance that’s ambitious and completely out of his range. Baldwin’s acting dream dimmed in 1995 (coupled with the disastrous “Fair Game”), and there’s a good reason for that, finding his take on an unhinged fire-starter with a pronounced limp wholly unpleasant, making his turn the most unlikable addition to an already joyless and aggressively quirky creation.
The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation doesn't offer fans of the film a recent refreshing to bring the viewing experience up to current HD standards. What's here is a tired-looking Disney catalog title with a DVD-era master, with detail softened overall, battling mild filtering and age. Skin particulars struggle for definition, and neighborhood adventures lack depth and distinction, coming off flat. Colors are weak, with reddish skintones and dreary primaries, with little beyond the brightest of period garb making any sort of impression. Delineation solidifies on occasion. Source displays plenty of speckling, mild banding, and a few jumpy frames.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix doesn't emerge with any sort of authority, but it does support the small charms of "A Pyromaniac's Love Story." Dialogue exchanges aren't fresh but they remain intelligible, handling accents and performance choices, delivering an adequate sense of manic behavior and whispered desires. Scoring carries modest instrumentation, presenting the fairy tale mood satisfactorily, not authoritatively. Street and public gathering atmospherics survive.
"A Pyromaniac's Love Story" tries to support an idea that all the fire business is actually beneficial for the gang, rejuvenating dormant relationships. It's not the most dramatically secure idea to hang a movie on, but composer Rachel Portman provides a light, appealing score to keep spirits up, working to define Brand's lackluster direction and Ward's lame ideas. The mission here is to find a way to blend criminal antics with heartache, which eventually blossoms into passion. "A Pyromaniac's Love Story" isn't friendly enough to charm as a romance, and its search for unsavory attitudes to treat lightly doesn't result in a particularly appealing endeavor. The jokes just aren't there, along with any sort of soulfulness. While the opening act appears to be headed in the right direction, the feature ultimately erases anything of interest in its shallow pursuit of indie film-style eccentricity and Disney-style fantasy.
2000
Warner Archive Collection
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2023
1986
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