6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
A story of a man who fakes his own death and assumes a new identity in order to escape his life, who then moves in with a woman who is also trying to leave her past behind.
Starring: Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Anne Heche, Kristin Lehman, David Andrews (I)Comedy | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
With a star duo like Colin Firth and Emily Blunt, one might expect Arthur Newman to be either a penetrating drama or a wry comedy. Instead, it’s an often depressing entry in the “lost souls find salvation in each other’s quirkiness” sweepstakes. The film is supposed to be charming and at least amusing if not laugh our loud funny, but it comes across as a rather odd hybrid that never finds a sure footing despite having loads of charisma on hand with its leading players. Firth portrays an former golf pro who fakes his own death (hilarious!) and soon gets entangled with Blunt’s character, a morose drug addict who has overdosed (hysterical!) and is ranting in a crazed stupor by a hotel pool when Firth decides to help her. These two misfits then set off on a road trip together, supposedly finding out as much about themselves as about each other.
Arthur Newman is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinedigm with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. This digitally shot feature boasts a reasonably sharp and well detailed image, but it is really peculiarly color graded to a bizarre green tint a lot of the time, to the point where when Wallace/Arthur walks next to the ocean, it's the verdant color of an spruce tree. This gives flesh tones an unhealthy pallor and tends to rob the image of some fine detail at times.
Arthur Newman's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio is fine, if unremarkable, offering problem free dialogue and occasionally immersive moments as "Arthur" and "Michaela" take their road trip. Fidelity is excellent, though dynamic range is fairly negligible.
Fans of Firth and/or Blunt may find enough here—if only barely—to warrant spending time with these two characters, but this is one road trip that's largely aimless.
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